Daylight Atheist has more information on the apparent feud with “fundamentalist” atheists.
It seems that Greg Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard is sponsoring an event in criticism of these “fundamentalist” atheists. Mostly it appears to be differences of opinion on how to advance humanism.
Honestly, I can’t yet make up my mind about all of this.
According to an article from The Guardian, Atheism is split over whether to embrace or attack theists. I’ll offer my view right off the bat: I’ll respect you and your beliefs if you respect me and my lack of them. This approach has worked very well for me and my wife. Yes, my wife is a devout theist. It works.
It probably helps that she doesn’t believe I’m going to hell simply because I don’t share her beliefs. She’s no more comfortable than I am with the idea of a god who prefers bad believers over good non-believers. We’re remarkably alike in our world-view overall. The presence or lack of a supreme being is more of a detail. But that’s not to say she agrees with everything I say here.
So, regarding militant atheists who want to eradicate religion — why bother? It’s doomed to failure because many people need religion. They need to believe in someone with a plan looking out for them. I have no urge to take that away from anyone.
I don’t think anyone should put up with zealots who tell them what to believe. That goes for religious and non-religious zealots alike.
However, having said that, I’ve never met an over-zealous atheist. A few of my friends will crack jokes about some of the crazy things some Christians say, do, or believe, but I’ve never known an atheist to launch a frontal attack on theism itself. I doubt these high-profile “fundamentalist” atheists really command such a large following. I agree with many things they have to say, but I don’t agree with their approach to theists in general.
Finally, I always find articles like this a little strange. They seem to imply on some level that atheism constitutes a body of like-thinking people. There’s no Church of Atheism. We don’t have membership cards or weekly meetings. Well, sometimes groups do form, but they are not representative of atheists in general any more than one book club represents all readers. As mentioned in a blog post I read recently, we come in all shapes and sizes.
A Toronto Atheist was assaulted after being seen hanging posters advertising a lecture by Victor Stenger, author of God: The Failed Hypothesis.
What is it about an unashamed lack of belief that drives some people to violence?
Debbie Schlussel recently responded to a torrent of angry emails she received for her appearance on CNN and her views on atheists.
In that response she refers to atheists as “hate-filled … future Muslim extremists”. Beyond the bizarre implication that we are all destined to go from non-religious to militantly and violently religious, her comments show her to be extremely religiously intolerant. But it’s probably just childing name-calling. She can’t really believe that around 14% of Americans are going to take up arms against their own country, can she?
Her hatred of of atheists seems to stem from lawsuits attacking led prayer in schools. It seems to me a rather minor point to get so upset about. I find it unlikely that anyone would lose their faith simply because a teacher failed to lead them in prayer.
What really bothers me, though, is that she seems to be totally OK with people being driven from their home town because they are atheists. That was what she was brought on CNN to talk about, and she spent her time badmouthing atheists.
In recent Internet wanderings, it has become apparent to me that atheism comes with some inherent dangers. I’m also learning that many people have some bizarre and disturbing misconceptions about atheists. I’ve been seeing evidence of widespread anti-atheist prejudice — something that hadn’t even showed up on my radar prior to a few months ago. A recent poll even shows that atheists are the most pre-judged of all minorities in terms of politics.
I have no interest in convincing people whether to believe in any particular religion. My hope in starting this web log is to have some small effect upon the undeserved and inaccurate ideas some people have about atheism and atheists.
Now, I know I can’t speak for all atheists. Just like everyone else, atheists run the full range of intelligence, morality, political leanings, etc. All I can offer are my opinions, thoughts, and observations. I encourage and invite anyone respond to my posts here. I’d love to hear from you whether you agree with me or not.
Expect more from me very soon.