The Problem of the Word Atheist

Some of the feedback I’ve received in online forums and social networking sites brings up the issue of atheists organizing and forming communities.  Some argue that atheists should not even use the term atheist.  This argument is a serious challenge to the approach many of us take, and it deserves consideration.  Sam Harris argues, for example, that we do not use labels such as non-racist to describe ourselves.  He and others instead argue that society and individuals should instead promote reason and science.  Furthermore, some argue the term atheist is unnecessary or perhaps even misguided. 

The word atheist is a sticky issue.  I myself rejected it for a time.  I would tell philosophically inclined friends that the term atheism did not describe what my philosophical inclinations were… it only described what they weren’t.  Despite that fact, it did indicate something I had in common with other atheists… that I rejected or otherwise ignored any belief and idea that proposed some kind of supernatural object or energy. 

That may be the main reason the term atheist is still so debatable: although it gives a name to non-theists, it doesn’t explicitly signify what our philosophy and agenda actually are.  I think that is why we see others choosing words to describe themselves: rationalists, humanists, secularists, secular humanists, naturalists, non-theists, agnostics, brights, and probably many more.

The reason I took on the term atheist again is because although the roots of the word atheist lack any explicit description of what an atheist is and thinks, contemporary usage of the word provides an implicit picture of who an atheist is and what he or she might think. 

In fact, the implicit meaning of the words atheist and atheism seems now to include all of the other words that people have proposed to replace it.  There is of course variability between those who call themselves atheist, but for the most part we tend to be non-theist, secular, humanist, and naturalist.  We tend to use science and reason to guide our thoughts and decisions rather than faith, religious ideas, and supernatural forces.

It is a bit ironic, but even though the word atheist doesn’t tell us what an atheist thinks about many issues, that may work in its favor.  Perhaps the word atheist could actually serve as a rallying point for all of us with similar and overlapping philosophical approaches because it is in fact so non-specific. 

The Isolated Atheist

This is life as I see it for an isolated atheist. 

Sandra is an isolated atheist that keeps her atheism a secret.  She may belong to a religious family, or god forbid a country or an area of a country where religion is so pervasive that it saturates the local culture.  She doesn’t dare reveal her misgivings about religious doctrine, let alone the existence of a god, because that would be social suicide.  How could she ever expect to find a husband and start a family if her children might also become atheist?  Even if starting a family isn’t a priority for her, she doesn’t tell dates and significant others that she is atheist.  Why should she?  Nothing good will come of it.  It might in fact hinder her from having a serious relationship.  She could, perhaps, move to a larger city where people tend to be more accepting of varying attitudes, but in order to do that she would have to leave both her extended and immediate family behind.  Many people might say “why not,” but for Sandra this is not an attractive option.  So instead she lives her entire life keeping the fact that she does not believe in the supernatural a secret. 

John is openly atheist, and most of the people he knows admire him for having the courage to be so.  However, when friends and family first find out that John is an atheist, he notices that people tend to act differently towards him.  Some of the women he dates will immediately ask him if he believes humans came from monkeys, and will soon inform him that they can still be friends.  However, they don’t date atheists.  Sometimes, people will begin to avoid eye contact with John, and will stop carrying on conversations with him.  John is often at a loss as to why this happens, although it is usually soon after has told them about his atheism, or perhaps when they see his profile on a social networking website.  John actually begins to be surprised when he encounters someone that treats and views him the same as before when they learn he is atheist.

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Do these situations sound familiar?  I have in fact seen them myself, and lived them at certain points in my life.  I think they speak to the need for the atheists that live near each other to come together to form a support and social network for each other.  If nothing else, atheists will have a community to turn to when they feel isolated, for whatever reason. 

Where Are All of The Atheist Women?

I know what you are thinking.  There are atheist women out there.  Not to mention the American Atheists and Atheist Alliance International are both currently headed by women, and I am sure there are more female atheist leaders out there.  Most of us probably know at least one female atheist, even if we do not realize it. 

It is not that there are no atheist women; it is that there seems to be so few of them.  Every time I look at photographs from events that local atheist groups host, the male to female ratio is always much higher than one to one.  The smallest number of men per women I have seen is two, and I often see close to ten men for every woman. 

Maybe it explains why openly atheist men can sometimes have a hard time finding dates.

Why are there so few atheist women out there?  Are there really that many more male atheists than female?  Perhaps it is because our numbers are in fact equal, but fewer women are part of organized atheist groups.  Maybe there is a psychological reason, and women are either more likely to be in the closet if they are atheist because of the stigmas tied to atheism, or maybe they are less likely to consider themselves atheist for another social or cognitive reason.

