A guest writer on Boing Boing posted an short article entitled Big Tent Atheism earlier today. It’s worth a quick read, if you feel like you haven’t been irritated enough yet today. His post is essentially saying that atheists shouldn’t be outspoken and should just participate quietly with religious ceremonies while keeping their opinions to themselves.
I think closeted atheists who participate in other religious activities are the future of atheism. They know that prayer feels good without a needing brain scientist to tell them, and they know you don’t need God to want to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and provide homes for the orphaned. What if they simply stopped reciting the words that they didn’t agree with during religious services, without calling attention to it? In many places I don’t think they would be kicked out or turned upon and beaten just for that.
This is such a terrible goal for which to be aiming. When a group is closeted, it’s because they don’t want to be honest about their beliefs for fear of backlash. That backlash could be anything from physical harm to the loss of one’s job. A society full of closeted atheists is basically where we’re at now. It’s not the future.
Whether or not you agree with how Loud Atheists – people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and PZ Myers – get attention, what they’re doing is important. Many people think they’re preaching to the converted, but society needs the likes of them to get atheism on people’s minds. It’s not about converting anyone away from religion; it’s about taking the sting of controversy out of the idea of atheism.
The term ‘closeted’ is most commonly associated with homosexuality, and I think that’s a great example of how this process works. The long-running campaign for gay rights has never been about converting heterosexuals. It was about allowing gay people to live as peacefully, and with the same rights, as straight people. It’s been a long process, but major strides have been made in the last couple of decades. This is largely because gay culture has become more and more integrated into mainstream culture.
Gay people were seen while marching and lobbying. Through these events, support communities formed, and more people felt safe about coming out. Respected celebrities started to publicly come out, and people began to find that they had gay friends, family, and coworkers. Books were written, news articles were written, television shows and movies featuring gay characters were written, and the movement just started to spread throughout society. It was, and is, about making homosexuality commonplace, because mystery breeds fear.
Obviously the gay movement has a long way to go, and it’s not really that comparable to what’s happening with atheism right now, but it’s a good model. The more atheists that are heard, the more atheists who answer that they don’t believe in God when asked, the better. There are still places in North America where it can be dangerous to announce that you’re an atheist. You might be able to run for office here in Canada as an atheist and get voted in, but good luck south of the border. Fun bonus fact: though ruled unconstitutional and impossible to uphold, it’s still technically in the constitution of seven states that atheists can’t be voted in to office.
So while I do support the article’s view of the religious and non-religious living happily together, as well as forming charitable groups that cater to both sides, I don’t agree that atheists should hide themselves in order to make this happen.
