I think the far-left, the woke folk, have power far beyond their own numbers. I've read a lot about their effect in academia, the media, corporate America, and entertainment. There's a real chilling of free speech out there, and I don't think it's just anecdotal. One year ago to this day, my wife and I were cancelled by my friend of nearly 60 years because I dared to push back on his desire to abolish the police, his support for the burning of buildings, and his desire to punch a Proud Boy. My friend would have gotten has ass handed to him by a less than proud girl! And then, I dared to bring up the tragic consequences of out of wedlock births, especially for Black America, and used the "racist" term, black-on-black violence, and it's been crickets ever since. There's a really censorious, righteously indignant group on the far-left who are immune to facts, who inhabit their own ecosystem, and who are all too ready to label someone as racist! And for cranky liberals like me, is there anything worse than being called a racist? The illiberal left is real, and we better deal with them because Fox News, and the voters in the middle who we need, think that these fools are representative of the average Democratic candidate. 

And as far as the influence of the "New Atheists", and I really dislike that term, I think the slew of books put out in the last 15 years by Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins, and Dennett, are indeed having an impact. The number of Americans who have pulled away from traditional religion, and belief in general, is growing. I know, correlation isn't causation, but I truly believe they've had an impact. Sam Harris frequently hears from priests, former Muslims, and pastors who've lost their faith. 

Peter T.