Atheism Plus/Free Thought Blogs (FTB)

[Apathia]

Is this like Google+?

I think I'll just keep my disbelief in God in the same plain non-additive version as my disbelief in 2012's nasty Planet X.
My ethical values stand independent of theology.
Adding stuff to my lack of a belief in God turns it into some kind of religion.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Isn't this just Secular Humanism?

 

[westprog]

Isn't this just Secular Humanism?

Of course it is. However, co-opting words with one meaning so that they refer to something else entirely which already has a name is common enough.

 

[Ocelot]

Isn't this just Secular Humanism?

Well I popped over to their twitter feed to copy and paste this

https://twitter.com/atheismplus/status/237482223501189120

Some people say this is just humanism. They're wrong. Humanism doesn't have a logo. #atheismplus

Yet what I also found was this

https://twitter.com/jennifurret/status/237979476825350145

Dear smug humanists: My critique of the atheist movement included you. Your groups are infamous for being mostly old, white, men

https://twitter.com/atheismplus/status/237933890705162240

#atheismplus This is no longer about people who are white, middle-class, college-educated, cisgendered, and male. They've had their time.

So I guess that's settled it for me Atheism plus isn't for me.

 

[Acleron]

I support all the points in the atheist+ list because I have reached an opinion based on observation of what has happened when those points are transgressed.

But the action of making such a list means that some will subscribe to the list just to be part of that particular group. In time, it will become unthinking dogma. Anybody who disagrees will be excluded.

I can appreciate the motives behind getting atheists organised but I feel that an act of organisation will destroy the individualism, freethinking and sheer variety of that herd of cats I admire.

 

[squealpiggy]

"Secular humanism is all heterosexual white middle class educated men. Atheism Plus is brand new! It's about heterosexual white middle class educated women!"

 

[zeggman]

Well I popped over to their twitter feed to copy and paste this

https://twitter.com/atheismplus/status/237482223501189120



Yet what I also found was this

https://twitter.com/jennifurret/status/237979476825350145



https://twitter.com/atheismplus/status/237933890705162240



So I guess that's settled it for me Atheism plus isn't for me.

I am pretty sure that @atheism+ is a parody account. I have no other way to explain tweets like "When dealing with dissent, the atheist+ should examine the person making the argument, not the argument itself. #atheismplus #privilege".

Not to say the parody (if that's what it is) doesn't reveal some truth about the thinking swirling around in the group, but I think it's deliberately taking things to the extreme.

 

[Ocelot]

I've swung back and forth on whether @Atheism+ is parody or not. At least 90% seems pretty dead pan then they say something that seems so full of crazy you realise they can't be serious. But then you realise that the crazy thing didn't originate from @Atheism+ but was a retweet from Jen McCreight herself.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Seemed like it was a touch dogmatic up until that last point

I hope that wink is there because that is the dumbest thing that someone could say.

Personally I have to prefer the Humanist Manifesto III abbreviated as follows

Sure, it's much easier to mouth platitudes about ethics than actually consider what has to be addressed.

I have to agree that the so-called critical thinking movement is filled with people who like the idea of critical thinking who never bother to apply the critical thinking to much of their own life, opinions, and activities.

 

[Ocelot]

I hope that wink is there because that is the dumbest thing that someone could say.

What's dumb?

 

[megaresp]

I was hoping it was atheism plus all these amoral orgies I keep hearing are rampant.

You have to visit Europe for that.

 

[Ocelot]

ON the question of the @Atheist_plus twitter account it certainly looks like people are engaging with it as official.

https://twitter.com/atheism_plus/status/238280059423703040

@LogicalNarwhal:
RT @atheism_plus: How about a topic: how can we get people just coming into unbelief to go A+ instead of vanilla atheist? << What's vanilla?

@atheism_plus:
@LogicalNarwhal Vanilla as in simple unbelief in a deity, without then applying the same reasoning that led you to that to other things.

@LogicalNarwhal:
@atheism_plus Okay, I don't follow FtB so can you help me out?

@atheism_plus:
@LogicalNarwhal Essentially its about atheists creating a community that has more in common than simply not believing in god(s)

@LogicalNarwhal:
@atheism_plus Is it opt-in? What if my value set doesn't line up with the majority on certain things?

@atheism_plus:
@LogicalNarwhal Theres consensus on some values (feminism, pro-LGBT, stuff that defines basic decency tbh), but beyond that we can disagree.

@tkmlac:
@atheism_plus @LogicalNarwhal *cough cough* ******** *cough cough*

‏@atheism_plus:
@tkmlac @LogicalNarwhal What bit is ********?

@tkmlac
@atheism_plus @LogicalNarwhal Not to mention, you CAN be the wrong type of feminist to them.

‏@atheism_plus
@tkmlac @LogicalNarwhal If you are pro-life, you aren't a type of feminist at all. I thought that was fairly well established by now.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

I feel the same way. While I do happen to be an atheist, this label only applies to my lack of belief in gods. I also happen to be a guitarist and a motor-sport fan.

Heathen.

 

[Mister Agenda]

Yes, let's waste all the time we've put into explaining atheism is just not believing in gods and start calling secular humanism atheism plus.

I mean, let's not.

 

[Hokulele]

Logos?! We don't need no steenkin' logos!

Yeah, from what Ocelot has linked so far, I am not a male, not white, not quite old, and not a fan of atheism².

 

[westprog]

Logos?! We don't need no steenkin' logos!

Yeah, from what Ocelot has linked so far, I am not a male, not white, not quite old, and not a fan of atheism².

You should bear in mind that "privilege" is a huge time-saver, argument-wise.

 

[dasmiller]

I'm going to hold out for the true successor to Atheism:

Btheism.

 

[westprog]

I'm going to hold out for the true successor to Atheism:

Btheism.

Atheism is, umm...

 

[Hokulele]

You should bear in mind that "privilege" is a huge time-saver, argument-wise.

Pfft, I am old-fashioned, I don't want time-savers in my arguments. I want them to be drawn-out and involve bodily fluids and broken glassware.

 

[dasmiller]

Pfft, I am old-fashioned, I don't want time-savers in my arguments. I want them to be drawn-out and involve bodily fluids and broken glassware.

Unfortunately, in my experience, broken glassware often correlates with the wrong bodily fluids.

ETA: but maybe I've been doing it wrong