14. Silly social movements -- labels are for kids.

Recently, I watched a video of the presentations given at the 2007 AAI Convention, and was pleasantly surprised (though I probably shouldn’t have been) by the ever-contrary nature of Sam Harris’ speech. In it, he very honestly asked us – as atheists – to question the wisdom of outwardly calling ourselves “atheists”. For the large-and-growing movement of reason and science to advance in the rapid way that it should, he proposed, we needed to circumvent the prepared arguments, the prejudices, and the blatantly-oppositional propaganda that seems to crop up whenever the world at large hears that particular term.

Wha---huh?!? Not call ourselves “atheists”? After all this time, all of these efforts in trying to draw our neighbors-in-arms (or at least, in-philosophy) from the shadows? I was confounded. I was chagrined.

And, from a societal standpoint, I agreed with him.

More than once, I’ve listed here the ways in which that one little word can hamper a conversation – or, indeed – a relationship. To say nothing of an entire social movement. He was justified in pointing out the sticky truth, which is: to an adamant believer, the term is more than a stumbling block… it’s code for “DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER! Executing terminal shutdown of all input capabilities!” (… A little much? Yeah, you’re probably right.) Besides, we don’t deign to give ourselves labels with regards to our belief in fairies or unicorns, Thor or Apollo – and doing so when it comes to today’s brand of mysticism seems to lend it an odd sort of credence. Einstein never referred to himself as an atheist, though for all intents and purposes he was one, because (he once stated) he didn’t quite share their “fervor” when it came to open conversation or religious debunking. And, it should be said, Mr. Harris himself has managed to bend many an ear to our cause without ever having called himself an "atheist" either.

But then again…

I have only my own experiences to draw from. As you know by now, I am little more than a housewife in a back-water section of the world, surrounded by people whose religious tolerances (or lack thereof) would just as soon see me tarred as glance my way; and that may well have tarnished my perspective of the issue – giving me a belief that wouldn’t survive a transition to the national stage. But when it came to a mirror-facing throw-down with myself as to whether or not I stood with Mr. Harris… I was forced to realize that I didn’t.

For many years, I shied away from calling myself an atheist. And for those many years, I didn’t have the conversations I should have been having. My religious friends and family approached my non-religious nature the same way a Lakers fan might address someone who’s just not that into sports: “no biggie, pick another topic of conversation, she’s not really… NOT religious – she just ain’t settled in to the right church yet.” Even putting forth my meager arguments as I did, absent the “OMG, NOOOO” label (as I’m pretty certain some would call it), my views seemed to lack the weight of… I’ll call it sincerity, for I can’t seem to dredge up a better word at the moment. Absent atheism, the person-to-person world didn’t seem to think I was all that invested. But by sporting the title, I somehow opened the floodgates and thereby the lines of communication. Those same friends and family began defending their views in earnest. Books were exchanged, debates were held, and (very occasionally) I’d earn the satisfaction of knowing someone’s perspective of atheism had been altered for the better.

Strangely, and happily, I like atheism. I like calling myself an atheist. I like knowing that the world, and maybe even our religious nation, are on the verge of accepting the novel notion that maybe we aren’t what we’ve seemed, from the other side of historical-biases. And, even after an honest and careful consideration of this argument, I can stand by my self-affirmation – and my call to you, and to those who share your views, to declare yourselves as I have – with something approaching… confidence.

The advancement of reason, of evidence, of fact-based intelligence, needs our support. And, if I may venture to say as much Mr. Einstein, I think the world needs our fervor, too.