Atheism and groupthink

An article entitled Feeling Disillusioned With the Atheist Movement published at the atheist website Atheist Revolution declared:

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We've seen various cliques emerge, some of which have largely abandoned critical thinking for dogma. This mutual admiration society strikes me as being antithetical to free thought, as similar ideas are rewarded through promotion while diverse perspectives receive less attention. This sets the stage for a type of groupthink that runs counter to big tent atheism... By elevating some in our movement to the level of celebrities, I fear we have cheapened it through irrational hero worship.

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The Shadow to Light Christian blog responded to the Atheist Revolution article by indicating:

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And this is why more and more of us are starting to view the atheist movement as being cult-like... It is this irrational hero worship that not only prevents many within the atheist movement from criticizing people like Dawkins and Harris, but it causes them to behave in an overly protective and defensive manner of such leaders, especially when the criticism comes from a theist or accomodationist. ...what we have is a group of people drifting toward group think and hero worship, where a sense of belonging is maintained by erecting online gated communities from which to toss out rhetorical bombs at theists. Yet because this group is only unified by its admiration for its leaders and its hatred of religion, it takes very little to start some nasty infighting. Recognition of such problems is the first step in trying to correct them.

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