“Militant Atheism” — I don’t think that means what you think it means.
There is this new tendency to label outspoken atheists as “Militant Atheists.” Here’s why I think it’s wrong.
I wish I could renounce the label Atheist, to begin with. In case you didn’t know, “atheist” is a label given to us by believers. It used to be a derogatory label, a Christian slur against us coined in France in the 16th century as a reaction to growing free thought, skeptical inquiry, and intellectual criticism of religion. When someone called you an atheist it was not a good thing. “Atheist” was used exclusively as an insult. Nobody in their right mind would have called themselves an atheist back then, if you were an atheist, you were an outcast.
No one ever needs to identify himself as a “non-astrologer” or a “non-alchemist.” We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.
– Sam Harris, The End of Faith
I concur.
I can’t singlehandedly ditch the label entirely, as it is a way to identify our lack of belief in deities. Until we unbelievers get to a consensus on what would be the best term to describe ourselves, I am in some way forced to keep it, sadly.
But on top of that, now I am labeled “militant.” This is totally inaccurate, and I – and hopefully you – won’t take it silently.
Let’s look it up. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Militant:
1. engaged in warfare or combat
2. aggressively active
We might be loud, we might be strident, we might be angry, but we are not militant. Advocacy, rational inquiry, is not militancy. We are not aggressive, we are not violent, we are not at war, we are not fighting, we are not blowing ourselves and our detractors up to make a point, we don’t fly plains into buildings. Heck! we don’t even knock on anyone’s door to dis-indoctrinate them. Our only weapon is our rationality. We have rational discussions, we challenge irrational beliefs. That is what we do.
We have to speak up — we need to! It is the only way to normalize a concept that has been considered taboo for ages; that’s how we de-demonize a label. Furthermore, it’s been scientifically proven that the more we force people to think about their beliefs, the more we force them to justify their ideas, the more cognitive dissonance we generate, more and more people will break free from their dogmas. Once they abandon one dogma, there goes the rest of their belief system, and they start walking their path toward rationality.
That feeling of discomfort when an atheist points out facts and evidence that obviously contradict your strongly held beliefs, is not us hurting you, it’s your cognitive dissonance at work.
But there is more to it, it has an ulterior motive. It’s the fallacy of disambiguation, or poisoning the well: a technique that by disparaging the source deems all that comes from it worthless and unreliable.
There isn’t any inherent dogma in atheism that advocates any violence in the defense of non-belief; so, no, I won’t take it. I am not militant. I am not violent.
Next time you want to come up with yet another derogatory term to label us unbelievers, check your facts before applying your unsolicited labels wrongly.
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Comment by Matt Novak on November 28, 2011 at 12:53am -
I do fully agree with you about the phrase 'militant atheist.' Though, about the term atheist, yes I agree with Sam Harris, but it is something that people that do not believe can identify with. Take for example the term 'queer.' It was a derogatory word for a while, but a lot of college and high school students are trying to 'reclaim' that word. In any sense, in a totally free society, there would be NO labels at all, except for our names. I do not like labels, but queer, atheist, or any other label is somewhat of a comfort thing. Even us that hate labels still crawl to them, because it gives us a sense of comfort. That is what I have seen, at least, in my short life, so far
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Comment by Ceci on November 28, 2011 at 8:45am -
i agree with you too. first of all, i wish i could call myself simply "normal" inspite of "atheist", because this is what i am; i wish i wouldn' be asked "why are you an atheist?", because it's me that shoud ask them "why are you believers?".
some weeks ago i scolded an atheist guy i knew in an italian forum: he made a video for youtube where he wrote "atheists mustn't behave like believers", claiming that militant atheism is bad because atheists are often intolerant... i asked him what did he meant with "atheist intolerance", and if he thought that affirming firmly that we should look at the truth of facts is the same of judging and deciding what is right and what is wrong in the lives of others, as the believers do. what is more, an atheist doesn't have to convince anybody, because he/she doesn't trust in any "belief", he has just EVIDENCE on his/her side, so the expression militant atheism is a silly nonsense for me too.
unfortunately, people seem often unable to make distinctions between these facts, probably because the germ of religion (and of idiocy too) sometimes infects also the non-believers.
