I am not an atheist, and I’m quite used to the abuse of atheists. It is, in its own way, quite comforting, because most of them believe in reason and dialogue, and being able to have an argument without somebody screeching in the background is what civilized discussion has been reduced to in this fallen age. I have a lot of time for those who explore, change their minds, and follow the data. I still have a soft spot for Christopher Hitchens, now passed on.
atheism denies the existence of God with religious fervour, and as such, they are in error, but one can reason with that. However, it appears that the left are trying to take this last group of old liberalism, the holdouts of the modern age in a time of postmodern barbarity, and turn them into another boring group of social justice warriors. There is something very sad in all this. Lord, you punished the church for its infidelity by inflicting liberal theologians upon us, can you understand that I would not want my enemies to also fall into their clutches?
But such a narrow focus also means that atheist and skeptic groups have a history of looking at these issues in isolation, without considering how race, gender, or class play into them. That isolation has been one of the great limiting factors in the growth of movement atheism. Too many activists and groups trapped themselves in rhetorical Möbius strips, where their conferences and literature were dominated either by debunking the same pseudoscience over and over again, or fighting cases of church-state intrusion that were more relevant as abstract principles.
But the more people step forward and identify themselves as nonbelievers, the more it’s become obvious that this narrow focus is unsustainable. Although the top positions in many organizations are still dominated by white men, an increasing number of the most passionate voices bringing new people into the movement are people of color, women, transgendered, or queer.
The interesting is being reduced to banal. Because of narrative.
On a more local note, the Greens have come out with a move to decriminalize abortion — make it “abortion od demand”. At present you need two doctors opinions (and it is a good living for my colleagues who consider the money worth their soul). This is another reason not to vote Green. Abortion is incompatible with Christianity: Do not give them your vote.
