Encouraging Atheists to Own Our Humanity
Posted by Jack Vance
June 7, 2016
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Atheists are, above all else, human beings. We have the same faults, limitations, shortcomings, and weaknesses of any other humans. And again, this should not come as a surprise to anyone since we are ourselves human. So what? This is important, at least in part because we would do well to recognize that atheists are perfectly capable of believing some pretty ridiculous things. And unless an atheist changes his or her mind on the question of gods, no amount of absurd beliefs make him or her any less of an atheist. Less of a skeptic, less of a humanist, or generally less reasonable, perhaps, but not less of an atheist.
I know many of us expect more from our fellow atheists and end up feeling surprised or disappointed when we turn out to be wrong. We really should know better by now, shouldn't we? Haven't we all had enough interactions with other atheists that should make it nearly impossible to expect something so different from what we find?
In the time I've been writing Atheist Revolution, I've encountered atheists who take the Ancient Aliens show on the History Channel seriously, atheists who believe in ghosts, atheists who are convinced that modern climate science is "a hoax," atheists who take unproven and potentially harmful dietary supplements every day, atheists who believe that people can develop post-traumatic stress disorder from being exposed to insults from Internet trolls, and atheists who adamantly oppose the free expression of ideas if the ideas in question are critical of Islam (or third-wave feminism). I've interacted with atheists who proudly defend science right up until it casts doubt on their cherished beliefs, atheists who have managed to convince themselves that Bernie Sanders will win the Democratic nomination, and atheists who believe that they are making the world a better place by calling others names on Twitter.
On social media, I regularly run across atheists complaining about the poor treatment religious believers dispense. They are right to do so. There are countless examples of religious believers treating people quite poorly. And yet, I cannot help but notice that many of the atheists who complain most vocally are themselves treating others poorly. It is difficult to see this as anything other than blatant hypocrisy.
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