I have them all labelled now. To see them in reverse chronological order,
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Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
On Divisive Atheists and Some Freethought Bloggers
In February 2002, four years before his book The God Delusion was released in 2006, Richard Dawkins called atheists to arms in a TED talk. His talk wasn’t aired until April of 2007. He makes it clear he wants a campaign much like the gays used to gain acceptability in American society. His final sentence was, "let's all stop being so damned respectful."
At that point there was a split among atheists. A line was drawn in the sand. Although I admit that his approach has been very effective in getting people to take notice of atheists, at the same time I object to the demand that other atheists must adopt that same attitude or approach.
At that point there was a split among atheists. A line was drawn in the sand. Although I admit that his approach has been very effective in getting people to take notice of atheists, at the same time I object to the demand that other atheists must adopt that same attitude or approach.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Some Things I Know That Freethought Bloggers Should Take Note
There are a few things that I'm fairly confident about.
1) I'm a good person, a caring person. The atheists attacking me do not know me and have never sat down over some coffee or a beer to know this. They would like me if we did. I know this. We have a great deal in common too. It's easy to dehumanize someone whom you have never met.
2) I try not to sweat the small stuff, and it's mostly small stuff. My age gives me this perspective.
3) I've faced bigger challenges and survived, much bigger.
4) Bad press is still good press. That goes for Hollywood and it goes here as well.
5) People forget and move on eventually. Time is on my side. It's something to talk about that will die down soon enough. Then in a few weeks they'll find someone else to vilify. It's what people do. We set the boundaries for the people we want to include in our in-grouping by excluding others.
6) The largely confrontational activist type of atheism at Freethought Blogs is not representational of atheism among most academics. This is not to say it isn't needed, because it is, very much so. It's just not representational of academic atheists.
7) Most atheists and most Christians aren't even aware of our dispute, and most of those who have heard don't give a damn. After all, it doesn't affect their lives one bit.
8) Some Freethought Bloggers have an exaggerated sense of their own importance in the over-all scheme of things. It's easy to think this since people choose to believe what they prefer is true. But I know enough to know that I'm not important much at all.
9) Most of us use words as weapons (and I'm no exception). We construct arguments against others just because we don't like them. Sometimes our disputes are merely saying "I don't like you," with no real substance at all. When we see ignorance then we can be pretty sure that's what's going on.
10) I have plenty of friends but no personal atheist friends to hang out with where I live. I am not part of any atheist organization. Nor do I have any institutional support. I have gone it alone from the time I rejected Christianity until now. So the atheists attacking me cannot do me any harm. They can only harm our combined effectiveness.
1) I'm a good person, a caring person. The atheists attacking me do not know me and have never sat down over some coffee or a beer to know this. They would like me if we did. I know this. We have a great deal in common too. It's easy to dehumanize someone whom you have never met.
2) I try not to sweat the small stuff, and it's mostly small stuff. My age gives me this perspective.
3) I've faced bigger challenges and survived, much bigger.
4) Bad press is still good press. That goes for Hollywood and it goes here as well.
5) People forget and move on eventually. Time is on my side. It's something to talk about that will die down soon enough. Then in a few weeks they'll find someone else to vilify. It's what people do. We set the boundaries for the people we want to include in our in-grouping by excluding others.
6) The largely confrontational activist type of atheism at Freethought Blogs is not representational of atheism among most academics. This is not to say it isn't needed, because it is, very much so. It's just not representational of academic atheists.
7) Most atheists and most Christians aren't even aware of our dispute, and most of those who have heard don't give a damn. After all, it doesn't affect their lives one bit.
8) Some Freethought Bloggers have an exaggerated sense of their own importance in the over-all scheme of things. It's easy to think this since people choose to believe what they prefer is true. But I know enough to know that I'm not important much at all.
9) Most of us use words as weapons (and I'm no exception). We construct arguments against others just because we don't like them. Sometimes our disputes are merely saying "I don't like you," with no real substance at all. When we see ignorance then we can be pretty sure that's what's going on.
10) I have plenty of friends but no personal atheist friends to hang out with where I live. I am not part of any atheist organization. Nor do I have any institutional support. I have gone it alone from the time I rejected Christianity until now. So the atheists attacking me cannot do me any harm. They can only harm our combined effectiveness.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Why This Blog?
Because I need a place where I don't have to worry what Christians will think, since they believe atheists are angry and hateful people. Because I need a place where I can answer my atheist critics out of the earshot of Christians. Because I need a place to vent. Stay tuned.
[Edit: This blog would have largely gone under the radar had not PZ Myers linked to it. That's the way it goes sometimes.]
[Edit: This blog would have largely gone under the radar had not PZ Myers linked to it. That's the way it goes sometimes.]
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