Athiests and TAM?

[JAStewart]

I consider myself somewhat of an athiest, and I'm just wondering what the general view of athiests is by the usual TAMies? As I'd like to go without being totally shot down or anything :)

[Wowbagger]

I think you'll find the proportion of athiests attending TAM is substantially higher than the proportion of athiests in the general public.

And that might even be a bit of an understatement.

[Horatius]

I actually had several interesting conversations with people who described their evolution from religious to atheist. So, not too bad a reception......

[wolfgirl]

I consider myself somewhat of an athiest, and I'm just wondering what the general view of athiests is by the usual TAMies? As I'd like to go without being totally shot down or anything :)Pssst...not to be an ********* or anything, but if you're going to consider yourself even "somewhat" of an atheist, you've got to learn how to spell it. You'll get shot down for that, if nothing else! :)

And welcome!

[Horatius]

That's right, it's spelled "throat-warbler mangrove"!

[UnrepentantSinner]

The forum generally has an atheist orthodoxy mentality. If that's how you feel, you'll fit right in.

[AZAtheist]

Atheism and Skepticism go together like peas and carrots. I'd venture that once someone starts questioning supernatural things it's hard to stop.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Plus making fun of how stupid "xians" are is a much more enjoyable mental circle jerk in person than on line.

[KingMerv00]

The forum generally has an atheist orthodoxy mentality. If that's how you feel, you'll fit right in.

That's going too far. Are there JREFers that think "xians" are stupid? Yes. But in IMHO they are a minority. The majority of atheists at TAM and on the forums are quite genteel.

[UnrepentantSinner]

That's going too far. Are there JREFers that think "xians" are stupid? Yes. But in IMHO they are a minority. The majority of atheists at TAM and on the forums are quite genteel.

Do you remember Penn berating that Unitarian woman at TAM3 for being... Unitarian for Pete's sake? Have you read threads in the R&P forum lately? Did you see what happened when I invited my pastor friend Macrina to investigate organized skepticism in Community of all places?

I agree with you that the majority are quite friendly and accepting, but they aren't the problem when it comes to attracting new people who happen to be religious, it's the vocal and often vituperative minority who really do think "xians" are stupid that are our PR achilles heel.

[KingMerv00]

Do you remember Penn berating that Unitarian woman at TAM3 for being... Unitarian for Pete's sake? Have you read threads in the R&P forum lately? Did you see what happened when I invited my pastor friend Macrina to investigate organized skepticism in Community of all places?

I agree with you that the majority are quite friendly and accepting, but they aren't the problem when it comes to attracting new people who happen to be religious, it's the vocal and often vituperative minority who really do think "xians" are stupid that are our PR achilles heel.

The bigotry from some JREFers really does bother me but I think it is important to remember that all groups have wackos.

[blutoski]

Do you remember Penn berating that Unitarian woman at TAM3 for being... Unitarian for Pete's sake? Have you read threads in the R&P forum lately? Did you see what happened when I invited my pastor friend Macrina to investigate organized skepticism in Community of all places?

I agree with you that the majority are quite friendly and accepting, but they aren't the problem when it comes to attracting new people who happen to be religious, it's the vocal and often vituperative minority who really do think "xians" are stupid that are our PR achilles heel.

Agreed. However, I have come to the conclusion that Skeptics have two 'divides', and fall into four *political* quadrants:

State-Enforced Atheists vs Church/State Separationists

and orthoginally directed

State Interventionists vs Libertarians



The bigotry from some JREFers really does bother me but I think it is important to remember that all groups have wackos.

And most groups eject them. Groups are allowed to define their membership boundaries. When I joined the BCGhosts & Haunting Research Society, I had a screening test and an interview. They rejected other applicants because they were wackos.

Organized Skeptics are different, for some reason: wackos and bigots are welcome, as long as their venom is also directed against, say, Sylvia Browne.

I think the problem is that Skeptics - and more so Atheists - have a siege mentality. We're so gratified to find somebody out there that shares our belief that Miss Cleo is probably full of it, that we maybe let slide that they don't believe in Conventional Medicine, Global Warming, or the Holocaust. We labour under the misapprehension that the enemy of our enemy is our friend.

I would like to introduce Rule 29 (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Schlock_Mercenary#The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effec tive_Pirates) from the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates: "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more; no less."

Popper dealt with the question of "what, exactly is science and what is non-science." I would like to suggest that Popper's demarcation solution also sheds light on Skepticism's boundary.

[Gurdur]

As for the OP; any TAM is quite likely to be welcoming for an atheist. That's a seperate matter.
Now onto other things:

... it's the vocal and often vituperative minority who really do think "xians" are stupid that are our PR achilles heel.

Bingo.
It's exactly those who put their egos and self-righteousness ahead of the cause of skepticism, and also ahead of the cause of atheism (two very different things: skepticism != atheism).


And most groups eject them.......Organized Skeptics are different, for some reason: wackos and bigots are welcome, as long as their venom is also directed against, say, Sylvia Browne.

I think the problem is that Skeptics - and more so Atheists - have a siege mentality.

Also bingo. What is very evident very often is a mentality that prides itself on being superior while simultaneously always whining about being "persecuted".

I've seen it time and time again in the atheist community, and it's disappointing to see it also in the wider skeptic community.

[Kochanski]

JAStewart, you would definitely find yourself in very comfortable company. Plenty of atheists at TAM. Plenty of good conversation. It is one of the few places I have been where you can say your an atheist and get a warm welcome.

[Geek Goddess]

Do you remember Penn berating that Unitarian woman at TAM3 for being... Unitarian for Pete's sake? Have you read threads in the R&P forum lately? Did you see what happened when I invited my pastor friend Macrina to investigate organized skepticism in Community of all places?

I agree with you that the majority are quite friendly and accepting, but they aren't the problem when it comes to attracting new people who happen to be religious, it's the vocal and often vituperative minority who really do think "xians" are stupid that are our PR achilles heel.

What happened to Macrina? She was around on FC a lot, and then disappeared.

[Reager]

Also bingo. What is very evident very often is a mentality that prides itself on being superior while simultaneously always whining about being "persecuted".

I've seen it time and time again in the atheist community, and it's disappointing to see it also in the wider skeptic community.


I won't address whether atheists or skeptics believe their mentality is "superior" (but what's wrong if they do?)...but I will take issue with the characterization of atheists and skeptics as "always whining about being 'persecuted'." Whatever "whining" you may be referring to is certainly not very widespread, as far as I can tell. Perhaps you are mistaking the very legitimate point that atheists and (when people understand what a skeptic is) skeptics are persecuted, at least compaired to Christians, Jews, and almost any other mainstream religious faith. Disbelieving in God is not a very popular opinion in the US. Contrast this with the truly ubiquitous "whining" of many fundamentalis Christians that they are the ones being persecuted by "the secular, atheist, left!"

[UnrepentantSinner]

What happened to Macrina? She was around on FC a lot, and then disappeared.

I guess she didn't find as much sense of community there as I hoped she might. I still interact with her over on Christianforums.

[abnoxio]

Well I attended my first TAM last January, with my wife, we are both athiests.
I used to be an evangelical minister for 13 years.