New Atheist Appropriations of Religion

Interesting.  I agree with the article's criticism of the attempt.  Excerpts:

Celebrated philosopher and author Alain de Botton expects to upset a great number of religious people and atheists alike with his proposal that: “it must be possible to remain a committed atheist and nevertheless to find religions sporadically useful, interesting and consoling...”



This is the intellectual curiosity of an unusual man. His proposal is so jarring because it advocates an entirely contrived and ultimately disingenuous approach to something either held sacred or contemned by the vast majority of human beings. One might as well seek romance while attesting that love is a delusion, study philosophy while asserting that truth is a fiction, or offer a fervent and heart-felt prayer to a God you do not believe in.

De Botton may raise important points about the intrinsic value of religious practices, and indeed about the emptiness of secular society. He is right to lament the destructive attitude of Dawkinsian atheism, and to call for a more constructive response from secularism. But his solution; his almost schizoid combination of implacable atheism and religious envy is not something I can believe in.