Atheism and Social Justice

Atheism refers to the lack of god-belief, meaning that it does not require any more of someone than not believing in gods. In the United States, atheists are far more likely to vote for Democrats than they are to vote for Republicans; however, there is nothing inherent in the meaning of atheism that requires this to be the case. I suspect it is the case mostly because the Republican Party has explicitly embraced evangelical fundamentalist Christianity at least since the late 1970s. It is no secret that evangelical fundamentalist Christians regularly push things with which most atheists strongly disagree, so it makes sense that relatively few atheists would support a political party that aligns with them.

Briefly consider three issues on which the religious right (i.e., evangelical fundamentalist Christians who have aligned themselves with the Republican Party) has been rather vocal: women's rights (e.g., reproductive rights, gender equality) and LGBTQ rights (e.g., same-sex marriage, LGBT service in the military, discrimination by private businesses), and censorship (e.g., banning books, music, films, and other forms of creative expression deemed objectionable or blasphemous). Their rationale for the positions they take on these issues are nearly always couched in religious language.

Why Do People Become Atheists?

Many religious believers are interested in understanding why people become atheists. Not surprisingly, people become atheists for many different reasons. We are all born atheists because we do not enter the world believing in gods. Some people remain atheists because they are never indoctrinated into any religious tradition. They were born without believing in gods and they never start. But many others are indoctrinated, begin believing in gods, and become atheists later in life. This post will focus on them and address the question of why people who were formerly religious believers might become atheists.

I suspect that one of the most common reasons someone who was once a religious believer becomes an atheist is that this person begins to question aspects of what they have been taught about the religion into which they were raised. They arrive at the point of asking questions in many different ways and for many different reasons. For some, this seems to happen naturally as they grow up. They may discover that Santa Claus was a lie and begin to wonder whether Jesus was another. Or they may realize that their prayers are never answered and wonder why. For others, a particular experience leads them to question something about what they have been taught (e.g., a younger sibling dies of an awful illness in spite of faith healing). Still others may observe how poorly many within their religion behave and start to wonder if this is something they can be a part of.

Once they begin asking questions, they quickly discover that the answers they receive are unsatisfactory. Maybe what they are taught about various gods does not make any sense to them. Maybe they find a particular problem (e.g., the problem of evil) insurmountable and are unable to maintain belief once they begin to consider it. The questions result in doubt. As the doubt builds, it becomes increasingly difficult to hold on to one's faith. Some people in this position fight desperately to maintain their faith but are ultimately overcome by the recognition that they can no longer believe in gods.

Taxes Are How We Pay For Programs We Value

One benefit of being one of those evil liberal college professors one hears so much about from some conservatives is that I get to spend time with lots of college students. That may sound like a strange thing to say. I am well aware of how many people my age seem to look down on college-age people in general and college students in particular, but I do not share their animosity. I enjoy working with college students. As I get older, I find that doing so helps me feel a bit less disconnected from younger people than I would otherwise. I've been able to recognize that many of the stereotypes about Millennials (and whatever we're calling those who are too young to be Millennials) are inaccurate and unfair. As just one example, I find that most college students are far better informed about politics than my peers and I were when we were their age.

I have noticed at least one interesting exception to this idea of being politically informed, and it is one that I still don't understand well. Many of the college students I work with seem to have real trouble making a connection between how they vote at the state and federal level and the policies that impact their daily lives. I've lost count of the number of times students who vote consistently Republican (which is most of them where I live) complain about the lack of affordable healthcare, our state's system of public education, the virtual absence of mental health services for low income people, programs to help those released from prison re-enter society, and so on. They do not seem to understand that these things all cost money and that paying for them usually means higher taxes.

Brief Reflections on Atheist Day

March 23 was Atheist Day. It may have been little more than a clever opportunity for a website called Atheist Republic to market itself, but I am okay with that because I think it managed to accomplish something valuable anyway. First, it gave those of us who wanted to do something to mark the occasion an excuse to do so. As someone who has little interest in holidays that don't fall on October 31, I'm open to having a new one. There were small gathering of atheists in some communities who got together to celebrate Atheist Day in various ways. Second, it gave all of us a needed reminder that there are still too many places in the world where atheism can get you killed. This needs to change. No, let me revise that. We need to change this. Third, Atheist Day led countless atheists around the world to take to social media to say something about atheism (e.g., expressions of solidarity with other atheists) using #AtheistDay. This resulted in many of us finding interesting atheists to follow we would have otherwise missed.

For me personally, the coolest thing about Atheist Day was seeing the outpouring of positivity from atheists about atheism on Twitter. Sure, some people used the hashtag on tweets criticizing religion; however, most of what I saw was very positive. Examples included offers of support to other atheists, efforts to connect with atheists, quotes about atheism, sharing stories about one's journey to atheism, and general expressions of goodwill. For a group of people all too used to being shit on by the religious majorities that surround them, this was wonderful to see.

The Pragmatic Democrats

The mainstream news media has been referring to a certain group of Democratic voters as "pragmatic Democrats." Who are these pragmatic Democrats? According to this particular narrative, they are voters who are seeking the candidate with the best chance of beating Donald Trump, regardless of that candidate's progressive credentials. But the interesting thing about this narrative is that "pragmatic Democrat" has quickly become a proxy of sorts for referring to voters who are supporting establishment candidates (i.e., those we might describe as "moderate" or "centrist"). "Pragmatic Democrats" are frequently contrasted with "progressive Democrats," barely concealing the notion that only a moderate or centrist candidate can win.

I had hoped that the Democratic Party would have been wrestling with the centrist vs. progressive conflict ever since 2016 and that real progress would have been made long before now. If that happened, I am not seeing much evidence of it. I realize this will sound a bit conspiratorial, but I sometimes find myself thinking that the media narrative of the "pragmatic Democrat" seems almost as if it was deliberately crafted to undermine support for more progressive candidates.