Tag: social justice

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Is It Time To Remove Richard Dawkins As The ‘Face’ Of The Atheist Movement?

image of Richard Dawkins
Supposed smart guy Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins is seen as a rock star by some in the atheist movement. He’s had best selling books, too many keynote speeches to count, awards and honors out the wazoo, he’s the media’s go to person on religious issues and atheism. He also has a problem with shooting his mouth off about some topics that cause distress and anger in the atheist and secular community. Dawkins seriously needs to join Twitter’s Anonymous because for a man known for thousands of words to explain his atheism he has a terrible time trying to express himself in 140 character bites on Twitter. After his latest foot-in-mouth maybe it’s time to remove Dawkins as the public face of the atheist movement.

Dawkins latest twitter war erupted after he retweeted a video that not only equated some feminists with ISIS but the cartoon also included a character based on a real woman who has been the subject of constant harassment and death threats online for THREE years.

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Cult Of Personality At Root Of Michael Nugent’s Obsessive PZ Myers Feud

created image of both Michael Nugent and PZ Myers
The one sided feud between Michael Nugent (L) and PZ Myers (R)

The atheist community recently erupted when Atheist Ireland publicly issued a letter of dissociation from atheist blogger PZ Myers over some comments he recently made concerning a speech by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The real issue is the cult of personality that seems to infect people like Atheist Ireland chair Michael Nugent who is more interested in being a fanboy of some famous atheists and protecting them when they are called out for doing or saying stupid stuff.

I’m not going to rehash the entire history of the feud between Myers and Nugent here. Ashley Miller does a good job of summarizing the past couple of years. Check out her post and follow the links she provides:

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Don’t Use Atheism To Cover Your Bigotry

created image with word Atheists

For some years there has been a faction of atheists who use their atheism to be bigots. When asked to take some action on social justice issues like feminism or racism, some of these atheists go out of their way to ‘prove’ why their lack of values causes them to either ignore social justice issues or to support the status quo. Activist and blogger James Croft calls out these bigots and makes some great points why atheists shouldn’t use their atheism a cover for their bigotry.

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If Just 1 In 8 Atheists Are Like Chris Stedman, Who Speaks For Atheism?

photo of Chris Stedman
Study shows Chris Stedman doesn’t speak for all atheists

Yesterday, my Facebook feed included a link to another article by Chris Stedman that attempts to make me feel bad because I don’t love religion. He uses a point made by another writer that actually doesn’t support his conclusion. If he thinks a study proves that some atheists, like Christopher Hitchens, don’t speak for all atheists then he needs to include all the information – that atheists like Chris Stedman also don’t speak for all atheists.

Chris Stedman, an atheist who wrote the book “Faitheist” and is a columnist for Religion News Service, wrote a post on September 24th that was an interview with author Dale McGowan who is Executive Director of Foundation Beyond Belief along with other hats he wears in the freethought community.

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To Be More Inclusive Stop Using Interfaith

created imaging showing prohibited symbol over word Interfaith

I hate the word ‘interfaith’. I’m not religious and don’t have a ‘faith’ so anything labeled ‘interfaith’ doesn’t include me no matter what word spinning you try to do. You just can’t add nonbelief to ‘interfaith’ and be inclusive. Using the word reduces nonbelievers to the level of unwanted step-children. We need a new word to express cooperation between people who have faith and those who don’t. I nominate ‘interpath’.

There has been a call in the nonbeliever community to participate in interfaith groups. One such group we have here in Columbus is called B.R.E.A.D. In my twenty years in the humanist movement, I am very familiar with arguments like those made by Chris Stedman:

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