End of Year Reections on this Atheism Business

Ive been a Freethinker for at least 40 years or so. Most of that time has been spent privately grumbling to myself about the privileges and ignorance of the religious. In the last 10-15 years however, and particularly this last year (2012), Ive been delighted with the upsurge in numbers and presence of atheists worldwide, especially women atheists. To help swell the numbers even further, over the years, Ive joined just about every group and organization Ive come across. Though my worldview was strictly Naturalism, I established a Humanist educational charity as I reckoned Humanism would be better placed to confer the ethical dimension and simpler to explain to the general populace. So, in general Ive tried to promote the Humanist outlook in any way Ive been able and Ive loved every minute. But with the swell in number of global atheists has come an attitude Ive found really difcult to get behind. Limited religion-bashing I can do with the best of them, but countering the same old arguments and debates year after year can get so boring, and as Ive always tried to avoid arguing and ghting, I gave these occasions a full body-swerve some years back. In my experience, with all the usual organizations and groups the outward talk has always been about using reason and rationality, though at close quarters, the same back-biting politics, money-grabbing and lack of personal integrity was driving matters, that is to say, atheist groups were no different from other social institutions in that there has been precious few ethics at their root. Moreover, none of the groups Ive ever been part of ever had any serious discussions about justice or punishment; about the scourge of drugs in society; about the consequences of people having no Free Will; about the awed concept of Race or anything else that should matter to people who profess to base their beliefs on Naturalistic explanations of the world. In almost every group Ive ever attended, whatever its name, whatever its mission statement, there has always been a lack of thought beyond basic atheism, no really serious attempt to understand or to change peoples behaviour, their morality, motivations, etc and very little charitable work. In contrast, done to death have been talks about ID, Evolution, and the inconsequential God (is he or isnt he), God, God and more God, over and over again. To get a bit of diversity and to keep apace of activities and practices around the world I try to listen to a spectrum of different podcasts, in 2012, these included: Reasonable Doubts, Atheist Experience, Thinking Atheist, Angry Atheist, Bible Geek, Freethought Radio, Pod Delusion, Cognitive Dissonance, Rationally Speaking, Skeptics Guide, etc. With all their different personalities, I nd them informative and charming. Also, this year, our local Skeptics seem to have come of age and showing much promise. Theyre branching out in their thinking, asking the right kind of questions, inviting interesting guest speakers, and so forth. I look forward to them growing further and obliterating the proliferation of all the woo and superstitious practices surrounding us. But throughout the year my enjoyment has been marred again by in-ghting - usually reported online or through the podcasts. Weve had respectable scholars at each others throats over very little indeed. Weve had the Elevator-gate scandal - which at rst I could entirely empathize with, for a woman sharing an enclosed space with an unknown male can make for scary moments, proposition or no. But, then it spawned Atheism + and it all seems to have gotten out of hand with insults being slung all over the place and eminent personalities getting sucked in, its all so painful to hear and read about. To take one side means falling out with the other and I dont want to lose either side because I enjoy and

have respect for all parties concerned so I wish theyd all stop. Fact is, people make mistakes, they sometimes do bad even terrible things, thats life, its being human, its also uncomfortable, but we have to accept it and live with it and continually try to educate ourselves out of and beyond it. As Spinoza said about Determinism - a consequence of a Naturalistic view: This doctrine raises social life, inasmuch as it teaches us to hate no man, neither to despise, to deride, to envy, or to be angry with any. We have to realize the person we consider our enemy, with some tweeks here and there could just as easily have been us. All we have on lifes journey are other people. Trampling on our fellow travelers (whether they have done right or done wrong) is not the way to elevate ourselves and our views, and such actions are sure to backre. It seems to me that we humans could take an example from animal life. Rarely do animals ght to the death, one will usually back down and its group will live to ght another day. Not so with we atheists. No one ever countenances backing down - especially when they believe theyre right. We try to destroy each other totally. But these are the very occasions, (hard times, adversity), when a person can show their mettle, thats when honour can shine through. Instead, everybody is out to prove their credentials at any price, and ego rules. And it makes for weary, dreary exercises. There are exceptions. Paul Kurtz died this year. But, in my experience, he was someone who spoke endlessly about the ethics of a Humanism beyond atheism while most others were parroting about rationality yet attempting to rule with common old aggression in all its guises. But Paul is gone. Im sure he too didnt live a perfect life, had I worked for him I may have had grievances, I dont know, but Im sorry some of the ideas he wrote about (like eupraxsophy) werent taken more seriously by those who profess to be Humanists especially those who make a good living from the concept (there are plenty of them). IMHO another exception is Robert Price, the Bible Geek. He regularly disagrees with his fellow scholars, takes them to task and is himself taken to task in return. I often disagree with his political ideas (and his absurd Scottish accent can be really annoying!), but Ive never heard him bitch, deliberately insult or be malicious in any way. He appears to be endowed with rare scruples, perhaps hes the type of man Diogenes searched for with his lamp. So, I trust next year may be a year of backing down and reconciliation amongst my fellow Atheists as we continue to expand and convert the ignorant and misguided of the world (gently). Such a reuniting would keep a person happy in her old age, as long, that is, as there was something left to grump about. The Grumpy Naturalist.