The Fallacy of Atheism's Public Relations Problem

I think we can all agree that atheists are an unpopular minority in the United States. We've seen countless examples of bigotry directed at us by Christians, including elected officials who are supposed to know better. And it is not just the Christians; the record is not much better for members of other mainstream religions. I suspect we can agree that there are multiple reasons for how we are perceived by many religious individuals.

A number of prominent atheist bloggers, women and men whose work I respect, seem to share the opinion that one of the most important obstacles faced by modern atheists is our lousy public image. Some even appear to suggest that this image is largely of our own making. Again and again, we are cautioned against offending the religious. We are told, "Don't be a dick," and our tactics are criticized as too rude or too assertive. We are accused of picking the wrong battles, and some of our activism is labeled as counterproductive. Many of us are now seen as part of the problem because our particular brand of atheism contributes to bad PR. That is, we are not nice enough, tame enough, or passive enough.

Sexism in the Atheist Community: Sexism and Misogyny

Sexism and misogyny are loaded terms in that nobody wants to be accused of either of them. But what do they mean? I have seen many prominent atheist bloggers using these terms interchangeably. This was a surprise, as I've always understood them to be related but distinct concepts. I think it may be helpful to define these terms and determine whether they mean the same thing or not.

Secular Activism is Needed to Oppose Religious Thuggery

Religious thuggery (i.e., attempts to impose religiously derived preferences on others through violence) is nothing new. We have encountered many examples of upset Christians using it to intimidate those with whom they disagree or to punish those who were successful in protecting the separation of church and state. But religious thuggery is not unique to Christians. In some ways, Islam seems to have perfected it.

Adam Lee (Daylight Atheism) wrote an informative post in which he reviews many recent examples where Muslims have attempted to suppress any criticism of their religion. And yes, there has been some thuggery involved. Many Muslims seem to have little tolerance for free expression when it involves criticism of their religious beliefs by non-Muslims. In case after case, we see offended Muslims seek to silence criticism through intimidation. And when non-violent approaches fail, blatant thuggery is quick to emerge.

The Purpose of Prayer

This simple chart provides a fairly accurate description of why prayer serves no real purpose. Assuming that the god at which religious believers are directing their prayers has some sort of plan for them, as most Christians insist, prayer is either redundant or futile. If one's prayer happens to coincide with the will one one's preferred god, it ends up being redundant. On the other hand, if one's prayer conflicts with the will of one's preferred god, it ends up being futile. In either case, prayer serves no purpose.

I should note one important omission from the chart. Prayer, even if it has no purpose in the sense described by the chart might temporarily make a believer feel better. For this reason, one could argue that temporary self-soothing is the only purpose that could be served by prayer.

Church-State Heroes Face Threats of Violence from Christians

We've seen it happen countless times. A U.S. citizen has the courage to stand up for the First Amendment of our Constitution and subsequently faces a barrage of insults, including threats of physical harm or even death, from Christians. Why it happens is no mystery. Significant numbers of Christians are hateful and feel justified in behaving this way when their privilege is threatened. It does not matter to them whether the subject of the original complaint was illegal; all that matters is that they perceive a threat to their Christian privilege and believe it is acceptable to react by threatening the brave individual who requested that the law be enforced.

Sexism in the Atheist Community: Initial Objections

I have only written two posts so far in this series on sexism in the atheist community, an introduction to the series and an explanation of why I believe that sexism is a problem in our community, and I have already received quite a few objections. A few have come in the form of comments; many more have come via email, Twitter, etc. Some have raised important issues that map on well to future posts I have planned for the series, and it makes sense to address them at that time. Others have raised the possibility that a series like this is just a bad idea and that I am hopelessly deluded for even attempting it. It is this latter group that I'd like to address here.

Turn or Burn: A Case of Hate Speech in the U.K.

Five Muslim men are on trial in the U.K. under a hate crimes law for distributing anti-gay leaflets that depicted gay men being executed for the "crime" of being gay. The purpose of the literature appeared to be one of encouraging hatred and even violence against homosexuals. One actually called for the death penalty for homosexual behavior. According to The Telegraph, this case is the first prosecution of an anti-gay hate crime since the law was changed in 2010 to include sexual orientation.

The Danger of Freethought

Atheists are commonly viewed as potential threats by religious individuals. This is often justified by their concerns about our morality, as many doubt that we can be good without their preferred god(s). I think it is also fair to speculate that we may be viewed in this manner because our presence reminds religious believers that the might be wrong. However, I've been wondering lately about whether an even more important reason for perceiving us as a threat might be our tendency to question the status quo, particularly the religious privilege that is a central part of it.

Sexism in the Atheist Community: We Have a Problem

What type of atheist community do we want? I want an atheist community that is diverse and that goes far beyond merely tolerating diversity. I want an atheist community that celebrates diversity and that strives to be welcoming to all atheists.

This is not the sort of atheist community we currently have. How do I know? First and most importantly, I have heard the accounts of many atheist women. Many have not experienced our community as particularly welcoming. It is great that some have, but many others have not. In fact, many have felt marginalized and have described the atheist community as a "boys' club." A few examples:

• Some women report that their contributions and those of other women are not taken as seriously during meetings or group interactions as the contributions of men.
• Prominent female atheists are often overlooked at conferences or various lists of influential atheists.
• There is a tendency for women to be sexualized, even in contexts that have nothing to do with sex.

What makes me think that the atheist community has a problem with sexism? Many women have said so. Isn't that enough? It is for me, but there are two other factors I'd like to mention even though they are somewhat extraneous.

Sexism in the Atheist Community: Introduction

"Oh, come on! Not another blog writing about sexism in the atheist community!" Yep. I have been thinking about this subject a great deal lately. This is certainly not a new problem, but a growing number of atheist women I respect have come forward and explained that many women do not feel welcome in the atheist community. They have shared more than enough evidence to erase any skepticism I might have had. I've been asking myself how I have contributed to this problem. I've been asking myself what I have done to be part of the solution. Needless to say, I was not satisfied with the answers.

Irrational Atheists

As atheists, many of us aspire to be more rational. And yet, we are still human. We are still prone to the same biases, prejudices, and cognitive errors known by cognitive scientists to be part of how our human brains function. While some atheists may be more rational than our religious counterparts on the question of gods, not all atheists arrived at or maintain their atheism through rational means. And once one sets aside the question of gods and examines other topics, one finds little evidence that atheists are any more rational than religious believers.