Here’s the latest offering from my favorite YouTube atheist, Pat Condell.
Category Archives: atheism
Save the Gays? Bullsh*t
I go on some other atheist blogger’s sites and am amazed at the number of posts that are devoted to the topic of gay rights. While I wholeheartedly support gay marriage and gay rights overall, I am often at a loss to understand what I can only call an obsession that some atheists have with gay issues. Upon further introspection, it’s really not so much that they are covering gay issues, but that they are constantly portraying them as victims. They’re not just victims; they’re heroes and they are making changes. Hell, they’ve been effective advocates for change in the U.S. of A. since the 1960’s.
The importance of gay rights is not lost on me, but I happen to believe that it is atheists who need them, not the other way around. As far as sheer buying power and economic influence, gays have far more clout than the atheist crowd. And yes, I am aware of the not insignificant amount of demographic overlap. Still, I don’t see that there is much we can do for the gay cause beyond encouraging public awareness, and gay organizations already do that for themselves and they do it much more effectively than we can.
Instead of approaching the gay community with condescension, perhaps a little humility would be in order. There’s a lot of lip service given to the fact that they were trail blazers for civil rights, but many of us continue to treat them as if they are victims only, and not the ready-made source for intelligence networks, experience, resources and financial support that they are. We can stop feeling sorry for them and start treating them as mentors. I think the time for the pity party to end is long overdue.
They’re gay, not helpless ninnies…and we need them.
Postscript: Need we any more proof that gays are more mainstream than atheists than the number of Gay Pride parades around the country this weekend?
Greetings from Hell
This is an older video with Rowan Atkinson that one of my former co-workers just sent me. For those of you who have seen it before, my apologies.
My favorite parts are when he addresses atheists and Christians:-)
*Video* “Let’s make it a religion ! ” by ZOMGitsCriss
YouTube’s ZOMGitsCriss counters the idiot claim that atheism is a religion…kind of.
She does some gyrating after 2:44 through the end of the 5 minute, 38 second video which is incredibly distracting (to me, at least), so I didn’t understand a damn thing she said after the dancing/gyrating thing started. I will watch this video a million times if I must in order to understand the last half of it. I am willing to make this sacrifice for the cause…whatever the hell “the cause” may be.
I’ll think of something.
Science versus Religion
Guess which one comes out on top in this great video from The Thinking Atheist?
Know Thy Enemy
I frequently see comments on other blogs expressing bewilderment, frustration and disappointment that our message is not getting through.
The responses to these complaints vary to some degree, but most of them boil down to a standard fallback excuse, “They don’t want to hear the truth, and they won’t until they’re ready.”
While that may be true, there’s a problem with that statement; probably more than 99.99% will never be ready. Oh, yes, there are those like myself who have deconverted, but very few of us have ever had the deep personal, social and financial investment in religion that the rank and file of the hardcore believers have. Those that have invested heavily of themselves in their former religious lives are rare and often become instant celebrities in atheist and secular circles, writing books and giving interviews about their experiences as former theologians, preachers, etc.
When reading articles, blog posts and comments online, rare is the occasion when I have not learned something. I am buoyed by the fact that I am in the company of some of the most intelligent people this world has to offer. I am also gravely disappointed. It seems that the religious do not have a monopoly on the ability to self-delude.
As a whole, we think we know what we want to achieve, we just don’t know how to do it. Even worse, some of us don’t WANT to know how to do it. Oh, some individuals and groups are convinced that they’ve got all the answers, but none have delivered to date. Yes, there have been minor battles won here and there, but the war is far from over and incredibly, we still don’t know who we are fighting or engaging. The fact is, we aren’t even entirely clear on goals, much less how to achieve them. With no real leadership or master plan in place, this is no wonder.
Whether you are fighting an enemy or selling a product, you will never be successful until you understand your target audience and design your campaign around that knowledge. That hasn’t happened yet, at least not to my satisfaction. Knowing their holy books inside and out and knowing the answers to all of their arguments does no good. It may give you personal satisfaction, but it doesn’t make a dent. If you’re not in their head, you’re out of the game.
To those who feel that looking at this conflict from the standpoint of a war fighter or marketer somehow dilutes or cheapens the atheist message; I say that you are no less dogmatic than those whose religious beliefs you criticize. Besides, knowledge of your opponent provides a practical foundation for building peace, not just winning wars.
It’s time to start understanding our opponents as they are and not as we want them to be. Time to get in the game.
Don’t waste your breath…
This is a comment I added to the long thread of discussion on another blog about whether or not it was a good idea to trade porn for religious texts. This offers another argument as to why it was not a particularly good use of Atheist Agenda’s time:
The Godless Monster Says:
If I had to point out the one mistake that so many of my well-read and intelligent fellow travelers consistently make it is assuming that the majority of believers are wired the same as the non-theist crowd. If they were, many of them would not now be theists. Please note my use of the words “majority” and “many” before attempting to accuse me of painting all theists with a broad brush – but I digress…
To expect theists to see a display such as this as eye-opening, educational or an invitation to debate is to be naive in the extreme. You ask far too much of a group that in general, only responds to sound bites, propaganda and bright, shiny things.
I get the whole smut thing, really, I do. What most of you do not seem to understand is that it was not much more than an exercise in self-gratification. It was another case of preaching to the choir, while simultaneously pissing off a lot of folks who just don’t (and never WILL) get it.
It doesn’t have to do with the fact that the other side is religious – it has to do with the fact that most of their minds don’t operate in the same way that many of ours do. If this wasn’t the case, would we even be having this debate between ourselves right now? I think not.
