The Non-religion of Atheism

by Dave Silverman

I’ve gone on record many times saying that our greatest enemy is the enemy within, that the greatest threat to religious freedom is those who agree with state-church separation, but will not lend a hand to that end. Some events in the past month have really made me angry at those Atheists who choose not to participate, but rather prefer to let others do the work while they sit and wait.

This month’s article is about those Atheists who have excuses. Excuses for not writing letters, excuses for not calling politicians, excuses for not going so far as donating money or even joining an organization like American Atheists.

Arguing with some of them is even more frustrating to me than arguing with religionists. Believers are often, like it or not, consistent. They consistently have answers, though not very good ones, about why their god is special, why they are right, and why it’s OK for them to push their religion on other people. Debate with them until you’re blue in the face, but you’ll always be able to predict (within a good margin of error) what they’ll say next.

But when it comes to arguing with Atheists, I’m totally befuddled. One on hand, they are just as logical as I am about religion. Well versed, well read, and well informed. On the other, their resistance to helping out rivals religion in its illogic. So why aren’t they involved? They’ve all considered it, they all know what’s at stake, so why to they sit idly by? Here are the excuses I get:

“What’s the use? Are we going to get together and talk about nothing?” I get this from people who, while Atheists themselves, have never really looked into what organizations like ours do. Yes, there are Atheistic organizations out there who gather on a monthly or even weekly basis to talk about Atheism and Atheistic life. If that floats your boat, then that’s fine. We gather rarely (usually quarterly, with one yearly big convention), while concentrating our efforts on the political and religious leaders of our country, for the expressed purpose of preserving our liberties and freedoms to live godless lives. “The Use” is not to have a social interaction with other Atheists -- that’s a pleasant side effect. The real stress is to be seen, counted, and heard.

“You guys are just another form of religion”. I have real issues with this one, because it is a double victory for the religionists. Think about it. Those who like religion will join a religious group, and those that don’t will have such a bad taste in their mouths that they won’t join anything remotely resembling a religion, thereby squelching the establishment of non-religious organizations. They win and we lose - twice.

On the very surface, I admit we can seem to be a ‘godless religion’, which does everything a religion does without the god. However, this observation is completely false. With little effort anyone can see that we are nothing like church.

1. American Atheists never tells its members what to think about a certain issue.
2. We never give moral imperatives, or even moral guidance.
3. We have no rules by which a person must live. Every Atheist is a “good Atheist”.
4. While we have a leader and a board, we are free as members to vocally disagree with them. We often do.
5. We work only to preserve our right to live our lives as we see fit. We never foster any laws which would force or pressure others to be like us in any way.
6. We take active positions on legislation and political issues which pertain to us. Churches do that, but it’s illegal when they do.

“I simply don’t have the time or money” Bull. Membership in American Atheists costs less than two tanks of gas. If you’re reading this, you have a computer and you paid your electric and Internet access bills. You can afford membership. And time? It takes less time to call a congressman and leave a message than it takes to cook a 1 minute egg. You call, you talk, you give your name, and you hang up. That’s it. Your privacy is guaranteed by law. Got 5 minutes? Send an email to your local paper about a proposed law. So get up or make up another excuse.

The biggest reason that Atheists don’t help out is the same reason religious people don’t help (unless they’re threatened by eternal damnation): apathy. The bad news is that between their size and “divine” motivation (Heaven and Hell), we can’t afford apathetic sympathizers.

We are constantly being overrun by people trying to get their ticket to Heaven at our expense, and if we don’t stand up and be counted we will lose the very freedom we hold most dear; freedom of thought. Anonymity is privacy’s worst enemy.

Please get involved.

There’s no excuse for not contacting “NJ Dave”. Email him at the N.J. Office of American Atheists.

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