Atheism is a Big Ship
Since I started getting involved in various non-religious movements I’ve become more and more aware of the tremendous amounts of completely useless infighting going on. It comes in several flavours, but today I’m going to write about the war between vocal atheists such as Dawkins/Dennett/Harris/Hitchens and their supporters, and quieter, more subdued atheists who think being anti-religious is counter productive.
Case in point, have a look at this post at Pharyngula, and the thread that ensues: Sometimes, conflict is the only answer.
Now, I’m a fan of the metaphor of “being in the same boat”. We as atheists are presumably all in the same boat, and most of us want to go in the same direction. Some people will claim that the two groups mentioned above are trying to go in different directions. I don’t think so. I think instead of rowing in different directions, they have picked up their oars and are beating each other over the head with them. (I also happen to think that one camp is more guilty of this than the other, but that’s my personal opinion and rather beside the point.)
Or, to make the metaphor a little bigger, let’s say we’re on a ship, a big one. A big ship has many tasks that needs to be done for it to sail properly in one direction and not stand still, go in circles or run aground. Some hands will be climbing around the rigging, some will be splicing lines, others will be at the bilge pump, yet others manning the oars. There are plenty of tasks to go around and all of them need to be done.
Instead, some people are sitting around complaining about what others are doing. For instance, they might spend hours finding every fault they can possibly spot in Richard Dawkins’ documentaries. What the hell is the point of that? If you have an idea on, for instance, how to collaborate with a religious organisation to increase civic equality for atheists, go ahead and work on it. Just do it. Forget what you think about Dawkins or Harris or PZ Myers, just do what you think is best.
If everyone stopped complaining about what others are doing, stopped telling others what they think they ought to be doing, and instead focussed on doing what they themselves do best, our ship would sail so much faster.
Oh and for the record, I’m fully aware of the hypocrisy of complaining about complainers, but someone has to call attention to the situation. And I swear I’ll only do it this once. (Well. I’ll try.)
ETA: For my personal views on “New Atheism”, see this later post.
I like when people write down what they think.
So i respect atheists and religious people who make charts or maps of their own views. Many misunderstandings can be avoided, and the no 1 perk:
One can point out something which the opponent has written, while the opponent can’t deny the the whole thing, saying:
I never said that particular thing!
Comment by Enkla Z — Wednesday, September 5, 2007 @ 16:04
If you din’t know ““being in the same boat” is an expression from the Bible for the church feel free to use it. And I see you made the same experience as the church have.
Comment by Nineve — Saturday, September 15, 2007 @ 23:25
I can’t help wondering how much of the conflict among atheists to which you refer here is real or is manufactured (or at least blown out of proportion) by the media. I think the thing to realize about atheists is that we cannot unite under the banner of nonbelief any more than those of us who do not believe in Santa Claus would unite under that banner. There has to be something else that brings us together, something in which we do believe and value.
Comment by vjack — Sunday, September 16, 2007 @ 19:56
vjack, Thanks for your comment. I “report” on this conflict from a purely personal perspective - I see it in blogs, on forums, among my friends in the Swedish Humanist Association. Many atheists seem to have very different approaches to how to promote a naturalistic worldview, and some of them let this get in the way of doing their thing, and instead they end up whining at others more than they do constructive work.
Comment by Felicia Gilljam — Sunday, September 16, 2007 @ 21:00
Excellent post, Felicia! Thanks for pointing it out. Very well put.
Comment by Patti — Tuesday, October 2, 2007 @ 01:11