Sir, – Reading between the lines, not least in his antipathy to the "new atheists", it seems Robert Grant hasn't quite thrown in the towel when it comes to God ("The 'new atheists' – shallow and dangerous", Opinion & Analysis, June 24th). This God, however, would seem to have little to offer most of us, if, like Dr Grant, we do not believe in "heaven or hell, miracles, or the power of prayer". – Yours, etc,
OWEN MORTON,
Station Road,
Sutton,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – Dr Robert Grant’s critique of “new atheism” smacks of religiocentrism, that is the attribution of characteristics of organised religion to atheism, not least tribalistic tendencies .
An uninformed reader might conclude that “new atheism” is a fully fledged organisation, with a supreme leader or leaders with a strict code of commandments and beliefs that adherents blindly follow. Such a conclusion would be wholly incorrect.
Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris and Dennett cannot be treated like popes, whose dictats their adherents are instructed to follow. The analogy simply does not hold. – Yours, etc,
ROB SADLIER,
Stocking Avenue,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.