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Richard Dawkins' 'New Atheists' launch initiative to fight Islamic extremism

The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science recently announced that three leaders of the "New Atheist" movement will be working with reform-minded Muslim leaders to tackle the jihadist movement.

The announcement was made by the foundation's president and CEO Robyn Blumner in a newsletter published on Sept. 21. She referred to the essay by Peter Boghossian, James Lindsay and Phil Torres on how atheists can work to counter religious extremism.

Richard Dawkins at Protest the Pope Rally in London, September 2010 | Wikimedia Commons/Colin Grey

The three authors believe that "New Atheism" can be effective in the campaign against extremism by undermining the beliefs that motivate jihadists.

According to the authors, the movement began as a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks by al Qaeda. They considered the event as a demonstration of the dangers of acting out certain religious beliefs.

"The movement offered a heretofore unwelcomed perspective: That every religion has negative consequences, and that even religious moderates contribute to the problem because, by affirming that faith is a legitimate reason to hold beliefs, they enable religious extremists," the authors wrote.

They claim that the "New Atheist" writings have already made its way to Muslim countries. They noted that the Arabic translation of "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins has been downloaded 10 million times.

The authors stated that the "New Atheists" are now working with moderate Muslims and ex-Muslims and many are now campaigning for reform in their communities. Ali Rizvi, who identifies as an "Atheist Muslim," and Maajid Nawaz, a former member of a radical Islamist group, are involved in a campaign to get rid of blasphemy laws.

The authors believe that "New Atheism" has been effective in starting honest conversations about religion and the movement is needed more today to offer an alternative to irreconcilable religious conflicts.

Dawkins, one of the leading "New Atheists" has acknowledged in the past that Christianity might be a defense against extremism.

"There are no Christians, as far as I know, blowing up buildings," Dawkins wrote in 2010. "I am not aware of any Christian suicide bombers. I am not aware of any major Christian denomination that believes the penalty for apostasy is death," he added.