08.10.07
Seven Steps for Atheists
I came across an interesting article on another WordPress blog today and thought I would share. Enjoy.
http://gracemark.wordpress.com/2007/08/10/more-thoughts-on-atheists-attempting-to-refute-god/
Zhai’helleva,
Raeliyah
Zach said,
August 10, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Well I read the 7. 6 was a little harsh but the rest were more or less valid. but it was an article written by a Christian about Atheists. Which is OK I guess, but it’s kind of like Billy Graham trying to give Busta Rhymes advice on how to act more like a black guy.
Anywho, after reading the 7 bits of advice I noticed that they were more about the marketability of Atheism than anything else. And I came up with a few of my own that I think will help out the Atheist community quite a bit.
1. “Know Thyself”
This might sound a little strange but the first problem we have is the word “Atheist” It’s how you identify yourself. Consider the advocacy group “Mothers Against Drunk Driving” MADD, it’s an effective title, but if they finally succeed in eliminating drunk driving then they will cease to exist. So for Atheists we should define ourselves as what we are rather than what we are not.
But it’s more than just a title. It also means that we should spend less time trying to tear down religions and more time trying to live our own lives.
2. “Honesty”
This is more of a cornerstone value than anything else, mainly because this is the reason that a lot of people turn Atheist. If you have ever read one of those “The Way Things Work” books as a kid then you know what this feeling is like. For a lot (if not all) Atheists who were raised religious there is this point in their life when all the incongruities of the stories they were told when they were a kid pile up. Then in a perfect example of Ockham’s Razor in action they usually go through every question they have ever had and come to the realization that a world without a god or gods makes way more sense than a world with a god.
I remember when I was a child and I found out that Santa Claus wasn’t real. I didn’t find out so much as I was presented with two options. Either there was a voyeuristic old elf who was monitoring every child on earth and dispensing judgment in the form of gifts, which he would dispense all in one night on his flying sled by shimmying down everyone’s chimney even though he was slightly obese. And the second option that it was actually my parents buying us presents, which would explain the “To Zach, From Mom & Dad” written on the outside of the box.
There is this “OH! Now I get it!” moment that I think every Atheist is familiar with. And it’s not something that only happens once. I actually got this a few weeks ago when I watched this documentary on how ethics and morality could have evolved.
And it’s this truth, this honesty, which we can’t let go of. Especially because being right about stuff is really the only marketing strategy we have so far.
3. “Warm Fuzzies”
This is an area that we have fallen behind in. It’s hard to be warm and fuzzy when you are trying to sell Survival of the fittest. I have always thought that the truth didn’t have to be nice, it just had to be the truth. But I can definitely appreciate the marketability of warm fuzzy feelings.
First of all we have ethics. If they weren’t handed down from on high, then where did they come from. Recently I saw a nifty documentary explaining how ethics could have evolved. Basically they said that it’s in your best interests to be nice to people, and assume that most people will be nice to you. It also turns out that this isn’t just for humans, “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” spans all of life. You can see this in cleaner fish under the ocean. Take smallpox for example. Over the years smallpox has been a bit of an ass to us. And as a result we have almost wiped smallpox out. Now if smallpox was a little more helpful, like mitochondria back in the day, or penicillin, or the live cultures in yogurt, you might see more smallpox around.
And chances ore that if we ever ran into aliens or something, if they were evolved, they’d probably be nice.
3. “Art”
Granted we don’t see a lot of Atheist artwork around, there is some stuff left over from the 60s but that’s about it, and it’s a little weird. But there is a lot of music. Most of it is angry music by Trent Reznor and others like him. The only non-angry Atheist song I can think of is John Lennon’s “Imagine”
Needless to say we need some better Atheist artwork.
4. “Converting people”
So how are we going to convert people? Well there is the tried and true method of dressing up in suits and going door to door. Other than irritating people I am not sure what this would accomplish. Especially because I couldn’t say the phrase “Have you heard the word of Atheism?” with a straight face. I guess we could go around explaining things to people. Especially because most arguments against Atheism are based on a gross misunderstanding of natural selection. Although I would not want to hand out pamphlets on speciation. I would like to kick off the conversation by saying something like “Have you ever wondered why moths fly straight into a fire”, or “Did you know that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on a beach.”
Option two is to lead by example. It works off the assumption that a person who is in on the secrets of life should naturally be able to get ahead. Basically you live your life as well as you can. Then someone asks, “What is the secret to your success?”
This would ensure that all your converts would be willing converts. And you wouldn’t have to be rude to anyone.
Then there is the question of do we really have to convert people? I don’t think there has really been any sort of Atheist Evangelizing movement, and yet there seem to be quite a lot of Atheists. Or “Non Adherents” as wikipedia calls them.
5. “Virtues”
Yeah this is a good point. We really need to give the lectures and book talks a rest and start focusing on helping one another out. Especially if we can’t rely on some deity to get us by, our fellow human beings are really all we have. And we are all in this together.
6. “Rituals”
Rituals are a risky business. It could be argued that rituals are what got us in this mess to begin with. Ritual and tradition lead to unnecessary division in between cultures. I am reminded of the Dr. Sues story about two cultures locked in a life or death struggle over whether they should make their toast butter side up or butter side down. It’s been a while since I read it but I think the book ends in an apocalyptic bloodbath of ethnic cleansing.
So we are treading on thin ice when we make our ritual. Maybe we could make something diversity and the oneness of all life. Say from an evolutionary standpoint we have all these critters doing there best to get by. So while humans have developed large brains and opposable thumbs as a good survival strategy, cockroaches have become so durable that they could survive a nuclear war.
Its kind of strange to think of people and cockroaches as both being evolutionary success stories. But when you have Zen like that floating about it’s kind of hard to be racist.
Now personally I would enjoy watching a Mayan guy dressed as a condor tossing a freshly severed head down the steps of a pyramid. But I think that some sort of “Life Day” festival would be a lot better for society.
7. “Lifestyle”
So what kind of lifestyle can we live. Well any that we want, really. Going back to evolution, any advances that we make are the result of the success of new things. And only the passage of time will judge their merit. So in essence trying something new is a good thing. This stands in contrast to a lot of religions with strict rules of adherence that never change over time, no matter how strange or outdated they may be. This would allow us to pick up where a lot of mainstream religions have dropped the ball.
We’ll never reject someone. We’ll never say that someone has the wrong color of skin, or the wrong personal preferences, or tell them that they aren’t allowed to think about something, or that they are inferior. We don’t condemn, and there are no unworthy people.