"De Waal must live in a unique area. "

According to the article, suburban Atlanta. I have no doubt he has witnessed these things.

"Why are the "neo-atheists" of today so obsessed with God's nonexistence that they go on media rampages, wear T-shirts proclaiming their absence of belief, or call for a militant atheism?"

three quick Googles convinced me that they exist to some degree.

It is just one point in a much longer book.

I love the book title The Bonobo and the Atheist