Hold the groupthink, thanks.

There’s a giant billboard up on Ulmerton Rd. that simply reads: “Are you good without God? Millions are.” over a field of clouds. No other information except  a web address: www.TampaBayCoR.com.

Right away alarm klaxons are going off. Here’s a group with something important enough to say they put up a billboard, but who are too terrified of how they’ll be perceived that they hide who they are behind a provocative slogan and a vague abbreviation. Still, I’m pretty “good without God” and have been for this past decade so I was intrigued enough to check it out.

(…from my home computer, because I certainly didn’t need any pagan, wiccan or scientologist propaganda popping up in my search history at the office.)

“TampaBayCoR” stands for “Tampa Bay Coalition of Reason”. They’re a group of atheists who are trying to… uh… I’m not really clear on that. The website is essentially a short essay talking about how it’s okay to be a nonbeliever followed by a page of links to other atheist groups in the area. And of course they want you to join.

I don’t understand the point of all this. Maybe someone can explain it to me. The site is clearly not trying to change anyone’s mind; a theist who stumbles upon it is going to have a reaction somewhere in between “oh, those crazy atheists” and “THEY ARE DESTROYING AMERICA HOW DARE THEY“, and then either close the browser or write their congressman accordingly. I can see how it all might be useful to a person who is having problems with their faith and may take comfort in knowing that a lack of belief is totally normal for some people and that many others have been where they are.

But that person shouldn’t join any atheist groups. Indeed, “atheist groups” probably shouldn’t even exist at all.

Atheism is not a religion. There’s no culture or defining trait behind it. Defining yourself by what you don’t believe is an extremely flimsy way to go through life. I’ve known atheists who were batshit left-wing loonies, and atheists who were gun-loving right-wing crackpots. I’ve known black and white atheists, atheists from every country and culture in the world, and indeed from every religious background. I’ve known atheists who were hard-case skeptics, downright cynics and “drank the Kool-Aid” gullible woo-woos. I’ve known people who were raised atheists, who became atheists after a years-long crisis of faith, who arrived at the atheism position scientifically, and who “converted” just to piss off their parents. I’ve known atheists who are too afraid to even use the label “atheist”.

One of the inside pages of TampaBayCoR.com shows some rather smug-looking college kids with bumper stickers that read “We have the fossils. We win.” But I’ve known atheists who didn’t agree with or accept the theory of evolution. Presumably those atheists would not be welcome in the Coalition of Reason.

The point is there is just no sense of community in the label. It is not a brand name or a marketing gimmick. There’s nothing to build a clubhouse around. Atheism has neither a positive nor negative structure to it; by definition it is a lack of structure. It is a vacuum. All the stuff the Coalition is trying to make atheism mean (such as the link to evolution), it doesn’t really mean. It’s exclusive, and for that reason it’s dangerous.

A lot of atheists out there disagree with me. They think it’s fun to get together and bash world religions and other silliness. Hey, I went through that phase myself. (I was 19, though, and I grew out of it eventually.) Maybe that’s the kind of club the Coalition is. Or maybe they’ve got a political agenda they’re trying to foist onto a large-and-growing American minority. Or maybe they’re just college kids grasping for a sense of identity. I can’t say.

I want “atheism” to mean only exactly what it means: a lack of belief in God or gods. That’s it. I want the term to stand on its own without all the baggage groups like the Coalition of Reason try to lash onto it. When I tell someone I am an atheist, I want that person to assume absolutely nothing about my history, background, or political beliefs. The word is a zero-state, and should be treated as such. Religious groups are already doing a good enough job making us into a “them”; it’s not an image we need to foster.

Sorry, Coalition of Reason. No dues from me. But best of luck to you in whatever your quest or purpose happens to be.

2 comments to Hold the groupthink, thanks.

  • Kirin

    I dunno. Everyone who subscribes to a major religion automatically knows how to find a clubhouse they can hang out at on the weekend (or whatever). Church fills a lot of roles besides just preachin’, and there’s not an obvious equivalent for those who don’t believe in any big widely-accepted supernatural regimen. I don’t blame folks for trying to create something to fill the gap. It won’t be for everyone, but what is? It’s not like every Christian church will cater to every person who labels themselves Christian either.

    • Brickroad

      I’m familiar with the sense of community a church can provide, but that’s because the church is a community. Being a Catholic or a Protestant or a Mormon is something tangible, and the baggage that comes along with it is acceptable because there are beliefs, tenets and actions that are codified into the community itself.

      If these folks want to get together and be a group and Do Stuff, that is fine. But I don’t like that they’re associating with a label that doesn’t necessarily mean what they want it to mean. The word “atheist” already has enough negative baggage as it is without stapling someone’s social or political agenda to it.

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