This is the bit from Quicksilver, the first novel in Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle, that got me thinking about the way in which the clash between the New Atheists and evangelical Christians is a continuation of the fundamental dichotomy between the worldview of Leibniz and the worldview of Newton:
“Rude and stupid, I know, but it is my duty to make conversation. You are saying it should be the goal of all Natural Philosophers to restore peace and harmony to the world of men. This I cannot dispute.”
The above quote is Daniel Waterhouse speaking to Leibniz.