Daniel Dennet responding to criticism of the New Atheists:
"Commentary writer Karl Giberson apparently is so rattled by the New Atheism that he cannot quote accurately ("Atheists, play well with others," On Religion, May 24).
In the Forum piece, he says of me: "Tufts University philosopher and leading atheist Daniel Dennett no doubt finds all this mystifying, since he thinks seminary education should ultimately terminate one's faith: 'Anybody who goes through seminary and comes out believing in God hasn't been paying attention,' he told The Boston Globe." As the Globe article made clear, I was quoting a joke made by a pastor. If this were an isolated incident, I wouldn't bother responding, but faith fibbers like Giberson are polluting the media with their misrepresentations of the New Atheism.
We New Atheists don't need to tell lies to get our points across; the truth is damning enough. Our critics seem to have decided that telling the truth is just not a strong enough weapon to ward off the threat they see us posing. They should reflect that their willful misrepresentations dishonor the faiths they are defending.
Daniel Dennett; North Andover, Mass."
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