Recent Times
In the early 21st century the New Atheists, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, were prominent as critics of religion.
In the opinion of Austin Cline, criticism of religion from atheists is very unwelcome while comparable defense of religion by others is more tolerated. Cline believes this defensiveness happens because wider awareness of criticisms might cause a greater decrease in religious beliefs than has already occurred.
Read more about this topic: Criticism Of Religion
Famous quotes containing the word times:
“Politics at all times lead to bloody wars, and not only politics, but also religions as well as social and economic systems of all times are spattered with blood. Invariably the big ones devoured the little ones, and the little ones the tiny ones.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“Since I am a man, my heart is three or four times less sensitive, because I have three or four times as much power of reason and experience of the world—a thing which you women call hard-heartedness. As a man, I can take refuge in having mistresses. The more of them I have, and the greater the scandal, the more I acquire reputation and brilliance in society.”
—Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle] (1783–1842)