The Atheist Visibility Movement: Should Atheists Slam Religion or Show Respect?

A Midwestern atheist tells of sitting in her lunchroom at work and listening as conversation opened up about religious differences. Her co-workers included several kinds of Protestants, a Catholic, a Jew.  “At least there aren’t any atheists around here,” one woman said in a warm inclusive tone.

If being direct means slamming religion, yes, religion should be slammed. We want to to be diplomatic, not disingenuous. However saying “religion is nonsense” may be true, yet it doesn’t reveal anything new about religion nor is it diplomatic; so it is no departure-point for discussion. Best is to be direct and if the religious take offense then you have done all you can do to communicate.. nothing more can be done. If you say:

“religion derived from hundreds of thousands of years of humans fearing/marveling at natural phenomena (stars-planets, comets, earthquakes, volcanoes, storms, floods, lightning, etc.); animals (dangerous reptiles such as crocodiles being thought of as dragons representing evil) the seasons (dying and resurrecting gods/goddesses of agriculture), and so forth”...

but a religious person takes offense, then your conscience is clear, you tried to comminicate but it went nowhere—and you can’t spend all day discussing religion.

Honestly, I have spent a good many years being bullied by believers. But, among the most obnoxious of those believers were evangelical atheists. There is nothing like, say, being publicly and loudly rebuked for automatically responding to a sneeze with a “God Bless You,” to make one truly detest humanists everywhere.

So, if atheists could, perhaps, put their passion on a setting somewhere below boil, it might be a good thing.

vs
belfortandbastion.com

I see no reason whatsoever for changing the atheist/humanist strategy. In case you haven’t been paying attention, we’re winning. The non-superstitionists now form the base of an expanding pyramid pushing the superstitionists upward to an ever-diminishing point. All we need to do is keep on keeping on, and wait for the older generation to die off.

We’re still thirty-five years behind, you say? Sounds great to me! By the time I’m on my deathbed, we will have largely succeeded. No, I don’t intend to change my tactics one iota. To eschew some of our finest tactics is just plain foolish, especially when the enemy is just beginning to realize how weak their position is. Presuppositional apologetics, anyone?

Respect? All people deserve respect, but their beliefs, not necessarily so.

Atheists have been told from time immemorial that they’re doomed, immoral, hellbound, offensive, not equals. And never was “respect” a problem until atheists started organizing and pushing back.

And even now, no one seems to mind the despicable insults continually hurled at atheists.

Religious ideas are claimed to be above criticism because they cannot withstand criticism.

Intomorrow,
  How certain are you that you are avoiding the psychological fallacy of substituting explanation for argument?

Whether people hold beliefs out of fear or selfish gain says nothing about whether the events in the life of Christ really transpired or not.

Also, I want to share an additional website featuring the voices of women who have had abortions:

http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/

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