Don’t Just Cut off the Head of the Monster

[rug]

October 8, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 6 Comments

Recently, Ben Jealous, the President of the NAACP, accepted the National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign for his leadership in getting his group to openly support LGBT rights.

As I watched the clip (ignoring all his Pledge of Allegiance references) I kept thinking about how there must have been members of the NAACP who opposed the decision. Perhaps one of the arguments was that it was not part of the NAACP’s mission to support gay rights — their core constituency was much more narrow in scope. Why go beyond that?

- snip -

While promoting the “advancement of colored people” was certainly the immediate goal of the organization, the broader goal of obtaining equal rights and protection for all people included LGBT individuals as well and that’s really what they have been fighting for. So the NAACP board voted 62-2 in favor of same-sex marriage.

I don’t know if that history is correct. It’s more of a thought than anything else. But here’s the point I want to make: We’ve seen a lot of discussion in the atheist world about what we ought to be focusing on. There are people who think our only goal (as a community) should be convincing people that God doesn’t exist.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/10/08/dont-just-cut-off-the-head-of-the-monster/

[cleanhippie]

1. And? The point is?

[rug]

2. The point is Hermant has jumped on the Atheism+ bandwagon.

That seems to be where the momentum is.

[cleanhippie]

3. "Jumping on the bandwagon" seems a bit of an overstatement. More like "I'm ok with it"

This is why I don’t get bothered by the idea of Humanism or Atheism Plus or atheists who want to work on social justice issues. While they’re going outside the narrow scope of religion that we tend to care about, they’re still fighting the same broader war, and they’re still on our side.

I don't see him "jumping on the bandwagon", but merely saying that all non-believers should and can continue to be on the same side, as we all have the same goal. I read nothing that indicates he would consider himself to be on the "A+ team".

But in the end, who cares. These words seem most important: "Religion and faulty thinking permeate so many other areas of our lives that it would be crazy to pretend our community shouldn’t care about those areas as much as we do the most basic question of whether God exists."

[rug]

5. So, are you in agreement with Atheism +?

I think his position is more than passive approval.

It’s fine if you think your answer to the God Question is the be-all and end-all of your atheism. I just think that’s too short-sighted. We know there are atheists who still believe in prayer and pseudoscience and other nonsense. To me, not believing in God means nothing if you still buy into other forms of bullshit.

[cleanhippie]

6. Agreement? Agreement with what?

A+ seems redundant to me, but I'm not opposed to it. It seems like Humanism, or Secular Humanism, for which there are already groups. The stated principles and values appear positive, but beyond that, I really don't care.

Agreement? Agreement with what?

[rug]

7. I gave you a link to their discussion board some weeks ago.

They can explain themselves very clearly. If you haven't checked them out, do so instead of asking me. I don't speak for them.

[cbayer]

4. He makes a good argument for solidarity.

We are on the same team.