Seeking Common Ground: Why Progressive Muslims & Atheists Should Work Together | Kile Jones
Kile Jones is an atheist involved in inter-faith dialogue who works towards building bridges between non-believers and religious persons. He is also the founder of “Interview an Atheist at Church Day” and Claremont Journal of Religion. His twitter is @KileBJones
August 5, 2015
Can progressive Muslims and atheists actually find ways to work together? Some of my atheist comrades may disagree with me, but I think so. Of course we may diverge on whether a God exists, or if there is an afterlife, but when it comes to this world and the problems humans face, our tribes have much we agree on. And our agreements are not petty or tangential. They are sources of energy that can be harnessed for a much needed change.
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What we don’t do, however, is proceed to naively caricature the other group by taking an extremist as the representative model of that group. Many atheists and progressive Muslims recognize that while acknowledging cultural context and social nuances doesn’t excuse wickedness, they certainly help us understand it better.
So while I may agree with some of what Bill Maher, Ayaan Ali, and Sam Harris say, I cannot take the leap required to lump Muslims together under a reified banner of disapprobation. It’s not simply a matter of my soft insides getting the best of me: it’s my reason that cannot allow me such frivolities.
At this point, I’m going to be blunt: Many of my fellow atheists buy into an overly simplistic depiction of Islam made by uncritical lay-activists and quasi-scholars. If you don’t believe me, spend a day looking at my Facebook feed! Of course, in light of this, I do not think Islam, Muslims, or the Qur’an are beyond reproach. I am all for what Daniel Dennett calls “breaking the spell.”
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/quranalyzeit/2015/08/05/seeking-common-ground/
