6.28.2010

How to Find an Atheist Support Group

support group.jpgIn many parts of the U.S., being an atheist can be a lonely experience. Persons living in such areas may face tremendous pressure to conceal their atheism. For many reasons, we need a strong secular community, and the local level is where to start. The good news is that we appear to be in the midst of a growth spurt in atheist-oriented groups. In this post, I want to address how atheists can find like-minded individuals with whom to connect. I'll offer specific tips on where you can go to find other atheists in your area.

6.25.2010

The No True Christians Claim is Embarrassing

stupid

Proud Atheists was an outstanding atheist blog that I read for years until it closed following the death of its author. One of my favorite posts, "Dear Christians, I Simply Do Not…” was a great atheist manifesto. But what I want to talk about here is a comment left on a post rather than the post itself. Here is the full unedited comment:

Please do not lump all Christians in the "born again" group, as they are really not true Christians. If you are open minded yes I can tell you how to find out weather God is real or not ( you will find that God is real ). One of the things you will find is there is a man walking the planet at this time he is the Rebirth of Jesus Christ, you can tell who he is by saying the right prayers in his presence when the time is right he will come forward in the apocalipse, it’s really not what people think. We who are of the oldest Christian sect know better then the wantabees who think they know Christ and God. The other way requires praying also and is less hard on one’s soul. In the end anyone who wants can prove to themselves God is real just takes pray and a open mind and a little guidance (from the right people) to find God.

6.23.2010

Success of Atheist Community Depends on Ability to Look Beyond Our Experiences

belonging.jpgOver the last few years, I have written quite a bit about the importance of atheist community. I have argued that we need a secular community, applauded the growth of atheist groups across the world, and suggested that we could learn much from other successful movements. This is important stuff because we have strength in numbers and because those who would do us harm count on our disorganization and apathy. In this post, I'd like to address what has been one of our primary obstacles and suggest a way through it.

6.21.2010

Understanding Apathetic Atheists

apathy.jpgLaughing in Purgatory (update: link no longer active) had a good post recently about how to get apathetic atheists to take action. This isn't something I've written much about, and it isn't something I've seen many other atheists addressing. We all acknowledge that it is a problem, but we have few solutions.

As I read the post, it occurred to me that it might be helpful to see if we can't generate a list of some of the most common reasons for apathy among atheists. That is, what leads atheists to become apathetic and what makes it easier for them to remain that way? Maybe this would be a good first step in figuring out how to reduce apathy?

6.17.2010

Confronting Religiously Motivated Idiocy

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2008 seems like an awfully long time ago, doesn't it? Way back in 2008, I wrote a brief and long-since deleted post about the results of a Baylor University poll that found the following reasons to be ashamed of these here United States:

  • 55% of Americans believe that they are protected by guardian angels
  • 25% claim to have witnessed miraculous healings
  • 20% claim to have heard some sort of god speak to them
  • 8% speak in tongues
If you are an atheist living in the U.S., you have undoubtedly seen data just like these countless times. Several polling organizations publish them at least once a year. Like me, you have probably struggled to understand how such beliefs could be present in our modern age.

6.16.2010

Forgiveness: Atheists Can Do It Too

dandelion seeds

There are not very many ideas routinely characterized as Christian (regardless of their actual origin) that I like, but forgiveness is one of them. Granted, I find all the stuff about divine forgiveness, sin, salvation, heaven, and the like to be laughably absurd. These notions are little more than the most primitive forms of wish fulfillment, and we would do well to abandon them. But the idea that we should strive to forgive others who have wronged us? Well, that does hold some appeal.

Christians are sometimes criticized for pushing forgiveness to unrealistic extremes (e.g., turning the other cheek). Such criticism may be deserved. I think we can all imagine scenarios where forgiving someone might be almost impossible or even contraindicated. And if forgiveness is about absolving the other person of all responsibility for their actions, then we can find countless examples of persons or organizations who do not deserve our forgiveness.

6.13.2010

Is Atheism a Choice?

I have been conducting an informal (i.e., non-scientific) poll of my Twitter followers on the following question:
Is atheism a choice? I mean, could you simply start believing in fairy tales again if you wanted to?
choiceObviously, the manner in which I worded the question was fairly poor by anyone's standards. But I'm not sure it would have made much difference in this case. The unanimous response I've received is that atheism is not a choice and really isn't even so much a decision as a reflection of the available data.

The question of whether atheism is a choice is an important one, with many implications for how to spread the atheist meme, how to interact with believers, and the like. After all, if atheism is not really a choice, then must we not make the same concession for religious belief?

6.11.2010

Worship as Self-Love

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How exactly does one worship something one cannot define, something for which one has no coherent definition? How could this possibly be distinguished from worshiping nothing? It would seem to me that the best someone could do would be to worship a vague idea of this undefined something. And where would such an idea come from? Undoubtedly, it would be influenced by many sources (e.g., a text, the teachings of one's parents or one's church). But at root, it would come from one's own mind. It would be one's interpretation of various sources, blended to form a conceptualization that would be similar but not identical to that of other devotees.

6.10.2010

Should Atheists Help Predominately Christian People in Need?

helping-hands.jpgSince the earthquake struck Haiti, it became clear that countless atheists were interested in donating to relief efforts. Some contributed immediately to a variety of organizations without regard for whether such organizations might have a religious agenda; others contributed to explicitly secular efforts designed to help combat the stereotype that atheists are uninterested in charitable giving.

I noted a recent example of the latter in the form of Non-Believers Giving Aid, and there have been several others establishing ways for atheists to support relief efforts without having to support proselytizing. What I had not anticipated in this context was the question raised by one commenter on a post I wrote about Haiti: whether atheists should give at all to help a predominately Christian country such as Haiti.

6.09.2010

The Family: Worse Than Christian Extremism

sharlet-the_family.jpgThe publication of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet first opened our eyes to an secretive world few had imagined. Right here in the U.S., something resembling a shadow government right out of a political thriller had been operating under our noses for decades. Powerful members of Congress from both parties have been meeting together and with assorted world leaders in prayer sessions led by anti-democratic extremists without our knowledge. We know "the Family" primarily thanks to the high-profile Republican sex scandals at the "C Street House," but I am discovering in the pages of Sharlet's book that what still hasn't received sufficient attention in the mainstream media is far more disturbing.

According to a post by Bruce Wilson (Huffington Post), the Family is essentially a Christian dominionist group. Sharlet's book confirms this to some degree but contains more than a few surprises. There is more than Christian extremism happening here, much more. What I am beginning to realize is that progressive, moderate, and even fairly conservative Christians have as much if not more to fear from the Family than we atheists. It is clear that some of what I wrote previously about this organization requires considerable expansion.

6.04.2010

I Get E-Mail From a 12 Year-Old

I'm sure the parents of the self-identified 12 year-old girl who emailed me would be trilled to know that their daughter is browsing atheist blogs. Here is what she had to say minus her name:
How can you believe there isn\'t a God? Look at the world around you. Look at your body. Who created you? If you don\'t believe in God then how do you think the world was created? If you think it was chemicals, then who created the chemicals?We couldn\'t be made of chemicals as we have feelings and we can think. I believe in God. We have very different views but believing in God has helped me to want to be a good person and I am actually afraid to do bad things as I am afraid of God. If believing in God helps people then religion should stay. If being an atheist helps you to be a good person then please could you tell me how, but I cannot see how. If you do not like the picture below then feel free to take it off (if you put it as a comment on the blog) but that is my veiw.
Unfortunately, the link to a picture you included took me to an error page on Photobucket, so I never got to see it.