If you’re going to criticize atheism, keep secularism out of it.

Bigots have a problem with reality: they tend to not care so much about facts or even understanding the basics of the terminology they use in their attacks on those they hate.  An example that I see regularly in my surveillance of anti-atheist bigots is that they don’t know or don’t care about the difference between secularism and atheism.  This is not to say that definitions of secularism that include rejection of religious beliefs are wrong, many dictionary examples give such a definition as the first option, but dictionary definitions, although used by people who don’t know how to participate in good debate, are by no means evidence of what a word means in common practice.  In most cases a more correct definition is:

the view that public education and other matters of civil policy should be conducted without the introduction of a religious element.¹

Secularism is religion being kept out of/not being an issue in government and culture where it is not needed.  It is keeping religion out of things it has nothing to do with.  Secularism is an integral part of American culture and government.  People of all faiths and none enjoy the benefits of secular society.  It is not by nature anti-religion (a secular society says nothing about whether religion is “good” or “bad”), and it is definitely not atheist (it does not assert the existence or nonexistence of any deity or supernaturalism of any kind).

Many Americans, including those with religious affiliation, appreciate secularism in this form and understand why it is important.  Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), a group at the forefront of protecting our constitutionally mandated secular government, is led by Barry W. Lynn, an ordained reverent in the United Church of Christ.  Clearly secularism, especially as it pertains to Church/State separation, is not something promoted only by atheists; it is promoted by Americans from all walks of life.

Here’s a hint for the critics, if you are going to criticize or bash something at least do it right.  If you are going to criticize secularism then criticize secularism, don’t say you are talking about secularism and then go into a diatribe bashing atheists. If you want to justify your hate for atheists then that’s fine too, but be honest about it.  Don’t invoke the concept of secularism as if it has anything to do with atheism.  Don’t try to push your religion onto the rest of society by invoking the irrelevant boogieman of atheism. That just makes you sound silly to the religious and nonreligious who enjoy secular society together.

I consistently see those who attack us personally for daring to exist cry “they were rude to me!” when engaging in discussion or debate with atheists who are fed up with their bigotry. Cry me a river.  Not everyone deserves respect.  In civil society you receive the same level of respect you offer to others.  Those who simply disagree with our rejection of god belief and religion and who want to defend their beliefs by engaging in rational, intelligent discourse should be free to do such without attacks and insults.  We should attack the claims and positions, not the people.  Anti-atheist bigots, on the other hand, deserve no such courtesy.  They start from a position of complete lack of respect and civility.

Do people respectfully respond to racists?  Generally, they don’t.  They are attacked and called what they are – racists.  Religious bigots of any sort deserve no different treatment. It’s clear who has the ethical authority here.  We attack religion and the concept of faith, while they attack us directly.  They call us immoral, bad people, tell us we will burn in eternal hellfire, not due to our actions, but because have happen to not believe in something they do.  They express such bigotry through mean-spirited, disingenuous personal attacks on us – attacking us not for our characters and actions but for what we don’t believe.  They do not deserve civil discourse.  We are simply judging them by their actions which they rationalize with their religion.

Of course, we should be careful to not overdo it and see bigotry or discrimination where it doesn’t exist, such as a group in the opposition, the Catholic League.  Unlike them, though, we actually experience major bigotry and discrimination in the United States.  Not all religious folks are bigots, and they deserve as much respect as anyone else making an argument.  If they are meritless the arguments should be attacked, but not the people.  Bigots will not get such courtesy here, and should not anywhere.  They come into the discourse with nothing but personal attacks, and should be treated in kind.  If they want to be treated with respect, they should be focusing on how they treat others first.

No group fighting for their civil rights has ever preserved them by being nice to and pacifying their most vocal opponents.  This simply gives them more power.  We need to take a hint from all the great rights movements, such as the black civil rights movement, gay rights movement, and women’s suffrage movement, just to name a few.  Are bigots the type of people we should concern ourselves with showing niceness towards?  We need to concentrate our efforts towards those who are important: the progressively religious and the nonreligious who are passive and hide their views.

Are you worried about such rudeness being used against us (”See?  Look at the angry militant atheists!”)?  Don’t respond at all, then.  Religious bigots make themselves look bad all on their own.

Who is Really Persecuted

Religious bigots just don’t get it.  They don’t understand that others have the right to express their opinions publicly.  If one were to criticize them for promoting their religion in public they would cry “Religious intolerance!”  When atheists express themselves, though, we are suddenly “militant atheists” hell bent on eroding the religious foundations (that don’t really exist in the way they mean) of our country.  While atheists are persecuted, or at the least subject to constant bigotry for simply expressing ourselves, I continue to hear Christians in the United States claim that they face persecution.  Really, in a country with a vast majority of Christian citizens they are somehow persecuted?  Give me a break.  Even other Christians, such as Indianapolis Star religion blogger Robert King, understand [indystar.com] how ridiculous it is for Christians in the U.S. to claim persecution.

New Bus Ads … Now From the Christians

British Christians, in an attempt to counter the recent atheist bus ads, have raised money [washingtonpost.com] for their own ads in an attempt to counteract the atheist bus ads.  This is their right, but they miss the point.  The ads were not meant to de-convert anyone, although the religious are constantly attempting to convert nonbelievers, or those that believe the “wrong” thing.  Although many atheists do see religion as a dangerous thing and would love to have more people rely on evidence-based reasoning, the ads were not meant to do this.  They were simply to let the nonreligious who feel alone in a religious world know that there are other out there who share their disbelief – that they are not alone.  Christians are already well aware that they are not alone, so what good does this really do them?  It’s a mean-spirited attempt to drown out the atheist voice by those who can’t stand the fact that atheists will no longer be in the closet, we will no longer sit quietly and internalize the opposing view that they shouldn’t express themselves like the religious, lest they be labeled “arrogant.”

British Christian community, you can feel free to buy as many bus ads as you want.  It just shows how frightened you really are that you are losing ground.  Unlike some intolerant religious folk, we are not afraid of open dialogue, we have nothing to fear.  As the Washington Post article says:

More than three of four people in the world consider themselves religious, and those who say they belong to no faith are in the distinct minority.

As a minority, even in a more secular country such as Britain, we have nothing to lose.  Our ranks are growing faster than ever and religious leaders know it.  They are scared, so we can only expect the attacks to get stronger, in both the United States and Britain.  It means we’re doing something right.

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said the new religious ads proclaiming God are “really quite a compliment” and mean “our ads had an impact.”