Yeah, I can't believe either.

"Atheism is bad? Why?"

This is the entirety of the note I found on my blog this morning.I was honestly shocked to find it; I wasn't aware anyone read my humble musings.

The actual part of the post that this person is responding to was an attempt at humor; a parenthetical aside designed to explain that, although I wished to comment on the discussion, I did not want to really become part of it. That's really my fault. I should have known, before I said anything, that you can't fairly do that sort of thing. So allow me to clarify my thoughts:

• I don't think atheism is bad. I just happen to think that people who make a big deal of their atheism can be jerks, even though I've done this myself on occasion.



• I don't think vegetarianism is bad. I just think that PETA needs to tone it down and get some damn perspective.



• I don't think prayer is bad. I just think that anyone who tells me I have to pray a certain way, before I've had a chance to ask them, should mind their own damn business.



• I don't think animal sacrifice is bad. My dinner last night (chicken burrito) can attest to that fact.

I don't think anyone has got it Right so far. I'm still struggling with the paradox that, to give one line of thinking (e.g., a religion) a fair opportunity to present itself, you have to deny another line of thinking (e.g., "no one should ever listen to any religious person ever") that same opportunity.

On a related note, here is an update on the University Club that started this whole huge rant of mine. It seems that the offensive phrase was "without religion". I'm a little conflicted here. On the one hand, if a Buddhist or Jewish club were interested in exploring life "without Jesus", I think that would be validly offensive. On the other hand, you can't really define atheists in terms of their positive beliefs (i.e. science), since those beliefs are widely held by people of various religious backgrounds, as well. The core of atheism is not a belief, but a denial; you can't really describe an atheist club without "without".

Ultimately, though, I've only heard the one side of the debate. I'm pretty sure that if I personally went to this university and asked them, in a calm and reasonable way, why they made this decision, I'd find that their point of view was pretty reasonable, as well, and that their justifications for their actions made good sense. I'm not discounting the possibility that this is exactly what it is made out to be (an obnoxious attempt to silence atheist voices on campus), but I'm not going to bet on it. (Incidentally, as I am writing this post, my coworkers are trying to decide
which of them is the luckiest, as that person will have the responsibility of purchasing the groups lottery tickets. I'm not betting on that, either.)