http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/us/16beliefs.html I highly recommend this article, though as an atheist I was dumbfounded by just how dysfunctional these folks are. While the article is supposed to be serious (I think), the author is freaking hilarious. I mean this could have been published in the Onion and it would have been just as relevant. Some gems:
Confrontationalists vs Accomodationists. LOL! Can you have a schysm if you're not a religion? But I don't see anything particularly dysfunctional in their behavior. Lets see... A bunch of people who agree with each other on a major point get together and end up fighting over minor disagreements. I'd say such behavior is par for the course, for human beings.
It's like anarchists trying to organize. What's the point? Being an atheist I enjoy nothing more than watching christians in America work themselves in to a frenzy at the real and imagined attacks on their religion. What's with the need to have christianity constantly reaffirmed as the state religion? As for atheists, what can we organize around; nothing?
Well, you can organize around hating those evil acomodationists. Or else you can organize about despising those radical confrontationalists.
I made a similar joke with a coworker of mine that goes to atheist meet-ups. I asked him what they do, get together and talk about nothing? I have enough weird people in my life. No thanks.
Well, I'm not an "organized atheist" either, but I can see the point in organizing. When people have a common goal, it absolutely makes sense to organize. The problem with gatherings like the one described above is of course that the people there haven't really figured out their common goal. They probably think that they should have one, but unless they take the time to actually formalize that goal, they'll get nowhere. Is it to learn to deal with a predominantly Christian society? Is it to limit the influence of religion on the public sphere? Is it to actively fight religion? Is it to educate people on science and religions? So if atheism is all that unites these people, it's not enough. Secular humanism on the other hand would actually provide a basis for some kind of movement, but since atheism is not a prerequisite for being a secular humanist, some might feel that it's not going far enough. Personally, I think that the "atheism" thing is really not the best rallying cry. By itself, it's not enough to form a group. Just like a-fascism wouldn't be enough to unite monarchists with communists.
The article is hilarious, because with all due respect, you could replace atheist and secular with Christian and you would have a perfectly true article about evangelical sub-culture, with exact quotes. Seriously, you realize that we have the exact same discussions and conversations across the evangelical Christian spectrum, but in reverse. I realize that many of you on these boards are intellectually honest and don't see your self as part of an "atheist movement," and I think that is fair. But really this is too much, with all due respect. And by the way, I am all for atheists organizing and doing what they want to do, and having a wider voice in the culture.
No, the Judean Popular People's Front. We want to debate whether it is a waste of time to spend so much of our time debating.
i think it's a waste of time to stop refusing to accommodate people who fail to disagree with me on non-essential matters upon which i have never founded my basic argument.
Well you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
Well in youtube the rage is on how Thunderfoot has gone Islamophobe ala Pat Condell. yes I am a nerd!
Thunderfoot has said that he's going back to the science stuff and will lay off the ilamaphobia and other rantings.
I saw that, he does say he has one more video about Islam. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbHuztsuRIs"]YouTube - Listening to Subscribers[/ame] Good T-Foot is at his best when doing science stuff.
The whole charade is pure Monty Python..... "Are you the People's Front of Judea?" "Nah, We're the Judean People's Front" "Didn't you used to belong to the Liberation Front For The Judean People?" (you get the drift....) When it comes to religion, Life of Brian got it spot on. .
Or maybe, since non-religious people tend to do absolutely the same thing that should read: When it comes to people, "Life of Brian" got it spot on. Which is kind of the point. Religion really isn't the problem, per se. People are. Even if there was no religion, humans would still be killing each other and oppressing each other in the name of something.
I think in that scene MP was having a laugh at the expense of the leftist political groups of the 1970s. Although no doubt it works for religious groups just as well. And apparently also for atheists conventions.
'oly Writ makes it all the more elegant though, dontcha know? Sez 'ere we's supposed to stone infidels, ain't we? Nuffin' like a stonin' to get the rabble in line, yeah.
the last witch we burned at our church had 47 cats. about 43% of the congregation wanted to let it slide, but 52% voted to torch the guy. the remaining 5% had never heard of the lolcat bible, so their votes didn't count. i mean, really!
But we did build a bridge out of her first, so there was reasonable proof. And if atheists just burn witch burners, is that better?