Often the religious accuse atheist as "believing in nothing". This idea is absurd because believing in an idea requires the focus to be about something. Try to imagine "nothing". No air. No Dirt. No Sun. The most common response to this assertion is not collecting stamps being a hobby or not playing golf is a sport.
When this idea fails they try to redefine atheist to mean something other than what the person defines it as. So instead of atheism meaning "lack of belief in gods" they define it as something odd like a belief in magic fairies then attack the new definition. This is a red herring. You can't make up a definition and attack someone for it. That's like being arrested for a crime that the officer made up a moment before.
Of course, atheist are not immune to beliefs. Our brains are wired to accept an idea with imperfect information. Often this has been said that if we are out on the plains and you see the grass move you have two choices. 1. Accept that a predator maybe in the grass. 2. It's the wind. If the ladder is true and you decided to stay then no harm done. Otherwise you are lunch so the cost of believing in the former is low. This concept is still with us in modern times. We have to use reason to over come it but I think most people are not taught critical thinking.
The thing to remember is that the only idea atheist agree on is there's no proof of gods which is why they don't believe in gods. Most atheist still have other irrational beliefs. One of the most common belief is hoplaphobia. They will use logic and reason if you talk about gods but when it comes to politics they will be just as believing as the most fundamentalist theist.
I've known atheists that are conservative Republicans and some who are liberal democrats. They are all over the spectrum. I've known atheist who argue the soldiers joined to kill kids, homeopathy cures illness, or chiropractors do something beyond popping joints.
Getting the gods virus out of your head is a good start but that doesn't mean that we are all rational. We are all human. The only way to fix this problem is to educate people. I would say being an atheist is just a good start.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
A political party
I recently attended the FreeOK conference. Obviously, Atheist are concerned about politics because that is something that affects us all by making laws that we all must follow. I just don't think we have a place (party) to call home. All my theist friends (who are usually far Right Conservative) call me a liberal because of most of my views. The word "liberal" doesn't mean much anymore because that's a label given by conservatives to everyone who doesn't agree with them. I don't fit into any predetermined slot. If anything I am more center which means I'm hated by all sides, but it also means I am a swing vote and loved by both. This is the main reason why I hate labels.
The number of people who are atheist in this country is growing. [1] Atheist made up about 16% in the last survey which is a lot of power in this country especially if everyone speaks with one voice. That would rival organizations such as the NRA.
So why don't we create our own party and join that one? Maybe we should take over the Green Party (or some other party). There are a lot of political parties out there. I've seen other parties that are just renamed Democrats and Republicans. I find it amusing that most people (especially conservatives) have no idea why they support their party's platform and merely parrot the party line. When you prove them wrong they spew hate filled speech about how you are stupid.
Atheist only agree with each other on one question and that is the existence of god. They are some atheist that lean to the Republican side as well as the Democrats. All of us would probably agree with the protecting the separation of church and state.
The problem comes in we have a two party system. Generally speaking the third parties have only handed one of the two the election. Think about the 2000 election where Nader pulled enough votes to where Bush got elected. Perot? We have to get involved in politics. We have to take over the two parties. I would love to see an openly atheist Republican person get elected just as much as I would like to see an Democrat. That is the only way we are going to make a difference. We have to stop voting against someone and start voting for someone.
To get started, I think we need to join some organization that shares our common goals. Something to help us organize our effort and pool our resources. I'm thinking of something organized like the NRA or unions. Whether or not you agree with the message of the NRA, they have power because they have a very narrow political focus thus they appeal to people who lean to the left and right. I don't have anything to do with the NRA because they want you to have a gun as long as you follow Christianity.
I don't know what the solution is but it better get found soon.
Source:
1. http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf
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