Here's my issue: by placing blame on "all religion" this, your
cause is weakened tremendously. It is too broad, too simple. I
would even go so far as to say, too naive. I am a citizen and a
secularist. I am also not atheist. Secularism is not atheism.
Allow me to repeat: Secularism is not Atheism.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacques-berlinerblau/secularism-is-not-atheism_b_1699588.html
[I didn't watch the video but the article says it well enough]
I'd happily join in a fight against anti-secular measures. In
fact, I already do. But when agreeable secular rhetoric is mixed
up and entangled with anti-theistic rhetoric, I have to draw a
line. The myth that secularism = atheism is a modern myth, born
of the Religious Right itself. Secularism was never atheism.
Atheism was never secularism. They may correlate and cross-over
but they're not the same. Their fights are _different_. I am a
secularist. I am not an atheist. But by fighting secularists
like _me_ and being unable to put aside parts of the entire
rhetoric you are using in order to focus on reaffirming secular
values, your case becomes weaker and you lose allies in your
fight. Separate your secularism from your atheism. Don't mix
them up. That's like someone mixing up their politics and their
religion. == I'm agnostic, Michael. I've probably said it 100
times to you from the first time our names crossed paths on
Facebook. I'm ok that you forget. I forget things too. But I've
said it numerous times. But see, I've been a secularist when I
grew up going to the Methodist church as a kid. I learned it in
Boy Scouts and school; the importance of being a citizen, being
respectful of religions, knowing where to draw the lines between
politics and religion. I was a secularist when I was playing
around in different religions. Unitarian Universalist
secularist. Quaker secularist. Buddhist secularist. Eastern
Orthodox secularist. New Age secularist. Whatever I was
investigating or checking out at the time: I was always a
secularist. But I've never been an atheist. == Even my stint
into scientism ("Science Has All The Answers" mode), I was
"scientism secularist" yet STILL not atheist. I've never been.
== There we go. We're discovering some common ground. I'm more
agnostic than you, you're less agnostic than me but we have that
in common. We also have secular battles in common. The US
government should not establish a national religion or required
religious carrying cards in order to be a citizen or enter
politics and one should not be denied government support based
upon their religious beliefs, whatever they are or aren't. ==
Ok, that's where are fights depart. I've been lucky: I've seen
positive benefits of religions on people. I know others have had
bad experiences. I also know that religions are abused for
political gain. I know some people have experienced
psychological trauma as well. But I see those as abuses of
authority. I can point to non-religious sources of trauma of
equal value. School. US Public school. No religion there. It's
secular as secular gets. But most of the issues you have with
religion, I've seen mirrored exactly in the US public school
system. Bad experiences. Education used for political gain
(think: school administrators using it as a jumping ground for
political power and the disasterous effects that had on the
policies and therefore the kids who WENT to those schools under
their administrations). People who experienced psychological
trauma through school. No religion there. But plenty of:
Authority issues. Trust issues. Power issues. Political issues.
I ask that the issues be separated and dealt with without the
singular answer cause-effect talk. That's all. ==
