The alt-right and non-theists: [View all]

[guillaumeb]

There have been posts about the link between far right viewpoints and various Christian churches. What I have not seen to date are any posts speaking of the various non-theist leaders and thinkers of the alt-right.

Here are a few:

In his interview with the Atlantic, Spencer, an avowed atheist, surprised Wood with a peculiar defense of Christianity: that the religion is false but it “bound together the civilizations of Europe.”
Spencer’s view is common among the alt-right. They have no interest in the teachings of Christ, but they see the whole edifice of white European civilization as built on a framework of Christian beliefs. From their perspective, Christendom united the European continent and forged white identity.

https://www.vox.com/2017/8/17/16140846/nietzsche-richard-spencer-alt-right-nazism

And speaking of the movement as a whole:

I would say it is definitely a young movement. I'd say that it is predominantly white millennial men. It is not sort of stereotypically conservative in its profile. I'd say that probably it is a more secular population than the country overall. That is, there are a lot of agnostics and atheists or people who are just generally indifferent to religion. And I think that it is a fairly well-educated movement on average, that as I think that probably the model alt-right member has at least some college education.

http://www.npr.org/2017/08/15/543730227/unite-the-right-charlottesville-rally-represented-collection-of-alt-right-groups

Also speaking of the movement:

However, in a truly disturbing trend for those of us atheists, agnostics and allies who embrace humanism as a progressive and inclusive philosophy of life, the Alt-Right has been gaining ground...among atheists. In fact, Alt-Right figurehead Richard Spencer has recently spoken and written publicly about how his movement is consistent with secular humanist values.

https://www.meetup.com/HarvardHumanist/events/239012294/

So what does this mean? I would argue that these instances and individuals are no more representative of the majority of atheists than the relatively few religious bigots are of theism in general.