Irrational Atheism

Dear Stan,

Here is the link to the wonderful essay on modern atheists by Theodore Dalrymple in City Journal:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_oh_to_be.html
(Indeed, a brilliant essay. I actually believe Theodore Dalrymple is secretly a Vatican logician. If we knew his real identify, we'd find this stuff boring. But since he claims to be an atheist, we find it fascinating. - SW)

You can link it, spread the word and be free from copyright prosecution. As a follow up to Beckett's famous blast: "God doesn't exist - the bastard!", I am reminded of the old joke about the Irish atheist who went around wishing to God he believed in God. Trying to deny His existence is like the childhood game of trying to jump off your own shadow. As nature abhors a vacuum, other beliefs merely move in to act as unsatisfactory substitutes. Some of our most vocal British atheists sound like (and in some cases look like) religious crackpots in their propaganda zeal, especially on issues such as global warming which plainly play the role of surrogate religions for atheist advocates. George Monbiot and Johann Hari are prime examples, as in the recent case of a small but vocal demonstration against the expansion of Heathrow Airport. In his fervent denunciation of the demon air travel, the atheist Hari was reduced to raging against the gleaming streamlined shapes emitting CO2 and leading the planet "to Hell", which he does not believe in. Of course, Hari uses air travel, but only as a necessary evil in assisting his reporting on injustice in other parts of the world.....