Do new atheists and the Christian right differ in their desire for political power?
The new atheists are not an organized group. They don’t have a marginal group. They don’t have systems of indoctrination the way the Christian right does in terms of so-called Christian schools, radio, television. But, I don’t want them to stake out the position of the secular left in this country. Because when you read what these people write and say about Muslims—it could come from the most rabid sermon by Pat Robertson or any of the other charlatans—that’s not a response. In both cases, it’s a plea for empathy, for understanding, for tolerance, for the recognition that there are other ways of being. For self-reflection and self-criticism. The notion that we posses the highest good, that our way of life is something that should be emulated. That is a very frightening belief system, no matter what form it comes in. Having spent 20 years of my life outside the United States and most of those years in the developing world, I’m acutely aware of the evil that is done in our name. Whether
