Comments on: How It Should Be

By: HappyNat

HappyNat — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 19:10:44 +0000

One way Atheists show up in mainstream news is when they challenge The Pledge, In God We Trust, the Boy Scouts, etc. In these cases a “national institution” is being challenged and the slant, even from the liberal media, is negative.

Also, Atheist Organizations don’t hold the same recognition as churches, Boy Scouts, United Way, etc. The above organizations have a long history with the community and hold a connection that “non belief” organizations can only hope for.

By: Hemant

Hemant — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 03:02:38 +0000

Hemant said there is very little discussion on atheism in the media without a mention of how reviled atheists are.

I think this happens because our society is not comfortable in accepting atheism as a legitimate way to think. Whenever they mention an atheist, they must qualify it with the word “avowed,” as if it’s not a normal thing to just “be” an atheist.

There are many studies which point to atheists being unelectable (even if otherwise qualified) and the least trusted minority. So it is a common stereotype people have of us.

It’s just one of those things you notice when you’re in the minority and may not be too apparent when you’re outside that group.

By: jim henderson

jim henderson — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 02:24:22 +0000

Hemant said there is very little discussion on atheism in the media without a mention of how reviled atheists are.

Hemant give us an example of where you’ve seen this pattern

By: Prokop

Prokop — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 06:14:22 +0000

Well, the first problem is the common belief that Atheist means amoral, which it demonstrably does not. Even without a central document to what we believe, atheists have no higher a crime rate than religious folk. Secondly, the Bible isn’t too kind with regards to non-believers. While I can’t recall any of the particular stories referring to those that disbelieve in or distrust God, I do know Psalm 14:1, “The fool says in his heart ‘There is no God’. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”

By: LynnI

LynnI — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 14:18:53 +0000

I was one of the ones that participated in this project. Actually the central group was the VFW not our church – if there were any atheists in the group I really couldn’t say nor do I know if everyone was a Christian. As Christians, we were acting on our responsibility to care for those in the community around us. Maybe a non-believer can answer a question for me – Hemant said there is very little discussion on atheism in the media without a mention of how reviled atheists are.
Why do you think that is?

By: Prokop

Prokop — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:12:42 +0000

I wonder if every single person that helped in the project was a Christian, or if there were some atheists intermingling in the bunch. The local businesses cited as well as VFW are not necessarily a religious pool of people, so this event was potentially a joint effort between atheists and Christians, even if the central group were a Christian one.

By: Hemant

Hemant — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 06:08:23 +0000

Jim- I think it’s a big part of what we talk about very often. There’s very little discussion on atheism in the media without a mention of how reviled atheists are. So improving our image is a goal, stated or not. And there is also a motivation for it; for so many of us, we want to see good works being performed, not to please God, but because it’s helpful to a fellow human. To model that would be great.
– Hemant

By: jim henderson

jim henderson — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 02:37:06 +0000

Hemant -Do you think that Atheists care about improving their public image? Seriously, if there is no movement to advance or agenda to put forth what would motivate atheists to organize public actions of kindness?

By: JustHis

JustHis — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 02:04:53 +0000

Now, that’s what I’m talking about! That is great, a great thing to unite as humanity not solely as a religious group. I agree that there should be no reason we can’t unite to do good for others even if we disagree on God, religion etc.