Atheists Debate How Pushy to Be [Excerpts]
By Mark Oppenheimer
Energized by a recent Pew Research Center poll showing that atheists are more educated about religion than religious people, 370 atheists, humanists and other skeptics packed a ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel last weekend to debate the future of their movement.
They agreed on two things: People can be good without religion, and religion has too much influence. But they disagreed about how stridently to make those claims.
The conference, sponsored by the Council for Secular Humanism, drew members from all the major doubters' organizations, including American Atheists and the American Humanist Association. The largely white and male crowd -- imagine a Star Trek convention, but older -- came to hear panels that included several best-selling atheist pamphleteers, like Richard Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion," and Sam Harris, who wrote "The End of Faith" and is a rock star in the atheist world (he traveled with bodyguards because he receives death threats from both Christians and Muslims).
The conference came on the heels of a change in leadership at the council and a rumored rift there, which some described as a standoff between atheists, who focus on God's nonexistence, and humanists, who are also nonbelievers but seek an alternative ethical system, one that does not depend on any deity.
Some of the weekend's speakers alluded to the turmoil at the council, where several longtime employees have resigned or been laid off. But in general they emphasized unity: They shared common enemies, like religious fundamentalism and "Intelligent Design." And they believed morality was possible without God.
The presenters did differ on where a secular morality might come from. In his new best seller, "The Moral Landscape," Mr. Harris argues that morality is a product of neuroscience. (The good, he argues, is that which promotes happiness and well-being, and those states are ultimately dependent on brain chemistry.) Others believe morality is bequeathed by evolution, while still others would argue for ethics grounded in secular philosophy, like Immanuel Kant's or John Rawls's. But all agreed that nonbelievers are at least as moral as believers, and for better reasons.
The disagreement was not, then, between atheism and humanism. It was about making the atheist/humanist case in America. A central question was, "How publicly scornful of religion should we be?"
Here even the humanists got less humane, as each side stereotyped the other. Those trying to find common ground with religious people were called "accommodationists," while the more outspoken atheists were called "confrontationalists" and accused of alienating potential allies, like moderate Christians.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/us/16beliefs.html?_r=1&ref=us
(Oppenheimer, "Atheists Debate How Pushy to Be," New York Times Online, 10/15/2010).
Stand Up...Stand Up for Jesus ye soldiers of the cross
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss
From victory unto victory His army He shall lead
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is LOrd indeed.
Ye that are men now serve Him, against un-numbered foes
Let courage rise with danger...and strength...to strength oppose
The LOrd is with us. Greater is He that is with us, than he that is with them
By Mark Oppenheimer
Energized by a recent Pew Research Center poll showing that atheists are more educated about religion than religious people, 370 atheists, humanists and other skeptics packed a ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel last weekend to debate the future of their movement.
They agreed on two things: People can be good without religion, and religion has too much influence. But they disagreed about how stridently to make those claims.
The conference, sponsored by the Council for Secular Humanism, drew members from all the major doubters' organizations, including American Atheists and the American Humanist Association. The largely white and male crowd -- imagine a Star Trek convention, but older -- came to hear panels that included several best-selling atheist pamphleteers, like Richard Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion," and Sam Harris, who wrote "The End of Faith" and is a rock star in the atheist world (he traveled with bodyguards because he receives death threats from both Christians and Muslims).
The conference came on the heels of a change in leadership at the council and a rumored rift there, which some described as a standoff between atheists, who focus on God's nonexistence, and humanists, who are also nonbelievers but seek an alternative ethical system, one that does not depend on any deity.
Some of the weekend's speakers alluded to the turmoil at the council, where several longtime employees have resigned or been laid off. But in general they emphasized unity: They shared common enemies, like religious fundamentalism and "Intelligent Design." And they believed morality was possible without God.
The presenters did differ on where a secular morality might come from. In his new best seller, "The Moral Landscape," Mr. Harris argues that morality is a product of neuroscience. (The good, he argues, is that which promotes happiness and well-being, and those states are ultimately dependent on brain chemistry.) Others believe morality is bequeathed by evolution, while still others would argue for ethics grounded in secular philosophy, like Immanuel Kant's or John Rawls's. But all agreed that nonbelievers are at least as moral as believers, and for better reasons.
The disagreement was not, then, between atheism and humanism. It was about making the atheist/humanist case in America. A central question was, "How publicly scornful of religion should we be?"
Here even the humanists got less humane, as each side stereotyped the other. Those trying to find common ground with religious people were called "accommodationists," while the more outspoken atheists were called "confrontationalists" and accused of alienating potential allies, like moderate Christians.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/us/16beliefs.html?_r=1&ref=us
(Oppenheimer, "Atheists Debate How Pushy to Be," New York Times Online, 10/15/2010).
Stand Up...Stand Up for Jesus ye soldiers of the cross
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss
From victory unto victory His army He shall lead
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is LOrd indeed.
Ye that are men now serve Him, against un-numbered foes
Let courage rise with danger...and strength...to strength oppose
The LOrd is with us. Greater is He that is with us, than he that is with them
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