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I would guess a lot, maybe most, of the more obnoxious internet atheist warriors, such as I was in my preteen and teenage years, were probably raised Christian (and usually Christian of the more serious, fundamentalist variety). And for me at least, it started out as a quest to prove one way or the other whether or not Christianity was true, and once I decided it wasn't, morphed into a somewhat vindictive impulse to own Christians online. The 2000s, were also the height of Evangelicalism as a cultural movement in the US. Evangelicals had a much stronger cultural presence than they do now, which made it more fun to dunk on them. Bush was the evangelical president (even though, technically, he was a mainliner).
As to why New Atheism exploded in the 2000s, I think it was precisely as a reaction to the apotheosis of evangelical Christianity. Which in turn was mostly a backlash to the cultural revolution of the 60s and 70s. Which in turn...you get the idea. It died out mostly because evangelicalism receded from the public eye, and also because, yes, it became unbearably 'cringe' and uncool. I genuinely think there are a non-zero number of individuals who have more or less memed themselves into being religious just since they don't have to be associated with the fedora people.
I never read Dennett, Dawkins, or any of the 'four horsemen.' I never really got into the whole creation vs evolution thing either because I was never much of a STEM kid. I was more into arguing about the resurrection of Jesus, the historicity of the Exodus, etc. Things that remain abiding interests for me to this day, though I think I am less annoying about it now.
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