We don't hear the phrase "post-9/11 world" as often as we used to. It was once fashionable to say that "everything changed" on that day, and although the national trauma of 9/11 has since faded from memory, the refrain is still true. Everything did change. The American public may have grown apathetic to it, but we are nonetheless living in the "post 9/11 world"—a world of Islamic terror, drone strikes, and mass surveillance.
Another oft-forgotten feature of the post 9/11 years was the religious fervor that consumed the nation at the time. President Bush vowed to "rid the world of evil-doers" and referred to the war on terror as a "crusade."[1] At Yankee Stadium, "God Bless America" was played in the seventh inning stretch for the first time, in what has since become a lasting tradition. Country singer Alan Jackson's 2002 song "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" asked the listener, "Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer?"[2]
One study found "significantly higher levels of spirituality and faith in the two months after 9/11" and observes that "religious pundits proclaimed the last months of 2001 to be a time of unprecedented religious and spiritual revival in the United States."[3] In November of 2001, 78% of Americans in a Pew survey said that the role of religion in American life was increasing, compared to just 37% that March,[4] a monumental shift.
At the same time, the so-called "theory" of "intelligent design"—a form of creationism masquerading as science—was in vogue in classrooms. In a concerted anti-evolution campaign, science teachers were urged to "teach the controversy"[5] about evolution (despite there being no scientific controversy to speak of), and intelligent design textbooks were foisted upon school children.
A backlash was inevitable.
It was in this atmosphere, in 2002, that evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins delivered an early TED talk in which he denounced intelligent design and called for "militant atheism." "People are always going on about 'how did September the 11th change you?'" he said, "Well here's how it changed me; let's all stop being so damned respectful [of religion]."[6] It was a formative moment in what has become known as "New Atheism." Later that year, some 2,000 atheists gathered for the "Godless March on Washington," an event which prompted one religious media outlet to presage, "this new brand of atheism is far more dangerous."[7]
"9/11 strengthened fundamentalism in every global faith—and in atheism too," wrote Andrew Brown in The Guardian on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, "But it has also led to backlashes against these doctrines wherever they have appeared."[8]
The years that followed saw the publication of the seminal books of New Atheism; The End of Faith (2004) by Sam Harris, The God Delusion (2006) by Dawkins, Letter to a Christian Nation (2006) also by Harris, and god is Not Great (2007) by Christopher Hitchens. These works—all of them bestsellers—set the contrarian tone of New Atheism, with such passages as this one, from Dawkins:
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
For perhaps the first time in American discourse, God was on the defensive. Religion became a popular topic of debates, as the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism—Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, and the philosopher Daniel Dennett—sparred with Abrahamic apologists on such topics as "Does God exist?" and "Is religion a force for good?" (The New Atheists usually prevailed over their interlocutors in these contests.) The public, which had grown disillusioned with the "crusade" in Iraq, filled auditoriums for these debates and purchased millions of New Atheist books.
It is hard to measure the impact that New Atheism had on society. "Nones"—that is, people who identify with no religion—were already rising as a proportion of the population prior to 9/11, and they continued to do so throughout the 2000s and 2010s. The growth has been significant, however; in 2001, only 8% of Americans identified as "None" in Gallup's survey of religious preference; today, that figure is 21%. The number of people who say religion is "very important" in their lives has declined from 61% in 2003 to a record low of 49% last year. 79% of Americans now say that religion is "losing influence" in society.[9]
But at the same time, large majorities believe in God, the devil, angels, heaven, and hell, so the movement away from religion is not necessarily a movement toward atheism. There is some evidence of the de-stigmatization of atheism, however; fewer than half of Americans would vote for a "well-qualified" atheist candidate for public office in 2007, compared to 60% today. "Atheist-bashing is now, like gay-bashing, no longer an activity that can be indulged in with impunity by politicians or commentators," says Dennett.[10]
New Atheism eventually descended into ignominy. The once-thriving online "skeptic community" that New Atheism inspired has become mired in transphobia and misogyny. As for the "Four Horsemen," Harris has associated himself with an ugly, discredited theory of white intellectual superiority, and Dawkins has indulged in witless anti-feminism. Hitchens died of cancer in 2011. Only his death spared him the contumely of the #MeToo era. And Daniel Dennett has wisely preoccupied himself with academic endeavors and stayed out of public scrutiny.
PZ Myers, once a New Atheist himself, declared in 2017 that "New Atheism is dead." His characterization of the movement is damning: "Too much blithe sexism, too much flirting with racism, far too much association with regressive conservatism, way way too much fucking libertarianism."[11] Acknowledging the movement's perceived Islamophobia, Myers writes, "part of the growth of 21st century atheism was fueled by the burning of the Twin Towers, and we got sidetracked into damning Islam rather than promoting secularism as worthy in itself."
New Atheism may be "dead," but there is hope for atheism. 30,000 people attended the "Reason Rally" in 2012, a successor to the "Godless March" a decade before. In contrast to the 2002 rally, the crowd in 2012 was "largely under the age of 30, at least half female and included many people of color," according to rally spokesman Jesse Galef.[12]
New Atheism was of its time, and it should be left in the post-9/11 years. But we should also have an appreciation for what it achieved. Last year, Richard Dawkins interviewed Rana Ahmad, a young Saudi Arabian atheist author who was inspired by the Arabic language version of The God Delusion.[13] Her story is compelling, having fled Saudi Arabia for Germany, where she has since written an autobiography—Women Aren't Allowed to Dream Here, unfortunately not yet available in English—and founded Atheist Refugee Relief, an NGO to help other atheists and apostates flee repressive countries. Her story is part of the legacy of New Atheism. Like God, we shouldn't take its name in vain.
[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1001020294332922160
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj6rMcVNQbw
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3118577/
[4] https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2001/12/06/post-september-11-attitudes/
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teach_the_Controversy
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxGMqKCcN6A
[7] http://www.rfcnet.org/news/default.asp?action=detail&article=63
[8] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/10/911-religion-september-11
[9] https://news.gallup.com/poll/1690/religion.aspx
[10] https://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/03/four-ways-911-changed-americas-attitude-toward-religion/
[11] https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2017/07/31/the-new-atheism-is-dead-long-live-atheism/
[12] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/atheist-rally_n_1377443#s811235&title=Reason_Rally_on
[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zncB6hngZg