Luiseach

Funny you should ask that question...I was just thinking about this the other day. Like you and other non-believers here, I'm not very vocal about my lack of religious/spiritual beliefs. There are many atheists, however, who are rather outspoken about atheism...I'm curious about this sort of thing. My question is this: why do some atheists organise themselves into activist groups sometimes? I'm interested about motivations and goals.

Luiseach

Melkor

Thank you for the welcome, it's appreciated. This appears to be a really great set of forums here... I've enjoyed reading and reading the bazillions of threads here so far, and I look forward to participating in more of them as I get a "feel" for the place and the members a bit more.

Philosoft

No doubt some do. Probably for different reasons, though.

Actually, I would think this rare in everyday situations. A Christian in this country is much more likely to meet another Christian than a Hindu or an atheist. Perhaps if the Christian in question stumbled upon a meeting of the Bertrand Russell/James Randi change-the-world-through-intellectual-intimidation society, she might have a difficult time. Otherwise, it is still nearly an assumption that any caucasian or African-American appearing individual is a Christian.

<strong> No, in that context, when I say "atheism," I of course mean my "atheism." It is a rare thing indeed if I have to go into the strong/weak divisions or metaphysical/methodological naturalism speil in everyday conversation.

Uzzah

I usually make it a point to wear my "Atheist" t-shirt once a week...mostly on sunday....during lunch...at a crowded place.

I don't see anyone worrying about whether or not to wear thier "WWJD" shirts, why should I worry?

And I've never gotten a negative comment either. Not counting the looks of hatred of course.


Uzzah

Hedwig

I don't advertise it but if people spend enough time around me they figure it out. Most of my friends know...luckily I have only one friend who's religious and he's a pagan so that's a bit easier. My parents know though I've only told my mother flat out that I don't believe in a god or an afterlife. If my classmates ask I'll tell them and if I'm taking a class that involves contributing heavily to the discussion with our own opinions, my teacher figures it out pretty quickly.

joedad

The subject only comes up when someone starts talking about "going to church," at which point I tell them I'm atheistic. The worst I've ever heard is that I'm a "rare breed."

Anti-Creedance Front

I wear an inverse cross necklace around my neck to symbolize my opposition to fundamentalist Christianity. Most people assume I'm a Satanist when they see it, but they aren't usually Christians of any sort, so they don't give me flack about it. I am pretty silent about my beliefs, but I DEFEND them with fervor.

Whenever I get evangelists at my door (like the Mormons I got recently... *snicker*), I either slam the door in their face, depending how preachy they are, say "sorry, I'm a secular humanist" (dirty word), or give them the rundown on how Christianity is taken from pagan beliefs. The Mormons found this pretty interesting, and ended the conversation with "well I hope you change your mind someday", which is the equivalent of saying "you whupped my ass".

I don't feel comfortable talking to fundamentalists for obvious reasons. I have been pissed at several of my friends for abandoning me to join the "Christian alternative" scene and becoming young pawns for the Religious Right, but I would feel panicky talking to them about it, as they'd bring up theology and all that crap. I did tell them what I thought about it on their band's message board though.

MollyMac

posted by Luiseach
Certain experiences made me realise that, in spite of the increasing secularisation of our country, religious privilege still exists in the UK and I wanted to do something about it.

The death of my father many years ago alerted me to the lack of alternatives to religious funeral ceremonies and many crematoria, whose very existence depended on campaigning by secularists in the 19th century in the face of staunch opposition from the churches, were built with a bloody great cross on the wall behind the catafalque where the coffin of your deceased loved one lies.

Having children made me think about the absurd legislation around 'daily worship' in schools - my son was five before he even heard the word 'god' - at school of course. And about faith schools, which the current PM is hell bent on increasing in number, clearly drawing no lessons from Northern Ireland.

And BBCs 'thought for the day'- five minutes of religious platitudes in the middle of a peak time serious news magazine programme. What the hell is all that about?

And the blasphemy laws! I could go on all day but I realise we're going off topic and I just wanted to answer Luiseach's question.

I'll finishing by saying that of course we can campaign on these issues as individuals, writing letters to MPs, newspapers etc. So I think the real reason I joined one is to have contact with people who feel the same as me - in other words, to feel supported. But perhaps that's not so important nowadays when we have access to brilliant boards like this one. (So thanks)

mecca777

It's funny, because usually in the UK it's something of a non-issue. The majority of people would probably say "Xian" without thinking about it, but they don't go to church; and when I've told people that I'm an atheist they don't usually have much of an opinion.

However, yesterday an odd thing happened. While I was doing some last minute Giftmas shopping, I discovered that the bottom of the largest shopping street in Newcastle was blocked by a medium-sized crowd. Making my way through it, I saw that some evangelical Christians (most with US accents) had set up speakers and a microphone, and were giving it some serious Jesus for the benefit of the Christmas crowds. Around the speaker was a large circle of onlookers - some from the church, most from the general public.

In the centre of the circle was another microphone stand, unattended, where people were being invited to stand up and ask questions. Unsurprisingly, the intimidating setup (half-a-dozen preachers with their families, hundreds of onlookers who just wanted a good old-fashioned scrap) meant that there were no serious takers.

Can you guess what I did next?

When I stepped down after half-an-hour of entertainingly pointless back-and-forth, I went up to the head preacher, shook his hand and said I admired his passion. I asked if he or his church had any contact details, so that I could discuss some of the claims raised where I couldn't provide immediate evidence in more depth (his claim that there was proof of creationism and the existance of Jesus at the Smithsonian was one that I wanted to investigate).

He nodded, turned away, and ignored the hell out of me for twenty minutes while his juniors started telling me about how they had turned away from their old, sinful lives, and found joy in Christ.

Never did get that e-mail address.

Radcliffe Emerson

I'm pretty quiet around my parents, because neither of them will be around many more years, and dad in particular is very fundamental about the bible.
But at work, and everywhere else, I am very outspoken about my non-beliefs.