To be effective, all we have to be is recognizable to legislators as a big enough minority. Atheists are more numerous than religious Jews, yet they wield a tiny fraction of the political power, apparently because they have never got their act together in the way the Jewish lobby so brilliantly has[.]On one hand, I think it's a good idea for atheists to "come out," as he puts it. Too many people, I fear, see atheists as a sort of immoral demons, as if fear of god is the only thing keeping society from descent into anarchy. The parallel to the gay rights movement is a good one, I think, because this is the same way many ignorant people see gays. I think coming into contact with people who make their atheism public knowledge will help break a few of these stereotypes.
At the same time, I disagree with Dawkins about the number of people who are actually atheists. Surveys consistently put this number at under 2% of the population, and my anecdotal experiences back that up. I know a lot of people who reject mainstream religions. I know very few atheists. Most people I know disregard rationality, and invent their own belief system based on what feels good. And it makes most people feel good to think that there is a loving god watching over them, or that their dead loved ones still exist, or that everything is connected by a magical force.
But, more importantly, atheists don't agree... on anything. 21% of "atheists" say they believe in god. Of course, you can say they're not real atheists, but they're going to be wearing the scarlet "A" with the rest of us. Do I want to associate myself with these people? Or really, do I want to associate myself with anyone? Atheists by definition have non-mainstream views. Some of them are probably pretty horrible. Who is to say what they goals of an atheist political movement would be? Atheists disagree on religion in the public square, abortion, gay marriage, war, and every other political concern. What could this movement actually do?
As I attempted to show previously, there is a difference between religion and faith. Labeling yourself an "atheist" is a declaration of your religion. Plenty of atheists have faith, just not in god (leaving aside, for the moment, that pesky 21%). Their faith is incompatible with my views.
The danger of mainstreaming atheism is that the same thing happens that happened to mainstream religion: it becomes corrupted. It starts having rules, and tenets, and membership dues.
Atheism is not a belief system. It is the rejection of one factual proposition. There is too much variety among atheists to have a viable political movement. In order to have a movement, that variety will need to be extinguished for the "greater good." I don't think it's worth it.
Atheists really have no common goals, so it wouldn't be much of a political movement on the order of a Jewish lobby. That said, I do wish a consistent, respected Atheist movement would take hold to show that Atheists can hold the same values even without the same beliefs. I'm always disappointed to see "Atheist" or "godless" slung as an insult, when in my mind it's a compliment.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I'd be better off in a country that isn't so single-mindedly god-based (even though it isn't, really).
The aim of changing the way theists stereotype atheists doesn't seem to be a political aim to me at all. You don't need a political movement, you need a cultural movement, or even a good marketing campaign. However, this country has a history of clinging to cruel prejudices, and I think the road toward de-vilifying atheists in the public's eye will be a long one.
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