Why Atheist and Progressive Need To Speak Up

Why the Atheist and Progressive need to speak up!

There is Truth and there is “Truthiness”; that which is fact and that which we want to be fact.

A society that is based on what is true, tends toward common goals, respect for human rights and equality, and has a respect for diversity.  The laws and goals of that society are based on clear, reasonable, and objective evidence, which people can all inspect and agree to.  Progressives and Atheists lean in this direction as they value new evidence and an ever changing society, choosing to grow and learn in the process of life.

I must say of course, not all Progressives are Atheists.  But most Atheists are Progressives.

A society that is based on truthiness, or opinion, tends towards conflicting goals, is rife with disrespect for human rights and equality, and does not value diversity.  The laws and goals of that society sway with public opinion and mob mentality, lack clear, reasonable, and objective evidence, and tend toward chaos.  Conservatives lean in this direction with dogmatic opinions and a refusal to change from the established “norms”.

Before Conservative religious heads explode, I know I am speaking in generalities.  I am an Atheist and a Progressive, so guess which way this blog is going to lean?

This is the problem:  Progressives and Atheists often recognize the above attitudes, and by and large have a live and let live mentality towards the process.  Unfortunately, everywhere and everyday, the religious and the Conservatives are working hard in both overt and slight means to press their agenda on everyone.  Progressives and Atheists, not so much – it’s often described as herding cats.

From the Muslims marching today in Bangladesh over free speech in Facebook, to Conservative and religious politicians in Washington trying to ban gays in the military, to the smiling little old lady who voted for candidate X because he/she wants to ban stem cell research, the religious and Conservatives are all working to deny human rights, impede science, and force their religion into your schools.  Was anyone paying any attention to the horror of the Jacksonville City Council during the Human Rights Commission votes?  Ask them if they are bigots and racists and the answer would be “NO!” – often with a fist shaking in your face.  But nevertheless, human rights, equality, and free speech are in fact the victims of the Conservative religious agenda.

So I say to you enough is enough.

If the religious and Conservatives are going to try and enforce an agenda upon humanity, then they should be required to produce viable evidence to support their assertions.  That’s right, just like in court.  As was demonstrated in England recently, religion has no factual basis and should not be allowed in court as evidence.  “Prove It!” should be the new cry!

If the religious and Conservatives want to ban homosexuals from the military, then scientific evidence should be presented, not the ramblings of a goat herder from thousands of years.  If the religious and Conservatives want to deny a woman the right to terminate a pregnancy, then scientific evidence should be presented as to why, not the fanciful opinion that “god” somehow “knew you before you were formed in the womb”, again the writings of another prehistoric goat herder.  The list goes on and on…

It is time we humans took charge of our own destiny from an objective, secular, and Progressive perspective.  It is way past the time that Progressives and Atheists stood up and shouted enough!  Standing by and hoping for an evolutionary social change is not working.  As is clearly evidenced by the American Conservative efforts in the last 17 months, Conservatives and the religious are willing to spend unlimited sums of money to enforce the (corporate) status quo, unlimited sums of money to deny human beings the right to love and marry, and unlimited sums of money to argue whether or not a frozen piece of tissue is “alive” or not.  All the while, human beings suffer over religious opinion.

As an Atheist, they call this the “New Atheism.”  “New” being Atheists who are not ashamed to speak up, not will to sit in the closet and be quiet, and willing to ask why.  While Progressives are not necessarily Atheists we do share common goals and methodology.  We all need to speak up.

I am a “New Atheist” and I want proof before you pass laws governing my life and the lives of millions.