Are atheists really fundamentalists?

Atheism? When did this become such a crowd-puller?

The answer seems to be: “After September 11.” At one point, indeed, Dawkins said that the next atheist slogan he would like to see on the side of a bus is: “Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.” He got a cheer for that, as he did for most things, the atheists in the audience outnumbering the believers by a wide margin. That didn’t surprise me. What did was their lack of courtesy. There was even the odd jeer when the Christians were speaking. I had assumed that part of the point of being an atheist was that you were tolerant of the views of others…

Atheists are not fundamentalists, because they are open to any hypothesis, provided that it can be substantiated by evidence. And atheism is not a religion. It doesn’t want followers. The irony is, it gets them anyway. And increasingly, it looks like a cult, with Dawkins its leader. No doubt to his irritation, his The God Delusion has become something of an atheist’s Bible.