The Atheist Movement

There is a certain amount of steam building up behind the current global Atheist Movement (yes, capital letters, now. It's that big); there has always been good atheist material (hey, Thomas Jefferson questioned the validity of religion, that's a ways back. He weren't the first one, either) available to people, but not so much as has been available in the last 15 - 20 years; the advent of the internet has made much of that old material accessible & the outrage of that great network's denizens at the wool that has been pulled over the eyes of the world is becoming palpable.

This outrage has led to a more forceful, if not necessarily more widely accepted entrance of this debate into the public sphere & has brought about the works of such authors as Professor Richard Dawkins and the ever-surly, ever-petulant, though often sharp & quite intelligent Christopher Hitchens. The new (admittedly low - I wouldn't call it a flood) tide of writings on the subject has, itself, sparked further debate and brought the subject, aswell as the contrasts between religion & atheism further into the light of day; there's a ways left to go, but with reason, logic, research, determination, science and anger on our side, we'll continue making headway.

The debate isn't a semantic one; as little as the existence or non-existence of God affects anyone in their day-to-day life (I'm not talking about belief, which can make a, er... Tangible difference in a person's life), the argument for and against the continued existence of religion - and, let's face it, that's what it really is - has entered the sphere of science education, scientific research ethics, medical ethics, social attitudes with regards to sexuality & the propriety of certain types romance; it is there that real damage is being done. I won't go into any specifics right here (it would be redundant, Greta Christina has already taken care of that - see the anger link), but I think that, in some people's case, this is well & truly an infringement on their day-to-day lives. In such light, the need for mobilization becomes immediately apparent.

This Atheist Movement, while it certainly isn't new is definitely experiencing a rebirth &, one might argue, a growth spurt. I have been hesitant in the past to claim that there was a genuine movement afoot, for fear that it might be misunderstood as a faith-based movement, but the need for a change of attitudes - a paradigm shift, as they say - is undeniable and only an organized, concerted effort on our part can make that happen.

It must be said, if there was ever a social movement composed of more intelligent, rational and well-informed people, it has yet to be brought to my attention; I couldn't be prouder of belonging to a group of any meaningful import.

(Yes, I know, it's taken a while between posts; sorry)