PZ Myers: We need to call ourselves atheists

PZ Myers shares his views and experiences as an advocate of atheism. PZ states that it is important to actively engage in civil discourse with those who fundamentally disagree with you. (Includes input from Sam Harris).

Credit:
The Science Network
http://thesciencenetwork.org/

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[sweetmonkeylove1]

See that's where I have been going wrong. I eat the babies in public.

[dracpcpp]

@wonkothemagicelf I disagree. When you're in a population that is majority theistic the label atheist is entirely appropriate. It's probably not necessary in Sweden or Norway, but in Britain or the U.S using atheist as a label is not only logical, I'd call it necessary.

[nerhu59]

@blade004 Ya, I've been there...

[blade004]

If you engage in civil discourse with someone for whom is religous within your workplace they will complain of discrimination thus resulting in unemployment. An Athiest has no rights, abd its wrong.

[macgeek2004]

@ZachRose88

Actually, if I remember the statistics right, something among 25% of Americans 18-30yo are atheist, so that makes sense, yeah. W00t! Lol

[ZachRose88]

I have been meeting Atheists everywhere now; it's amazing. It's time for all of us to come out and spead loudly and unapologetically. Fight back against superstitious nonsense! We must not allow these people to send us back into the dark ages.

[PeGe90]

@mahkus1 As logical as saying "I don't live in Canada, but I just don't live in Canada". Not believing in god is the same thing as being an atheist, whether you like the term or not. Perhaps you do live in a community where religion is a non-issue and the term therefore useless, but that doesn't make it false. On a global scale the term is very necessary, that much is clear.

If everybody around you is atheist, good for you. That doesn't mean they're "not atheist, they just don't believe."

[mahkus1]

@peuterschmidt I agree. I'm not an atheist, I just don't believe in god.

[peuterschmidt]

@dracpcpp You think so, In Britain too?

I live in Britain and I have never met a person who gives a shit to even give it a thought, they(Literally everyone I have got to know) don't believe in god and that's all they care to know.

[BYONDTer13]

@CarmineFragione

This isn't exactly a new concept, Carmine. It's a very old one, and there has been much "coffee table" discussion of this concept.

Dawkins himself addresses Intelligent Design as "entirely plausible", but only if you define the life form who is doing the designing as a being who has come about by Darwinian means. In other words, no gods, no magic, only intelligent, evolved life, and the laws of chemistry.

There simply is no evidence for any other type of "creation".

[BYONDTer13]

@CarmineFragione

There has been discussion involving the idea of intelligent life from a past universe either creating a universe, or bridging universes and seeding the second with life, or uplifting current life, Dawkins and Tyson both have speculated that this is theoretically possible, but improbable.

We aren't dismissing possibilities, and you need to understand that. We are simply saying there is no evidence, and in the case of the above, the root beings would have had to have evolved.

[MomoTheBellyDancer]

Eating babies? Preposterous! Why would I do that? Babies give me gas.