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So the "new atheism" is just much more intolerant of other points of view regarding god, etc. than the "old atheism" was. Not surprising actually.

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No, not surprising. Considering that the intolerance present in most religion has been a driving force to the spread of atheism, it is perhaps interesting to observe the same intolerance in atheism.

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Seems to me that religion has gotten less intolerant overall, not more so that doesn't seem like a very convincing reason.

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Really? My not particularly thought out interpretation is that through intolerance and bullying religion grabbed a foothold in society, which eventually led to significant rejection of the religion, which made bullying tactics less effective, which led to attempts to stem defections by putting on a friendly face ("we really aren't that bad!") rather than the old school bullying face ("you'd better find faith in Christ or you're going to hell!").