Down with our atheist oppressors!

I know I’m not the only one taking a turn at Melinda Barton’s unintentionally hilarious rant against “atheist whackjobs,” but really, now, how can you not want to, especially when you consider all that is at stake as we atheists attempt to protect the massive power structure we have built in this country? Being part of the political and social Goliath that is American Atheism, it is my duty, really, to stomp down any puny religious David that comes along, slinging rocks of tolerance at our massive structure of secular intolerance and oppression.

The response at Raw Story has apparently been so strong, that the column now includes an editor’s warning at the beginning, begging people to judge the work on its merits, which I, for one, was only too happy to do. The editor also stresses the point that the author is not ripping on all atheists, only the, you know, “atheist whackjobs,” a group that I must now conclude includes me. (The editor later revised his comments on the site.)

Yeah, cheers. It’s not the first time I’ve enjoyed the whackjob moniker.

Below is an excerpt from her column. And then, in between her sentences, I say mean things. Hey, it’s what you come to me for, right?

Outrageous claim number 3: All religion is oppressive.

Notice the wording of the above sentence. Atheist whackjobs believe that all religion is oppressive. How does she know this? Because she has a quote, below. But, read the wording of the quote:

According to The International Manifesto for Atheistic Humanism, for instance, "Religion is oppressive. The act of subjugating human will to "divine will" is oppressive. The practice of obeying clergy, of letting them make our decisions for us, is oppressive and irresponsible."

Ah, so what she means, apparently, is that all religion is oppressive because the structure, the nature, the idea behind religion is inherently oppressive. Okay, I don’t really disagree with that.

This one flies in the face of the evidence. Yes, it's very easy to show many instances of oppression stemming from religion.

Yes, it is easy. Very very very very very very very easy.

However, it is also easy to show many instances in which political and social progress were spearheaded by religious individuals based on the teachings of their particular faiths.

Whoa. She goes off course here. I expected her to argue that those components that comprise an organized religion do not necessarily require that it oppress its believers. Instead, she argues that religious people do good things, sometimes. And those good things are based on their religious beliefs. That’s quite a different point, isn’t it?

No atheist, not even a whackjob like me, would argue that all religious people are evil all the time. Come on. Even Torquemada was nice sometimes, in fact, I hear he was quite fond of his cat.

She goes on:

Study the abolitionist movement or the civil rights movement and you will be hard pressed not to encounter the role of religion in these struggles for liberation.

Yes, no doubt Christians have, at times, looked to Christ as an example of how to behave. If I’m not mistaken, this is one of the main points of Christianity, and considering that, it is a wonder they don’t attempt it more often. Christ, although probably fictitious (oops, just said the word “probably” – how very unwhackjobish of me!) is nevertheless a pretty good role model. Of course, those on the opposite sides of the abolitionist and civil rights movements rationalized their beliefs in the inferiority of African-Americans by quoting the Bible and citing their own Christian teachings as well. But never mind that.

To go beyond Christianity, there is now a movement in Africa that teaches Muslim women how to read the Koran so that they can refute the false claim that that religion demands or even permits female genital mutilation.

Oh dear. Melinda, baby, are you sure you want to include THIS example of how religious people can do good things?

Really?

Because, I’m not sure you’ve thought this one through all the way.

Because female genital mutilation pretty much wouldn’t exist with the Koranamaniacs, see?

Understand?

Let’s move on.

Religion, like any system of belief, is subject to the often contradictory nature of humanity and the tides of history. It is one thing at this moment and in this place and something completely different in another time and place. Oppression or liberation (with a few exceptions) are in the application, not necessarily inherent in the system of belief itself.

Ah, she returns to what should have been her point. But here’s the only sentence she offers as her entire refutation of that Atheist manifesto thing:

For instance, communism may look fine on paper, but in the hands of the Russians post-revolution, it was used to support one of the most oppressive regimes in modern history.

Communism looks fine on paper? Communism looks fine on paper?

Christ, I give up.



(Pharyngula link via Eschaton)