Ocassional Thoughts of an Independent Progressive Atheistic Humanist
One thing I can’t stand is when arguing with people who have no idea what they are talking about. Over at my iHumanism blog I have a post up about a minister in Texas who tries to argue against secular humanism yet shows he really knows nothing about it.
The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) gave a report to the United Nations detailing that Atheists, humanists, freethinkers and other non-religious people are discriminated against around the world, where expression of their views is often criminalized and subject in some countries to capital punishment. The report was in response to efforts by Islamic countries to obtain a world ban on “defamation of religion” which mirrors efforts by religious conservatives in the United States attempting to cover their bigotry under the guise of “religious freedom”.
Skepticism is the questioning of what is stated as fact and is one of the primary tools I use as a free thinker. I am also an atheist. I don’t subscribe to any religious belief. I have considered the arguments for and about religion and rejected the conclusion. The process I used to get to my conclusion was Skepticism. In a recent blog post PZ Myers, responded to an idea I’ve seen and read myself where some people think religious beliefs shouldn’t be subject to Skepticism. Like Myers, I think that’s stupid.
The other day I read that a Republican legislator, in Arizona, introduced a bill that would require high school students to take a loyalty oath before being allowed to graduate. The oath includes the usual invoking of God clap trap we see in the Pledge of Allegiance. The requirement is stupid, doesn’t help educate kids, and could be used to discriminate against people who either don’t believe in such pledges or don’t believe in the God part like Atheists. What bothered me more was the reaction from an Atheist who thought the possibility for discrimination was trivial and nothing to get worked up about. In defending our rights nothing should be trivial.
Here is the text of the proposed high school graduation loyalty oath:
On Wednesday, American Secular Census (ASC) posted an article that focused on secular women. The report didn’t have any new information for me since I am a geezer in the movement but I wanted to address something that has bothered me ever since I identified myself as an atheist and secular humanist. There seems to be a notion that criticizing religion is always wrong and that we stunt the growth of freethought by doing it. I feel this is a false notion and is a wrong point to focus on when trying to build a secular community.