A quiet experiment could redefine how secular voices reach millions online and revive a movement that’s lost momentum
A few months ago, I was given the Humanist Media Award from the American Humanist Association. Rather than speak directly about my own work, I used my time to highlight a growing concern I’ve had about the broader atheism movement.
Here was my argument in a nutshell: Church/state separation is obviously under serious attack right now by the forces of Christian Nationalism. Scientific research is being defunded while prominent voices in the Republican-dominated government perpetuate pseudoscience and the whitewashing of history. Public education is being replaced with religious indoctrination. We don’t even have shared facts anymore. There’s never been a greater need for rational, evidence-based thinkers. That used to be our thing!
But books about godlessness, which helped spur the “New Atheism” movement decades ago, don’t get much attention anymore, no matter who’s writing them… and many of the most famous atheists in the country—Richard Dawkins, Bill Maher, etc.—have a host of problems in their own right.
We don’t have many prominent atheists these days who can capture attention for the right reasons. The ones who can break out of our bubble and speak to new audiences about the importance of a secular nation, and how church/state separation is good for believers and non-believers alike, and why religion itself is not a virtue. The ones who can push back against the daily assaults by conservative Christians on civil rights and women’s rights and LGBTQ rights—effectively and memorably. Even when those people exist, they’re doing it themselves, not as part of a larger movement.
And while the larger atheist organizations do excellent work, they aren’t necessarily drawing in newer, younger members. They’re doing many of the same things they’ve done for decades even though that playbook has run its course. Their focus (sometimes by necessity!) is playing defense—by filing lawsuits—leaving them with fewer opportunities to inspire people to ditch religion and fight for our shared causes. That’s not a knock on those groups! The work they do is essential. I sure as hell rely on their work. But I’d bet good money that younger people—even younger atheists—are largely unfamiliar with the groups meant to represent them.
In fact, the AHA acknowledges that concern...
Hemant Mehta
https://open.substack.com/pub/friendlyatheist/p/how-the-american-humanist-association?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
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