If you are any part of the "atheist community" then you would have heard about Sam Harris ' latest speech in which he said:
So, let me make my somewhat seditious proposal explicit: We should not call ourselves “atheists.” We should not call ourselves “secularists.” We should not call ourselves “humanists,” or “secular humanists,” or “naturalists,” or “skeptics,” or “anti-theists,” or “rationalists,” or “freethinkers,” or “brights.” We should not call ourselves anything. We should go under the radar—for the rest of our lives. And while there, we should be decent, responsible people who destroy bad ideas wherever we find them.
It did not go over well and there was a bit of an uproar, I guess. He has issued a response to the number of people who were very critical of what he had to say... and that has also sparked a notable debate amongst those who believe him to be dead-on and those who think he is wrong.
Personally... I am so confuzzled by this whole thing. I don't even really know where to start but I'm going to try to attempt to say what my mind is currently thinking.
Now, first off, the term "atheist" means "without theism"/"non-theism". "Theism" is "the belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world" (or something along those lines). So when you put the two together... "atheist" means "without the belief in the existence of a god or gods..." or "non-belief in the existence of a god or gods..." (you can throw "supernatural" in there too). To me, it's really quite as simple as that. There is nothing controversial about the word in and of itself. It is what it is. The end.
Recently, an "atheist movement" has been taking place (or this is what I have personally perceived it to be). People without the belief in the existence of a god or gods (or the supernatural) have been making their displeasure with overtly Christian way things are run in this country known. People without the belief in the existence of a god or gods (or the supernatural) have stepped forward and said "What you are doing is exclusionary and it needs to change to better fit our United States Constitution". Of course this has been happening for some time now.. but before it was on an individual level and those who stepped forward and were demonized and made out to be an evil, rare breed who just want to remove Christian values from the United States because they "hate God" or are "working for Satan". People who agreed with them kept their mouths shut out of fear of having something happen to them (physical harm, loss of a job, loss of friends, loss of family, etc.). I can probably even go a step further and restate that sentence: People without the belief in the existence of god or gods who agreed with them kept their mouths shut out of fear of having something happen to them. Those few who had belief and who agreed were not quite as afraid because they still had that belief there backing them up. Then came this "new atheist" movement.
People without the belief in the existence of a god or gods started to write books, give conferences, put out fliers, form groups, etc. People without the belief in the existence of a god or gods who had previously kept quiet out of fear started to say to themselves "Hey! They're like me! I'm not alone!" and some of them stopped being afraid. Those with belief in a god or gods, expecially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world, saw that their attempt at building a Christian theocracy in America was threated and so......... began to make up things like an "atheist religion" or an "atheist dogma" or the "militant atheist" label. Although I didn't think that people would fall for it... apparently they have. As ridiculous as it is... people are now "debating" (i.e. fighting) about whether or not people without the belief in a god or gods, including a personal God as creator and ruler of the world... should call themselves... ATHEIST. Is this some kind of joke?
Atheism is not a religion. Even if atheists all group up and make some kind of atheist club... it does not make it a religion. There is no dogma. No required reading. No required thoughts. No required hatred, pity, or disgust for those who are religious. No required proselytizing to gain more members. No rules to live by. You either belief in a god or gods or you don't! As a minority in the country (the least trusted minority) there is nothing wrong with having a kind of counter-group to make sure that people who are not religious are represented in some way. If you stay in the shadows... then no one will know you are there. Or perhaps they will know some are there but that they aren't important.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is... I have no idea what is going on and I think it's absurd for the least trusted minority group to be squabbling about whether or not to call itself by it's politically correct definition. An atheist can be all kinds of things. They can be humanists. They can be democrats. They can be gun-enthusiasts. They can be tattoo artists. They can be CEOs. The only thing that "atheist" defines is the religious aspect. I'm an atheist when asked the religious question. I am a person who is without belief in a god or gods, including a personal God that is a creator and ruler of the world. I also consider myself a free thinker. I am also fairly humanist (though I haven't looked too much into what that means and so wouldn't say that I am "a humanist"). I'm also half-black and half-white. I am also a lover of Japanese culture. I am also a feminist and pro-choice. I am also gamer.
I understand the sentiment that atheists have no positivity in the label. It describes a "without" and a "non". But.... like... I don't see what's wrong with that! At what point did atheists decide that they have to be "pro" something. That is not what atheism is. If you want to be "pro" something then you join that group of people... "atheist" is not the only label you have and certainly not the only group you can belong to. If you are a secularist as well then you join that group and your positive is to ensure that the country remains secular. If you are a feminist then you join the group that works to ensure that women are given equality in society (as much as humanly possible). If you are a humanist then you work towards the positives of humanity. Atheism never claimed to be a hip and cool club for people to join. It simply describes your views on religion.
 | I am an atheist. I identify with other atheists as much as I identify with other people who have tattoos or stretched ears or dark skin or a vagina and boobs or artistic ability or pink hair or love Radiohead ... whatever. If that's the only thing we have in common (atheism) then that's cool and all.. but we're probably not going to be friends and we'll most likely only agree on a select few things. That doesn't make me any less of an atheist or the other person any less of an atheist. |
It just means that we have no fear of speaking about such matters with each other and there will be no judgment in that regard. Or.... at least... it used to mean that. At this point it's looking like if you're an atheist who identifies with the word atheist or if you're an atheist who would rather not be labeled in that way... then you're not on the same "team". How ridiculous is that?
Maybe I'm reading too much into this. I don't even know if what I said makes sense or has a point. This whole thing is just baffling me. I don't give a crap if an atheist wants to call himself an atheist or not. If I woke up one day and said I didn't want to be called a woman anymore ... it wouldn't suddenly not make me one. But would it really be effective for any other women to argue with me about whether or not I'm a woman? I don't think so. I'd just end up ostracized or hanging out with women who don't want to call themselves women and then the other women who DO call themselves women would hate us and we would hate them because we've suddenly all made ourselves not part of the same group. Like.... some people are going to identify with "atheist" and some don't want to. Great. Now that we have established that... let's continue making sure that we don't get burned at the stake by the mob waiting for this to become a "Christian Nation!". For serious. This is just.... totally beyond me.
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