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The atheist movement, once a beacon of skepticism and rational inquiry, was significantly disrupted by the emergence of Atheism+ in the early 2010s. Atheism+, an attempt to merge atheism with progressive social justice ideologies, particularly feminism and identity politics, shifted the focus from critiquing religious dogma to enforcing ideological conformity on issues like gender and sexuality. This pivot alienated many atheists who valued the movement’s original emphasis on evidence-based reasoning. As Amarnath Amarasingam notes in The Rise and Fall of the New Atheism, the integration of identity politics created tensions within the movement, with activists like Jen McCreight, who spearheaded campaigns like Boobquake, highlighting the schism by prioritizing feminist concerns over universal skeptical principles. The resulting infighting, as seen in online forums like Reddit’s r/atheism, fractured the community, with many feeling that Atheism+ mirrored the dogmatic rigidity it once opposed.

This ideological shift led some atheists to adopt tactics reminiscent of religious apologetics—name-calling, shaming, and deflections—particularly when defending progressive stances on biological sex. Rather than applying the same skepticism they used to dismantle theistic claims, many “woke” atheists embraced gender ideology without rigorous scrutiny, treating it as an unassailable truth akin to a new deity. Posts on X from 2021 highlight this irony, with users like @SwipeWright observing that a significant portion of the atheist community “fully bought into gender ideology and sex denialism,” abandoning critical thinking for ideological loyalty. This uncritical acceptance echoes the blind faith atheists once criticized, as arguments about biological sex are often dismissed with moralistic fervor rather than engaged with empirically, revealing a departure from the movement’s foundational commitment to reason.

The implosion of the atheist movement, driven by these internal conflicts, underscores a broader lesson: skepticism must be consistently applied, whether to gods or to fashionable ideologies. The New Atheism, once galvanized by figures like Dawkins and Harris, faltered as it became entangled with identity politics, losing its coherence as a unified force. Today, the movement’s legacy is a cautionary tale of how even rationalist communities can succumb to ideological pressures, adopting the same dogmatic tactics they once decried. For atheism to reclaim its intellectual rigor, it must return to its roots, questioning all claims—divine or secular—with unflinching skepticism.