Why don’t atheists just shut up and stay home?

[cleanhippie]

(First several paragraphs omitted. It discusses ways that religion is prevalent. See link to read entire article.)

--snip--

So in the face of how prevalent religion is in our society, in the face of how much power and benefit they confer their own, why don’t we atheists just go home, sit down, and shut up about our beliefs, while the religious folks go about their business of running our countries in a theocratic manner? Why don’t we just allow everyone to believe in their God and proselytize and witness and convert (and even grade one another on how many they manage to convert!), while we kick our feet up and enjoy our godless solitude from the privacy of our own homes? Why not stay, so to speak, “in the closet“?

I can’t answer for all of us, but I can answer for myself.

Religious folks, despite already being in the majority, fight daily to push their religions further into the public sphere, to push back the separation of church and state that most democracies wisely build in. They have TV shows and radio shows where they are free to talk about their deities. They talk trash about atheists, telling people that they are incapable of morals, that they are incapable of love, that they are as bad as Stalin or Pol Pot or Mao Tse Tung. They do so both in the privacy of their own homes, as is their right, and they do so from the pulpits of their congregations, as is their right. Their smears may be wrong, pig-headed, and discriminatory, but they have the right to say them. But these smears go unchallenged if atheists are silent.

We atheists have been silent for a very long time; our voices are understandably rusty. For every encroachment into our personal space — for every incentive that discriminates against faithless — for every demand that people be allowed to share their love of God with others — we are being told to shut up, to stay silent, to dare not demand the same right to share our love of reason, our love of logic and our love of science. We do not speak up to evangelize atheism, for that is antithetical to our position, and we have bigger issues presently — buffering an outright attack on us by the religious.

Your right to swing your fist ends at the point of my nose, yet when your fists connect with the noses of atheists we are told to accept it and dare not swing back. I am tired of being a punching bag. I am tired of being told that I am immoral, that I am evil, that I am an abomination against society.

That is why I do not merely allow people to preach their faith on my doorstep without an answer. And that is why, when I AM at home, I reserve the right to occasionally shut the door on their faces. And that is why when I am NOT at home, I reserve the right to counter people’s vociferous shouting or unfair double standards or ridiculous pandering or antiscientific nonsense with my voice — rusty though it may be. I reserve the right to scream out, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more!”

My voice is the only weapon I have against this encroachment and viral spread of religion and antiscientific thinking. And short of death, my voice will not be silenced.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/2011/09/09/why-dont-atheists-just-shut-up-and-stay-home-a-repost/

[Speck Tater]

1. And in the average city there is an anti-atheist indoctrination center every three or four blocks.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Here, here! I couldn't agree more.

We are made to feel inferior and anti-social because we do not blindly follow the prescribed path. And because of this, we are made to feel ashamed of our lack of belief instead of proud of it. We are told that we are not capable of running for political office. We worry that we could lose our jobs if we speak out. Believers are convinced that we are devil-worshipers instead of nothing-worshipers (which is not a bad thing).

It feel good to hear a rallying cry that is so simple and matter-of fact.

[Kceres]

3. I believe we have been too tolerate too long.

While we are smiling politely, religious zealots are erecting tacky nativity scenes on the lawns of our Capitols (Denver). Give 'em an inch . . .

[Mojambo]

4. Because sometimes we have to go out and get some milk. n/t

[Warpy]

5. There are consequences for coming out of the "I'm not religious" closet

and theists don't appreciate just how desperate we have to be in order to fight back against this kind of senseless bigotry while they purse their lips and claim they're being oppressed because we're sick of bullying.

I'm an atheist. It would have been easier had I been able to pretend to accept all the religious stuff but I just can't. It's completely foreign to me although I've had it pushed at me all my life.

You can talk to me about the great things that you do at your church, that's really nice and I envy some of them because atheists don't generally organize. You can sit with your bible during lunch hours and I'll respect your right to peruse it in silence. You can put your hands together and mumble a few words before you eat and I won't comment.

You can't tell me what evil, vicious people atheists are, though, because you've heard it from some ignoramus in a pulpit. Nor can you lecture me about how I'm going to be tortured for eternity if I tell you I don't believe a word of it. I will reflect your bullying right back and you won't like it.

I'm done. I've been an "out" atheist for more than 50 years. I have a right to be who I am, too, and you're just going to have to learn to cope.

[Kalidurga]

6. Religion is hollow...

yet in some ways I envy the religious. They have somewhere to go on Sunday to be with like minded loons. They have something they are sure of even if they are wrong. The might be happier, though I have seen no evidence of this. In any case they have a community even if it is dysfunctional and even if it doesn't do all the good they attribute to it.

Never mind I am not really that envious, but it would be nice if there were atheist community centers.

[riderinthestorm]

13. There's a theory that ALL people have 3 main places: home, work and their "other place"

for many people - it's church. It becomes their community that's their third "place".

For atheists, we generally find our local coffee house, music spot, or tavern, the beach, forest preserve or park, your local volunteer place like the food pantry or shelter, a sporting location like a gym or the basketball court or softball leaque or bowling... or perhaps it's a mental space like being in an online game or watching teevee.

Regardless, its a universal human trait that we have three places that we cultivate to 'settle". Since church isn't an option for us, we create other spaces that work as our "third place".

After a lot of observation of people (and as the owner of a popular "third place" locale), I agree with the theory.

Sounds as though you haven't yet found your third place however. Keep looking. It's out there. So many secular minded people are doing the most interesting things from music to political activism to educational classes

[Jim__]

7. That, of course, is not the question that is asked of Hitchens.

Nor is it the spirit of the question. The blogger, lousycanuck, states the question as: “If there is no god, why do you spend your whole life trying to convince people that there isn’t? Why won’t you just stay home?”. I hear the 2nd question as “Why don’t you just stay home?” The question is asked when Hitchens is given 5 minutes to sum up and he asks for any questions from the audience. lc describes the 2nd question:

The audience member who posed this question was clearly on the side of Turek through the debate — applauding him heartily, crossing his arms and giving not a whit of applause when Hitchens spoke. It could be that he said “why WOULDN’T you just stay home”, he was not miked and the question was slightly unclear. However, I strongly suspect it was posed as an imperative as above, and if it wasn’t, I also suspect the questioner would not take offense at this characterization.

I hear the question as more along the lines of: If there is no god, why do you bother to spend all this time preaching about it?. The questioner is shown from the side, but it looks to me like he shrugs his left shoulder while asking the 2nd question - i.e. it's not any type of challenge to Hitchens right to speak out; it's a question of why he does. Hitchens does not take offense at the question and goes on to explain why he bothers about it.

There are other claims cited; one of them refers us to a description of the Mooney book Unscientific America and the description has nothing to say about atheists.

To me, the title to the blog is deliberately provocative, and he doesn't present anything to back up the provocative title.

[NMMNG]

8. Gay people get hit with the same crap

When religious people say things, no matter how heinous they're just expressing their "deeply held religious beliefs" or "preaching the Bible". Whenever atheists or gay people try to defend themselves they're "militants" who are being "anti-christian", "attacking religion", etc.

[opiate69]

9. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd repsot this journal entry as a new post....

but damn, that's a lot of copy/pasting lol. But I think it goes well with your OP, hippie

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/opiate69/9

[raccoon]

10. Like your journal entry. nt

[cleanhippie]

14. Thanks, I appreciate it.

[CarrieLynne]

11. I........I think I love you

[cleanhippie]

15. Well, ok then!

[Deep13]

12. They'll shut me up when they can pry my keyboard from my cold, dead hands. nt