4 ms·

Can you define "US-style atheism"? There is a definite British "cultural Anglicanism", where churches are visited routinely by non-believers who would never st

Can you define "US-style atheism"? There is a definite British "cultural Anglicanism", where churches are visited routinely by non-believers who would never step inside during a service. I'm one such non-believer; some of my favourite spaces are churches. But what makes American disbelief in gods different? Is it that there are fewer beautiful old churches to visit outside of worship hours, or is it that has become inherently, necessarily militant because the US has, since McCarthy and the Red Scare, inserted performative Christianity into as many avenues of life as possible such that an atheist presidential candidate has to lie to get the job?

HarryHirsch 5y ago
I just asked Google about "atheism-plus", and within my filter bubble it helpfully responded with this: The term Atheism Plus designates “spaces, persons, and groups dedicated to promoting social justice and countering misogyny, racism, homo/bi/transphobia, ableism and other such bigotry inside and outside of the atheist community” Enough of that crap. Note that they don't include my main concern, ageism. That's because they are a reactionary movement. Evangelicalism ostentatously follows the Bible, including the commandment of honoring parents (i.e. the aged). Atheists equally ostentatously reject it.
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  "That crap" sounds like a positive belief system to me.
  - HarryHirsch 5y ago
    It's the shadow image of white Southern evangelicalism, they were there first to claim the field. It doesn't follow that the opposite of shit is sugar.
  - evocatus 5y ago
    - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
      There is nothing wrong with the "prejudice plus power" definition. It is the best definition of racism as a systemic effect that exists. As the US shifts towards being a majority-minority system, any power element of perceived racism against whites will no doubt have to be examined. I'm yet to be convinced (from transatlantic distance) that it exists. What I do think is economically disadvantaged white people ought to educate themselves about how their situation is some ways interlocked with the racist treatment of economically disadvantaged minorities in the same area; the systems that established racism now disadvantage them too. (This is also true in the UK; if white people in poverty understood what they had in common with black and asian people in poverty, Britain First and the EDL would not exist, and Brexit might not have happened; as always, their fears are exploited by populists when they share the same circumstances as those they are asked to fear.) But racism isn't simply the same as racial prejudice; it's prejudice in action, and that is what the definition is about.
      - evocatus 5y ago
        In my recent experience/experimentation, HN does not like to be told this and will downvote or flag opinions expressing this sentiment. Perhaps this community is not as progressive as it thinks?
        krapp 5y ago
        Hacker News is a diverse community, but its (not entirely undeserved) reputation is anything but progressive.

HarryHirsch 5y ago

I just asked Google about "atheism-plus", and within my filter bubble it helpfully responded with this: The term Atheism Plus designates “spaces, persons, and groups dedicated to promoting social justice and countering misogyny, racism, homo/bi/transphobia, ableism and other such bigotry inside and outside of the atheist community” Enough of that crap. Note that they don't include my main concern, ageism. That's because they are a reactionary movement. Evangelicalism ostentatously follows the Bible, including the commandment of honoring parents (i.e. the aged). Atheists equally ostentatously reject it.

unfocussed_mike 5y ago
"That crap" sounds like a positive belief system to me.
- HarryHirsch 5y ago
  It's the shadow image of white Southern evangelicalism, they were there first to claim the field. It doesn't follow that the opposite of shit is sugar.
- evocatus 5y ago
  - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
    There is nothing wrong with the "prejudice plus power" definition. It is the best definition of racism as a systemic effect that exists. As the US shifts towards being a majority-minority system, any power element of perceived racism against whites will no doubt have to be examined. I'm yet to be convinced (from transatlantic distance) that it exists. What I do think is economically disadvantaged white people ought to educate themselves about how their situation is some ways interlocked with the racist treatment of economically disadvantaged minorities in the same area; the systems that established racism now disadvantage them too. (This is also true in the UK; if white people in poverty understood what they had in common with black and asian people in poverty, Britain First and the EDL would not exist, and Brexit might not have happened; as always, their fears are exploited by populists when they share the same circumstances as those they are asked to fear.) But racism isn't simply the same as racial prejudice; it's prejudice in action, and that is what the definition is about.
    - evocatus 5y ago
      In my recent experience/experimentation, HN does not like to be told this and will downvote or flag opinions expressing this sentiment. Perhaps this community is not as progressive as it thinks?
      - krapp 5y ago
        Hacker News is a diverse community, but its (not entirely undeserved) reputation is anything but progressive.