Im doubtful reddit was the cause.

I recall the rise of New Atheism, and the obnoxious, loud and assertiveness of it. Anyone who had a basic sincere faith could see it was using all the wrong mindsets and was bound to fail. I tried interacting with a few people caught up in the hysteria of it to determine sincerity, but most were highly emotional, reactive, irrational, or arrogant and hateful. When i saw that i stepped back to let it rise and fall, and that it did.

Reddit probably aided in speeding up its rise and fall.