Actually, they probably are doing that. However, I think they would concede that religious belief can be comforting for people.geo wrote: It's difficult for me to respond to the general tenor of the term "new atheists" which seems to be an effort to frame atheism as an unified position or organized movement. Atheism simply means without belief in God which is hardly a unifying doctrine. Writers such as Dawkins, Hitchens, and Sam Harris have written about religion, but they each have unique perspectives. I don't think it's fair to summarize either of these writers' positions as an attempt to "turn the word religion into a pejorative term." I'm quite sure that's not what any of them are attempting to do.
But let's face it. Every organized religion is peddling false claims. Hardly anyone's belief system is based on "maybe there's some kind of intelligent being out there," rather it is very specific claims that have a 99.999999999% of being false. And sometimes those beliefs lead to negative effects on society, legislation, etc. I'm OK with being critical of that, especially in general terms. I also don't insult people I know who have those beliefs.