New Atheists transformed into strident Islamophobes indistinguishable from racists

Evidence

Hitchens and his acolytes made no bones about the stridence of the “clash of civilizations” or the scale of the War on Terror that claimed millions of innocent lives and left entire nations forever fractured. Proportion did not matter, and the gravity of human suffering wrought by words took a back seat to ideology and the egos sitting in front. For Hitchens, Maher, Harris, and this liberal crop of new atheists who believed “religion poisons everything,” Islam always stood apart as exceptionally and especially dangerous and utterly irredeemable. In The Guardian, I wrote, “For these new atheists, Islam is illegitimate because it is a religion, but unlike other religions, is distinctly threatening because it is inherently at odds with liberal values.” For Hitchens, Harris, Maher, and the next crop of liberal Islamophobes seduced by their polemics, religion was not necessarily the threat—Islam was. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 320 (#expands, via linked claim)

For Hitchens, Maher, Harris, and this liberal crop of new atheists who believed “religion poisons everything,” Islam always stood apart as exceptionally and especially dangerous and utterly irredeemable. In The Guardian, I wrote, “For these new atheists, Islam is illegitimate because it is a religion, but unlike other religions, is distinctly threatening because it is inherently at odds with liberal values.” For Hitchens, Harris, Maher, and the next crop of liberal Islamophobes seduced by their polemics, religion was not necessarily the threat—Islam was. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 320 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: New atheists singled out Islam as uniquely dangerous among religions — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 320; Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice; New atheists singled out Islam as uniquely irredeemable among religions. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 320 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• New atheist writers adopted the rhetoric of right-wing racists like Wilders #expands (0.95)
• New atheists singled out Islam as uniquely dangerous among religions #expands (0.90) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 320
• New atheists singled out Islam as uniquely irredeemable among religions. #expands (0.88) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 320
• Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice #corroborates (0.85)
• Islamophobia is best understood as an ideology akin to racism #corroborates (0.75) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 910