new Gallup poll is out about Americans\u2019 views on evolution<\/a>.<\/p>\nI could spin this story negatively by my genuine horror that 40% of all Americans believe in young earth creationism.\u00a0 Instead I\u2019m looking at it as good news.\u00a0 Those who accept evolution without any monkeying around by a deity have climbed from 9% in 1982 to 16% today.\u00a0 The middle ground, what some have called \u201ctheistic evolution,\u201d with God somehow guiding the process, has remained steady at around 38%.<\/p>\n
So while the plurality of Americans are still deluded and the percentage of the merely misguided has remained stable, the reality-based have gained 5%.<\/p>\n
So what can we do with this information?\u00a0 Based on my assumption, I\u2019m going to make a leap and say that the 16% who believe evolution is a completely natural process are almost all non-theists.\u00a0 That\u2019s over 49 million people.\u00a0 That\u2019s a lot.<\/p>\n
This is why non-theists must continue to organize and spread the word.\u00a0 I know we have our differences, but they are minor compared to the challenges posed by the other side.\u00a0 We cannot afford to let the most radical theists determine public policy.\u00a0 We are going to have to \u201cproselytize\u201d our fellow non-theists and any hidden \u201cfellow travelers\u201d to be more honest about their world views.<\/p>\n
We must encourage these folks to \u201ccome out\u201d of the non-theistic closet.\u00a0 Ads going up on buses and billboards, such as those by local Coalition of Reason branches, are a great start.\u00a0 They basically state what all non-theistic people naturally agree upon.\u00a0 We can be good without God.\u00a0 The implications of that statement for the future of this planet are vast.<\/p>\n
Our next step must be to exploit the advertising and the increase in public discussion by changing the way that we market our common identity to the public.\u00a0 I certainly have no problem with calling myself an atheist, but the word\u2019s gotten a bum rap and has ridiculous connotations for the average person.\u00a0 For this reason, some people have been groping for a better word.\u00a0 Richard Dawson advocates calling us \u201cBrights,\u201d but that just sounds silly.<\/p>\n
Years ago LGBQT people decided to market themselves under the blanket \u201cbrand\u201d of gays.\u00a0 We need a brand name, too.\u00a0 We can continue to use more precise terminology internally, but to the wider world we need to present a united front.\u00a0 The most appropriate and clearly understood umbrella word that describes us is \u201cnon-theist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Believe me, we are a lot less divided from each other than the religious\u2026even the most traditional\u2026are.\u00a0 And, hysterically, they are split about the most ludicrous things.\u00a0 These range from whether a cracker is REALLY Jesus to whether it\u2019s acceptable for a woman to lead the praises to him to whether or not eating a cheeseburger is an affront to Yahweh.<\/p>\n
Our different emphases as individual non-theistic movements should not detract from presenting a united front.\u00a0 What we agree upon is vast.\u00a0 Our disagreements are mostly a matter of aesthetics.\u00a0 Taste is a not a universal truth.\u00a0 I love going to non-theistic Shabbat services, but for others the thought of anything that \u201ctastes\u201d like religion is nauseating.\u00a0 Such differences merely reflect our diversity as human beings. Not whether we accept that a fictional supernatural ruler, described in ancient Israelite mythology, should have a say in our present day reality.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s keep these ad campaigns up!\u00a0 I am very much looking forward to seeing them in South Florida.\u00a0 I encourage you to work for the same visibility wherever you live. Perhaps soon, at least 49 million people will be, to borrow another phrase from the gay rights movement, \u201cout and proud\u201d as non-theists.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new Gallup poll is out about Americans\u2019 views on evolution. I could spin this story negatively by my genuine horror that 40% of all Americans believe in young earth creationism.\u00a0 Instead I\u2019m looking at it as good news.\u00a0 Those who accept evolution without any monkeying around by a deity have climbed from 9% in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11,30,38],"class_list":["post-599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-evolution-and-creationism","tag-non-theism","tag-science-and-reason"],"yoast_head":"\n
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