I DON'T BELIEVE IN ATHEISTS

Many of this reviewer's fellow atheists deplore the public antics of those few of our number who exploit the media to push a dogmatic agenda. What happened to the broad-mindedness and tolerance that we escaped organized religion to embrace? In this book, Hedges speaks for us. A former seminarian, he follows up his bestselling critique of fundamentalists, AMERICAN FASCISTS, with this jeremiad against militant atheists. Despite some sweeping generalizations, vague concepts, and unsupported assertions, he makes a convincing case that the bigotry and militancy among "secular fundamentalists" is just as virulent, fascistic, and destructive as that of religious ones. As narrator, he orates like a pastor on Sunday morning. He blunts his message, however, with odd phrasing and a limited repertoire of vocal expression. Y.R. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2008]