One of the reasons I started The Unreligious Right was, in my own small way, to counter the common assumption that atheism is only part of the political left. Although liberals dominate among atheists, there are still plenty of us on the right, as well as among libertarians and other independents. I hate seeing misleading headlines like this one at Politico: "Atheists keep faith with Barack Obama." I certainly have no faith in Obama.
The Politico article actually only involves three atheist activist organizations: The Center for Inquiry, the Secular Coalition for America, and American Atheists. Yet Politico implies that they speak for all atheists. The vast majority of non-believers do not belong to these organizations, which speak only for their membership, not for atheists in general. Atheism is non-belief in God/gods -- period. It is not a religion, a worldview encompassing unrelated matters, or a political orientation.
Absolutely. And it reminds me of how I feel when NOW presumes to speak for me as a woman. Um... no thanks.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a friend that would always correct people who referred to NOW as the "National Organization of women, instead of for women. And she'd say pretty much exactly what you just said.
ReplyDeleteThis post is spot on. Nothing in being an atheist requires you to be left-wing any more than being religious requires you to be right-wing.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that there may be a perception that, since many social conservatives are religious, many atheists must be socially left-wing. Since many SC's are in the GOP, this would imply that SL's (and hence atheists) are more likely to be Democrats. This perception is incorrect because, among other things, it unnecessarily conflates different types of conservatism together.
Yes, it's a weak argument against atheism that it's just another form of faith -- ridiculous.
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