Out and About with Atheists
Last night I attended a talk at UC Berkeley put on by Students for a Non-Religious Ethos (SANE), and the speaker was Hemant Mehta of Friendly Atheist fame. The talk was primarily about his eBay story — he is the ‘man who sold his soul on eBay’ — but his overall message was that non-believers shouldn’t be so quick to throw up a wall and alienate moderate theists. Not only because the eucharist-in-the-garbage-bin approach is detrimental to our image as atheists, but if we really want to work for the common good, we can’t erect imaginary barriers between ourselves and others who are essentially on our side.
I really dug that. I mean, I’ll admit that I gravitate to the more militant end of the spectrum, and it’s fun watching PZ Myers go at it. However, you can’t make it an all out culture war, and that kind of resonated with me. On the other hand, I could tell that some of the other people at the talk were just expecting more ammunition for their anti-theist rhetorical arsenal.
I’m all for inclusiveness, but there is one important caveat. We shouldn’t be afraid to stand our ground when the stakes are high. Abstinence-only education and creationism aren’t equally valid opinions, they are straight up wrong, and we have evidence for it. They shouldn’t even be granted consideration in rational discourse. In contrast, the morality of abortion and stem cell research should probably be open for discussion. These are hard questions.
Tags: Abstinence only education, atheism, Friendly Atheist, Religious moderates, SANE
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Thank you for posting this. And I especially appreciate your links to sites (eucharist-in-the-garbage-bin) and references to PZ Myers (the transubstantiation thing has always amused me) which are totally new to me. (Where do you find this stuff anyway? You must be Googling like crazy.) At this point in my life (50s), I’ve pretty much come to terms with my religious-spiritual-humanistic beliefs but it’s still interesting to see other people work through theirs. So many don’t, they just cling to the package they are given by their parents.
I agree that it’s important to let people have their beliefs (Really, what else can you do, insist they believe as you do? — As if you were the omnipotent one?) But when their silly seeming, illogical beliefs are in danger of harming you, they really must be squashed.
The true nature of the Universe and mankind, what caused and what happened after the alleged “Big Bang,” what made man, what made consciousness, what made awareness of mortality, why do humans fear death, those are still up for grabs, even after millenniums of thought and belief.
I believe that science, real science, hard science, confirmable science, will eventually unlock the secrets of the Universe. Unfortunately, that probably won’t be in my lifetime, maybe yours. As my grandma replied when her arrogant, immature grandson said when he asked her, “Grandma, wouldn’t you like to have been born when I was,” “No, I’d rather have been born when you die.” Smart grandma.
In the meantime, a fresh-ground hamburger with Jack cheese, French (excuse me, “Freedom”) fries, and home made cole slaw will suffice. Oh, did I mention the mayonnaise and catsup? Condiments are my favorite food group! I hope you’re not eating something faggy like sushi tonight.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
The distinction in how to behave toward nutty beliefs is the distinction between one-on-one social contacts - which is where you convince people that atheism is a good way to live your life - and the public sphere, i.e. secular government. So, if someone wants to believe in the tooth fairy, I’d rather they didn’t because they would live a better life and probably be more productive, which benefits me, but that’s not up to me, and their toothfairyism won’t cause me that much of a problem anyway. But if they try to teach my kids about the tooth fairy in a public school, that’s where it does become a problem. We all of us have irrational beliefs, but when we agree on the rules we all live by, we don’t expect anyone else to respect those irrational beliefs. Consequently the irrational beliefs based on groupthink are the ones we have to worry about.