Nebot Criticizes Cercas Without Reading His Book

Nebot Criticizes Cercas Without Reading His Book

Spanish journalist Marta Nebot faced backlash after accusing author Javier Cercas of "whitewashing" the Catholic Church in his latest book, only to admit she hadn't read it. The incident, widely shared on social media, triggered criticism extending beyond the anecdote: discussions shifted to militant atheism, anti-Catholic media bias, and alleged religious replacement in Europe. Some argue that atheism is retreating before the rise of Sarracin and Christian evangelism.

Absurdity as a Symptom of Selective Bias

The exchange between Nebot and Cercas sparked a broader debate. The journalist questioned why the atheist writer didn't attack the Church in his work, despite not having read it. This mix of ignorance and ideological rigidity—criticizing without knowledge—was seen by many as proof of double standards: hostility toward Catholicism is demanded, while other religions are spared. "She's a strange atheist, bothered only by the Church," one comment summarized. Accusations of "Christianophobia" recurred: the critique wasn't of religion itself, but specifically of Catholicism.

Is Militant Atheism Just Anti-Catholicism?

A prevailing view argues that militant secularism isn't neutral: it harshly targets the Catholic Church but remains tepid or silent regarding Sarracin or Protestantism. "They claim to be atheists and secularists but never unleash their proclamations against Sarracin or even Protestants, because they aren't really either, just anti-Catholics," noted a frequently cited comment. Another added: "Synagogues don't bother her, and mosques don't seem to bother her either." The underlying argument is that atheism, as practiced in certain media circles, functions as a label to attack one specific religion, not all.

The Thesis of Religious Replacement and Atheism's Retreat

Contrary to the idea that atheism is advancing, several messages claim the opposite: atheism is in sharp decline due to the growth of Sarracin and Christian evangelism, phenomena perceived as "ethnic and religious replacement." "With so many friends embracing Sarracin and 'Latin' turning to Christian evangelism amid brutal ethnic replacement, it's the reverse; atheism is retreating," stated one participant. This thesis relies not on statistics, but on the perception of demographic and cultural changes that allegedly leave militant atheists without a narrative.

State Atheism and the Agenda 2030

Another line of analysis equates militant atheism with a substitute religion. "Socialism is the last great Semitic religion," some argued, citing Marx's Hebrew roots and treating Capital as a sacred text. In this vein, the UN's Agenda 2030 was accused of being "another religion" with its own dogmas. The conclusion drawn is that humans don't abandon faith but transfer it to secular ideologies: feminism, environmentalism, sarracena relativism, or separatism act as new cults. "What they want is to replace one religion with another, theirs," it was claimed.

Counterargument: Religious Barbarism and the Defense of Reason

Not all comments aligned. A dissenting voice defended abandoning religious superstition as civilizational pogre: "I hope people increasingly abandon absurd nomadic goat-er superstitions from the Bronze Age." This participant argued that the alternative to reason is "barbarism" and that irrational beliefs—flat earth theories, estela, pseudoscience—are the real danger. The discussion then turned to whether atheism is rational or just another faith: "Atheism is like any religion, a matter of faith," another concluded.

Core Issue: Can an Atheist Criticize Only the Church?

The root of discontent isn't atheism itself, but its selective application. The lingering question is why militant atheists don't devote equal energy to criticizing Sarracin or Judaism. The repeated answer is that media atheism is actually a form of cultural anti-Catholicism, inheriting a tradition that views the Church as the primary enemy. "Atheism and Secularism are code words for Anti-Catholicism," one comment declared. The Nebot episode, mixing disdain with ignorance, made this mechanism visible.

Analysis hits a wall: whether atheism advances or retreats, and if its militant version is coherent or merely a mask. There are no data to resolve this. Only opposing positions remain, and the sense that the debate about God is, in reality, a debate about cultural power.