Free-thinking humanists

Why should we believe in God? Because God said so? What if God doesn't exist? What shall we believe in then?

This is a place to promote the vision of a humanist society. A society that places the value of all human life as the central value and concern, higher than money or institutions. A society that promotes non-violence as the only way to achieve results, fighting discrimination in all its forms; racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, etc. A society that encourages the continuous development and free distribution of human knowledge and allows freedom of beliefs and ideas

Write an Article

RSS

Obama's Acknowledgment of Nonbelievers is a Start

Written by vjack on

From: atheistrev.com

the 44th President of the United States...Bara...

Image by jmtimages via FlickrPresident Obama's mention of nonbelievers in his inaugural address did not go without notice by the media. Bloc Raisonneur did a great job of cataloging the initial reactions for us. Not surprisingly, the atheist blogosphere has had quite a bit to say about Obama's address. The consensus, at least from what I have read, appears to be fairly positive. At the very least, I think we can agree that it was nice to hear President Obama acknowledge nonbelievers in his address. Where opinions diverge a bit is on whether this was merely a nice gesture or a sign of a meaningful change in the manner in which the U.S. president regards atheists.

I tend to agree with Austin Cline when he says, "Frankly, I'm not at all impressed by this for several reasons and I don't think that other atheists should make a big deal out of it either." It was nice to hear him acknowledge nonbelievers, but I do not believe that it represents a significant change in attitude.

As Austin suggested, Obama's acknowledgment says more about the pitiful status of atheists in America than it does about Obama.

The refusal of so many to even acknowledge that atheists exist, never mind acknowledge that atheists are equal citizens whose views should be taken into consideration, demonstrates just how deep and strong the animus towards atheists is in American society.

Mentioning nonbelievers was certainly a step forward, but it was a first step at the beginning of a marathon. There is another critical step that must be taken, a much larger step that would really signal a change of attitude. In order to facilitate this next step, I hope you will join me in sending a version of Atheist Ethicist's letter to President Obama.

Subscribe to Atheist Revolution

Tags: Obama, nonbelievers, atheists, inauguration, atheist Copyright © 2008 Atheist Revolution. This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement.

Previous Article Next Article