What We Can't Claim Credit For<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In light of the two most recent posts (on atheism's weakness as philosophical movement and my inability to rebut a Ross Douthat thought experiment), it's\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/11\/what-we-cant-claim-credit-for.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What We Can't Claim Credit For\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In light of the two most recent posts (on atheism's weakness as philosophical movement and my inability to rebut a Ross Douthat thought experiment), it's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/11\/what-we-cant-claim-credit-for.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-30T17:30:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-11-27T16:52:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/files\/2011\/11\/big-tent-300x227.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/11\/what-we-cant-claim-credit-for.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/11\/what-we-cant-claim-credit-for.html\",\"name\":\"What We Can't Claim Credit For\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-30T17:30:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-11-27T16:52:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"In light of the two most recent posts (on atheism's weakness as philosophical movement and my inability to rebut a Ross Douthat thought experiment), it's\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/11\/what-we-cant-claim-credit-for.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/11\/what-we-cant-claim-credit-for.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/11\/what-we-cant-claim-credit-for.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What We Can’t Claim Credit For\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. 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{"id":1135,"date":"2011-11-30T12:30:52","date_gmt":"2011-11-30T17:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2012-11-27T11:52:19","modified_gmt":"2012-11-27T16:52:19","slug":"what-we-cant-claim-credit-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/11\/what-we-cant-claim-credit-for.html","title":{"rendered":"What We Can’t Claim Credit For"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

In light of the two most recent posts (on atheism\u2019s weakness as philosophical movement<\/a> and my inability to rebut a Ross Douthat thought experiment<\/a>), it\u2019s about time I got around to discussing the keynote at the DC Center for Inquiry fundraiser I attended a few weeks back.<\/p>\n

The featured speaker was Greta Christina<\/a> and she spoke on the similarities between New Atheism and the LGBT movement. \u00a0I\u2019m sure you can think of plenty of them already: both distrusted groups that are numerically in the minority. \u00a0Both movements that put a big emphasis on coming out because if people know us personally, they tend to soften some of their\u00a0judgments. \u00a0Both movements with fierce internal debates about how to engage with the mainstream and prone to worry about\u00a0accommodationists.<\/p>\n

I could guess most of the above, but Greta had another parallel that really caught my attention. \u00a0There have been historical periods where being publicly known as\u00a0queer or atheist could put you in serious danger. \u00a0And in some parts of the world, and the United States, that is still the case. \u00a0But what Greta chose to focus on was what changes once it\u2019s safe to be queer or to be an atheist.<\/p>\n

It used to be that being out, whether as LGBT or as an atheist, was a good proxy variable for having a lot of spunk and for having put a lot of thought into the issue. \u00a0But today, being out is low-cost for a lot of people. \u00a0I grew up atheist on very secular Long Island and didn\u2019t have to a lot of heavy lifting to defend my beliefs. \u00a0Just knowing I\u2019m an\u00a0atheist\u00a0doesn\u2019t give you that much help in guessing how smart I am or how well I can defend what I believe.<\/p>\n

Greta Christina explained that a strong sense of\u00a0exceptionalism\u00a0persisted in the LGBT community, even when many queer folks could exist comfortably within the mainstream. \u00a0And in a movement like atheism, where a lot is made of being less wrong than other people, this kind of confidence and complacency can be dangerous.<\/p>\n

Atheism isn\u2019t the goal. \u00a0The goal is to have a correct-as-possible model of the world to guide our actions, and we believe atheism is one of the components of that map. \u00a0But if plenty of people can stumble into atheism, we need to do more to focus on the process<\/em> of rational inquiry, not just celebrate it\u2019s byproducts.<\/p>\n

Someone in the comments section of my response to R. Hoffman<\/a> asked who my favorite atheists were. \u00a0Among living atheists, I\u2019d definitely say Eliezer Yudkowsky<\/a> fits the bill.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"