Okay, but having “atheist” in the name garnered more new members than “freethinker”, and weren’t we just discussing that it is probably also better than “secular” in that regard? So for political reasons, the name seems to be good
Okay, but having “atheist” in the name garnered more new members than “freethinker”, and weren’t we just discussing that it is probably also better than “secular” in that regard? So for political reasons, the name seems to be good
I don’t find that in this thread. Where was “atheist” said to be better than “secular”? Point the way housecat!
Not this thread, this one. IMO, “atheist” feels like a stronger word than “secular”. It feels more active, combative, and polarized.
Thanks housecat! Looks to me like “atheist” is an attention getter for a 24 hour newsfeed, but I doubt a party with atheist in its name is sustainable. But that’s just me.
I see I wrote this while you edited yours to say pretty much the same thing. I.e., we agree.
Yeah, going by the low number of atheists in this country and the two party system we have, I don’t see how it could really hope to get much done. We need to fix our party system and our voting system first.
As I’ve stated before, we need to work within the dominant parties to effect change whenever possible rather from the outside. I think that an atheist party would be great, but we represent only 18 percent of the total population at present and that’s not enough to create a ground swell of positive opinion on issues unique to freethinkers, whereas progressives represent a sizable majority of the Democratic party and can even be spoilers in a presidential election. More power to you guys but I’ll stay a committed Dem for a while and back President Obama. We could later be included as one of the groups in the Dem. coalition however. We need more freethinkers. How about opening more minds?
Language is an interesting thing to study. Atheism doesnt mean ant-theism like most people suppose. Ant-theism is anti-religion, atheism is without religion. In that way atheist politics makes sense. I know the name may SEEM exclusionary, it was not the intention. We have many theist members who agree with all of our platforms and do not limit their involvement due to our name. Our name is an attempt to change the connotation of the word Atheist and I will admit that it will not be an easy battle. I also agree that while Democrat and Republican are seemingly strictly political labels, you cannot say that atheism doesnt influence politics just as you cannot say that religion doesnt influence politics. We are just being open about the fact that we dont support religion in government and will not back up laws that are justified by religion. I wish that the republican party could just say that religion is a strong part of their platform, they act like it is anyway. I think using the word atheist means we have no hidden agenda, what could you hide with a name like that?
I occasionally have some theist comment that as an atheist I’m anti-god. Rather than bothering arguing about this, I say that I’m really a non-theist, but that most people are too dumb to recognize the difference. Now, I haven’t quite called that person dumb, but s/he’s sort of stuck trying to figure out the connotations so s/he doesn’t appear dumb.
Most people from my generation attribute the word “atheist” with Madalyn Murray O’Hare’s campaign to do away with prayer in school. They view it as Occam said, anti-god, not non-god. It’s up to the neo’s to educate the public and change the mindset from anti to non. Until then entering the political arena with an atheist banner at the fore will be met with cries of derision. “They’re trying to take away our god!” Evangelicals will rally behind Rick Perryesque campaigners whose single purpose is to defeat the powers of darkness and communism! Been there, seen that. Remember the cold war era folks. Another “sign of the times” from the good book”.
Evangelicals will rally behind Rick Perryesque campaigners whose single purpose is to defeat the powers of darkness and communism! Been there, seen that. Remember the cold war era folks. Another “sign of the times” from the good book”.
Cap’t Jack
That’s a good analogy. I just watched “The Majestic” yesterday because someone had a highlight of a speech here in another thread. It’s good to remember that we are capable of really stupid mob mentalities.
