It’s always a treat to read Greta Christina when she takes up atheism. This week she posts “An open letter to concerned believers”, addressing, in an oh-so-polite-and-unshrill way, those of the faithful who try to tell atheists how to be more politically effective. Although it’s aimed at believers, it applies equally well to concerned faitheists.
. . . It is difficult to avoid the observation that, whenever believers give advice to atheists on how to run our movement, it is always in the direction of telling us to be more quiet, to tone it down, to be less confrontational and less visible. I have yet to see a believer advise the atheist movement to speak up more loudly and more passionately; to make our arguments more compelling and more unanswerable; to get in people’s faces more about delicate and thorny issues that they don’t want to think about; to not be afraid of offending people if we think we’re right. I have received a great deal of advice from believers on how atheists should run our movement… and it is always, always, always in the direction of politely suggesting that we shut up.
You’ll have to forgive me if I question the motivation behind this advice, and take it with a grain of salt.
You’ll have to forgive me if I think your suggestions on making our movement more effective would, in fact, have the exact opposite effect. What’s more, you’ll have to forgive me for suspecting that this, however unconsciously, is the true intention behind your very kind and no doubt sincerely- meant advice.
And you’ll have to forgive me if I am less than enthusiastic about taking advice on how to run the atheist movement from the very people our movement is trying to change.
Your concern is duly noted. Thank you for sharing.
Right on target. And the truth is that even some of the people labeled as radical atheists are actually quite soft on religion
That’s so true. And in greater hypocrisy, if you tell them to take their own advice, you’ll be “persecuting” them because it’s their DUTY, according to the Bible, for them to be “warriors” for Jesus and to go forth and convert the masses that Jesus, in these “last days,” has given them FULL authority over…
Of course, it’s been the “last days” since Paul was alive…
To be fair, the type of person who’s all fired up about the coming apocalypse and the need to convert is not usually the type who offers such concerned advice to atheists.
Beautifully written, and I just adore the dripping sarcasm she has so quietly, competently woven into her writing.
Or at least the advice is ‘you are making me uncomfortable; please stop it’. The problem is that the comfort of the listener is not necessarily what you want when advocating social change. Comfortable people don’t really want to change what works.
(Granted, there can be a difference between ‘you are raising points that make me uncomfortable because I can’t answer them’ and ‘I have heard these inane arguments a million times before, will you just shut up?’. But that’s more in content than tone.)
It might be useful advice for surviving a dinner party with your very religious great uncle/aunt without bringing down the wrath of the rest of the family for ruining the event, but that doesn’t make it good advice for advocating social change.
Reminds me of Dicky D on Beware the Believers: “Your concern is noted, and stupid.“
link fixed, sorry
For some people, it seems that religion is the only thing that they have going for them. Their life sucks apart from whatever happiness/contentedness they derive from religion. For these people, specifically the ones who are usually not shrill or militant about their faith, I’ve decided I’ll let them die in peace. But for the ones who want to curtail and silence any atheist movement or who are evangelical about their faith, then “anger, humor, mockery, passion” are all fair weapons to use.
The losers for whom life sucks without religion are especially egregious.
They provide cover for the dangerous ones, by making religion appear benign.
Without the ‘quiet believers’, the loonies would have no cover, and would be taken for what they are: ignorant & delusional.
i could not agree more.i’m slightly taken aback when i’m trying to have a conversation and i’m told that i’m “more of a zealot than most Christians.”if pointing out social injustice perpetrated by religion makes me a zealot,so be it.ill ware that hat with pride.
The “more of a zealot than..” accusation usually comes from a person who either doesn’t know how to think for themselves via reason or doesn’t want to think for themselves.
Hahaha – great stuff. Michael De Dora please note.
Small correction: “It’s always a treat to read Greta Christina.” Full stop.
Yes she’s possibly my favourite blogger, more cogently expressed good sense per square centimetre than any other corner of the internet.
Very interesting. So what exactly are your thoughts then, on Democrats, and Democratic sympathizers, like Frum, giving counsel to the GOP to stop being “obstructionists” lest they become a “regional party”? This sort of self-serving rhetoric was notorious amongst the liberals in my acquaintance within the past year. (You shouldn’t mistake me for a believer by the way; I’m not. I’m an atheist, just like many here. But I discern no difference both types of supercilious behavior in either venue.)