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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
 Posted - 05/03/2007 : 03:37:53
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This blog entry by Amanda Metskas (president of Camp Quest) got me thinking about the online face of atheism.
quote:
An online discussion forum is a public forum, and it's in writing, but it feels like a discussion with your friends in your living room while kickin' back with a beer. Frankly, there are a lot of things I'd say in my living room with a beer, that I would NEVER post in an online discussion forum. This doesn't mean that discussion forums are useless, just that it's not good to use them for pure "therapy," the kvetching and off-color discussion you'd have in your living room. They present a public face to the world, and it would really be useful for both individuals and the public perception of atheists as a group if people remembered that and took it into consideration. I think a good rule of thumb is don't say anything on an email list, blog, or online discussion forum that you wouldn't be comfortable having linked to your real name and defending publicly.
This is one heck of a demand for a forum where people can pretty much have complete anonymity if they choose to do so. And yet, a Google search of the term "atheism" produces a pretty positive and accurate impression of us godless folks.
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2007 : 14:12:33 [Permalink]
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Snabe, at your link, wrote in part:quote:
I'm not going to name names here or denigrate people who are taking a different approach to promoting a secular worldview as a perfectly good way to live one's life, because I think it takes all kinds in a movement like this to make progress. Different strokes for different folks, right? But sometimes, I have to say, I wonder if some of the tactics used by some of the folks in this movement aren't doing more harm than good. It's hard to know.
And I agree, in part. Indeed, it is "hard to know."
This post, being both mild praise of, and mild condemnation of, a "shrill, meanspirited, or whiney" approach to promoting atheism, is mildly confusing. I prefer reading opinions which are less dodgy and ambiguous, such as the way Dawkins expresses himself.
That said, I do, indeed, agree with Snabe about the need for a mix of approaches, if that was Snabe's point. To affect a change in societal thinking as great as the abandonment of theistic thinking as a dominant ideology, it will require a combination of urging, cajoling, education, and outright mockery, coming from many people, and from many directions.
As the little brother said to his bigger brother before taking on the neighborhood bully, "You hit him high, I'll hit him low." Another analogy would be the way my fellow Union Steward and I sometime handled a difficult grievance meeting with management: One of us would take the "bad cop" role, and demand the world, while the other would then take the "good cop" role and propose a "compromise," which was our actual goal prior to the meeting. Amazing how often this worked.
In evangelizing atheism and humanism, such deliberate psychological trickery is rarely possible, even if desirable, because atheists' opinions really do differ greatly -- and most of us would shy away from trickery in such a situation. But the effect can be the same. A person who finds the tenets of their religion being effectively made a laughingstock from one quarter may be happy to turn to a more "reasonable" atheist who assures them that their religious rights are not in question, but urges them to respect atheism as a legitimate belief.
Anyway, whatever we feel about how atheism and humanism should be presented, they will be presented in all manners, by all sorts of people. It's a good thing, though.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2007 : 14:16:39 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally quoted by marfknox
I think a good rule of thumb is don't say anything on an email list, blog, or online discussion forum that you wouldn't be comfortable having linked to your real name and defending publicly.
The rule of thumb I've heard is that one shouldn't post or email anything one would feel uncomfortable seeing alongside their real name on page one of the New York Times. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 05/03/2007 : 14:42:52 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
quote:
Originally quoted by marfknox
I think a good rule of thumb is don't say anything on an email list, blog, or online discussion forum that you wouldn't be comfortable having linked to your real name and defending publicly.
The rule of thumb I've heard is that one shouldn't post or email anything one would feel uncomfortable seeing alongside their real name on page one of the New York Times.
Good advice indeed! But alas, some of us have no shame....
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2007 : 04:06:05 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Gorgo
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/04/we_aim_to_misbehave.php
Good essay on the subject of the face of atheism.
Thank you, Gorgo! That article crystallized what I had been thinking. Politeness don't come into it, regarding effectiveness. The courageous (and insufferable) Suffragettes went to great lengths to lambaste their opposition. Compared to that, the deserved mockery of actively dangerous religious foolishness by some atheists is mild indeed.
And it's about time!
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Dale McGowan/The face of atheists on the Internet
