Thoughts about "Atheist Scum United"

Below is the text that TheAmazingAtheist read in his video to which this is a reply. The text can also be found on the ASU website: http://www.atheistscumunited.com/about.html

"Atheist Scum United is a socio-political artistic movement for atheists, agnostics, deists and even theists who find themselves increasingly worried about the role that religion plays in government and in social discourse.

"The ASU is a non-violent organization, focused on the empowerment of non-theistic humans through artistic and political expression and action. We encourage a more aggressive stance against the forces of fundamentalism that have come to power in America and, therefore, throughout the world, but by no means do we condone stepping beyond the bounds of simple (though severe) mockery.

"That said, the ASU does not condone passive resistance as an approach to theist violence against atheists. We promote self-defense to the fullest extent in such situations (which are thankfully very rare at present).

"The ASU does not seek to infringe upon the First Amendment right to freedom of religion, in fact, we respect nothing more than the First Amendment and the wisdom of the words, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.' Since those words have been written, God has been added to our currency, voted into our pledge of allegiance and used by both predominant American Parties to endorse reprehensible and otherwise unjustifiable laws and bills.

"Although we do not seek the prohibition of religion, we do seek the prohibition of the indoctrination of children. Just as it is illegal to beat your children in the name of God, it should be as illegal (more so) to convince them of a land of torture where they will burn until the end of eternity unless they follow the moral guidelines of ancient texts that hold little to no bearing on modern life. A law against such would be largely unenforceable, but it would send a strong message to America and the world--and the attention would, perhaps (just perhaps), shake the apathetic masses out of their trance of religious tolerance.

"We make no apologies for our approach, neither to those so passive that they cannot see the necessity of our measures, nor to those so extreme that they would damn the movement to purgatory through the use of violence.

"We are not polite atheists. We are not militant atheists. We are exactly what we say we are: Atheist Scum United."

I have many issues with this as a public declaration of purpose, some of which I address in this video, and some of which I may have to get into in future vids. But I would ask anybody who's interested in real-life politics, sociology or marketing to take a look at paragraph 5, and ponder whether this goal, as stated, makes any sense as a realistic objective, OR as an effective act of political theater.

Here are some other links of possible interest:

Legislating atheism (for make great benefit of children!):
http://www.answers.com/topic/league-of-the-militant-godless
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union
Bad precedent for a name:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCUM_Manifesto
http://reactor-core.org/scum.html

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• TheAmazingAtheist
• new
• atheist
• movement
• social
• change
• activism

[ArrogantAtheist]

Atheists FTW!!

[foolsbetrippin]

why do people listen to this guy.

bald ugly guys are supposed to be intelligent and articulate.

how about interesting?

id settle for remotely entertaining.

[BillofRightsBrutus]

I concur. The most important thing to remember about speech is it is a fundamental right; just as parental rights and free exercise of religion are. They are one and the same. You simply can't tell parents what they can teach their children. As maniacal as some facets of religion, one can only be a catalyst for secular governance in a country with separation of church and state. To advance otherwise is to strike the match to the powder keg soapbox on which all who avail speech stand.

[ScienceFindsGod]

Destroy all Religion and Royalty. Take away they're tax-exempt status, it's against the constitution.

[MCshlthead]

ah everyone on the whole planet is a loser apart from me

[hardstylebaby2010]

Christianity FTW!

[Squee505]

Man why are you atheists all so smart? I can't hold a thought for more than 3 sec--- what?

[icywinters]

Why cant people believe what they want? I dont think it matters what you believe

[1kaicheng]

-_- u dipshit

[Lennon4ever1]

@MetaBob What ever became of Amazing Atheists' scum united organization? He's got good ideas and he's not stupid but he gets too carried away. There is no doubt in my opinion, that we need to have more solidarity and need political lobbying if atheists are ever going to gain real equality. Maybe with the discrimination and bigotry we face, some tough choices may be needed. Militant atheism=fighting words I realize but he has a point-do you agree?