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Comment by Monica Salcedo (Monicks) on November 28, 2011 at 10:50am -
I kind of agree with you, Matt Novak on gay people embracing the word queer, but once queer has been de-demonized, should they embrace the word "fag", as well?
No, we should not accept silently that people call us whatever they want. If they want to apply labels on us, at least they must mean truthfully what we are, or describe adequately what we do, which as a group, is just rational noise.
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Comment by Matt Novak on November 28, 2011 at 1:22pm
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Well some of the gay people I know would love to reclaim fag, just as a lot of rappers have tried to start to reclaim the n word. It is kind of like the bullying mentality... It is offensive if we make it offensive. The difference between the word atheism then and now is that a lot of atheists are proud to be called atheists. It is all connotations, so we should not be offended by the word atheist, if only because the fact that if we were, then the 'other sides' would use it against us. That is how I see it: A bullying mentality
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Comment by Jeff Samuelson on November 29, 2011 at 12:47am -
For me, atheist is an accurate label, and while it matters to me that others consider it a slur, I'm more inclined to take ownership of it than deny that it applies. Jason Thibault wrote a great post about owning slurs a little more than a month ago that's relevant: http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/2011/10/13/owning-the-slur/
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Comment by Kevin Strong on November 29, 2011 at 2:45am -
I'm with Jeff, the label is apt, and we own it, not them. If they're going to label us, and they are, I'd prefer it be accurate. As for the term militant, if you're loud, strident, and angry, you are pretty much, by the definition you posted, militant. See definitions for aggressive below. The term militant is being used synonymously, and I think, correctly. There isn't anything wrong with that, being militant isn't necessarily a bad thing, and there are some pretty pushy atheists out there. Why get so hung up on labels? It's perceptions that need to change.
1.characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; militantly forward or menacing: aggressive acts against a neighboring country.
2.making an all-out effort to win or succeed; competitive: an aggressive basketball player.
3.vigorously energetic, especially in the use of initiative and forcefulness:
fixed*
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Comment by Stephen Morris on November 29, 2011 at 12:12pm
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Aye, I find it interesting that reasonable, non-religious folk are often branded as militant, when the religious poeple can't be called militant until they've taken some form of aggressive action. It's a double standard.
As far as the word atheism, I tend to embrace it. I think that in a world where theism is so prevalent as to be considered 'normal' it makes sense for a group to rise up and remove itself from that. Although I understand and respect people's reasons for avoiding the term altogether.
It was my understanding that the the word 'Christian' was initially derogatory too.
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Comment by Dave Gibbs on November 29, 2011 at 6:18pm -
"Christian" was a term originally used by the enemies or skeptics of the movement, though I would hardly call their usage of the term derogatory.
In the Bible the word "christian" is only used three times, in each case by an outsider or enemy to the followers. No alleged writing of an apostle ever has an apostle, Jesus, or any member refer to followers as "Christian"(s).
An example from the Cambridge KJV:
"Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."
Acts 26:28
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Comment by Philip Jackson Armstrong on November 29, 2011 at 6:18pm -
Even though I tell people I'm an atheist, it's just so they can pigeon hole me in something they understand. To me, I just am what I am. Not believing isn't something you do, it's something you don't do. I'm a vegetarian, should I be called an aomnivorist and/or acarnivorist? Really makes no sense to me. But then human behavior often makes no sense.
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Comment by Dave Gibbs on November 29, 2011 at 6:22pm
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Aomnivorist, eh?
The negative prefix 'a' doesn't work as well with words which are lead in by vowels, IMO.
Plus you're right, it's a stupid idea anyways :-p
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