Maybe there are in fact many more atheist men than women.  It is possible that if social behavior is on a bell curve, men have a wider range of behaviors because it was somehow evolutionarily adaptive in the past.  Men have practically unlimited reproductive capacity, since they can mate and fertilize women anywhere from every few hours to every few days.  Women, on the other hand, typically need at least a year to reproduce, and usually have only one child at a time.  This means that men are more expendable, evolutionarily speaking, and are able to take greater risks.  Maybe a wider range of social behavior for men is therefore a result of the way we evolved, and might explain why we tend to see more atheist men than women. 

Even if we are not sure why it seems that there are more atheist men than women, what do we do about it?  Does something need to be done about it?  Does atheist community building require at least near equal participation from women?  Communities of gay men might disagree, for example. 

One goal that I would like to set for the International Society of Atheists is to have equal numbers of men and women involved, although I am not yet sure how to pursue that goal.  It seems intuitively connected to the idea of atheist community building, although I do not know exactly why.  Hopefully in time I will gain more insight into the subject.

Atheist Community Building

You might notice that in my last post I proposed a list of activities that the atheist organization I plan to found would engage in.  One thing that hopefully stood out was that there is much more listed there besides the activism ideas.  Although activism is important, especially in an organization that is designed among other things to protect and promote civil rights, in my opinion it’s not all there is.  In fact, one of the core ideas that have influenced me in this planning stage is that there are very few large organizations that spend a significant amount of time and energy bringing local atheist communities together.  

When I say there are very few organizations that bring local atheist communities together, I mean specifically national and international organizations.  There are in fact several local organizations in the United States that make community building a high priority. 

The United States Atheists claim to have built the first atheist community center in the US, and I would not be surprised if it’s true.  Last year, their organization helped organize a Catholic and Atheist Dialogue night.  It appears that they at some point either intended to expand and become a national organization, or maybe that was the plan from the start.  However, they currently appear to have only one chapter that services the Portland, Oregon area. 

The Minnesota Atheists are another highly active group in the local community.  They have a well designed website, radio show, cable tv show, and newsletter.  Their bylaws are consistent with the spirit of positive atheism.  They are currently raising funds to build a building that will, among other things: host an atheist library, provide a base of operations for the group, and give them a site for community activities and fundraisers.

The Atlanta Freethought Society is another locally organized group of non-theists with goals that are very close to those I have in mind for the International Society of Atheists.  Their goals and history are very clearly stated on their website, which I think is important.  Their activities appear to be built around social events such as social hours/meals and a book reading group.

Now, granted, there are several national and international organizations that are indeed well organized and active.  They include American Atheists, Atheist Alliance International, The Secular Coalition for America, and the American Humanist Association.  The last three appear to be umbrella organizations of independent groups.  American Atheists does in fact have local and state leaders, although its emphasis appeared to be on the national organization when I was a member. 

One main idea behind the International Society of Atheists is that it would combine the community building done by some of the local groups I mentioned earlier with the resources and influence of the national and international organizations.  I may be wrong, but it appears that no such organization exists yet. 

My Pet Project – An(other) Atheist Organization We Can Be Proud Of

I have been doing research for the last few months in preparation of one day (in the next year or two) forming an organization that provides a community for atheists, as well as support and advocacy.   I’m planning to use my experience with non-profit groups to make it successful.  I figured I might as well let the cat out of the bag….

I decided to call the organization the International Society of Atheists.

There are two notable groups I know of that already exist that have some of the same goals and geographical scope that I have in mind for my organization.  The first is American Atheists.  The other is the Atheist Alliance International.  The fact that I intend to found another organization doesn’t mean I think AA or AAI are ineffective or flawed.  Hopefully, when I explain more about the ISA, my reasons for forming it will become clear. 

 I started to write a blog entry a while back that I suppose was a more formal introduction of the ISA.  I never published it, so what better time than now?  It started like this:

If I were to start a comprehensive atheist organization, it might have these goals:

            

Support

Social

Regular social gatherings for each chapter

Mentors to help those in need

Legal (will probably come later after organization grows)

Discrimination

Separation of church and state

Community

Celebrations and ceremonies

Weddings

Funerals/memorial gatherings

Coming out parties

Graduations?

Secular holidays?  Winter solstice, etc…

Service

Work with United Way (or other organizations), other service orgs

Conferences/other events

Speakers

seminars

Activism

Petitions

Marches

Rallies

Mail outs/handouts

debates

Outreach to:

religious leaders

meetings, letters, phone calls

media

advertising

public relations w/media

press releases

politicians

meetings, letters, phone calls

other atheist/secular/nonreligious groups

attend their meetings, conferences, write them letters, PR efforts

general public (through media, activism)

telling them we exist and are here to support atheists and their families and friends

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So… I suppose that’s a good enough introduction for the time being.  I intend to talk about more of the specifics in more detail in the near future.  Stay tuned…