ColdDimSum

Dark Star · @ColdDimSum

30th Aug 2012 from Twitlonger

@Evolution_Child @CrispySea Sorry to say, but your post has a lot of straw & irrelevant stuff. Almost every freethought, atheist, humanist movement has positions. Nobody is "claiming" atheism. Many movements overlap.

>>> The strength of atheism is in that it is, generally, arrived at individually.

And nothing A+ says changes that ONE BIT. This is irrelevant.

>>> And the one thing I've loved is the independence.
The lack of a centralised authority

More straw, and misrepresenting reality. There are, and have been, HUNDREDS of Atheist organizations.

>>> I've also been thrilled by how ready atheists are to police ourselves

Ignoring reality of a small but significant group of utterly contemptible atheists who have NOT been "policed", but have run rampant and mostly unopposed.

>>> the stated list of principles detailed in Atheism+ should not be diminished to a mere "+"; it's derogatory to summarise them as such.

I find this a rather absurd position -- but ok, you don't like the name but you DO agree with the values.

>>> They are each separate, valuable, important issues, which have absolutely nothing to do with atheism.

Irrelevant. Evidence:

http://www.atheist-community.org/library/positions/

>>> Primary Positions: Church-State Separation, Human Rights

Now why would an atheist organization affirm the US Constitution? HERETICS TO ATHEISM!

Could it be because those are issues they happen to care about IN ADDITION to atheism?

http://freethinker.co.uk/history/

>>> The Freethinker is an anti-Christian organ, and must therefore be chiefly aggressive. It will wage relentless war against Superstition in general, and against Christian Superstition in particular.
...
>>> The Freethinker also seeks:
>>> The disestablishment of the Church of England.
>>> The removal of all religious representation from the House of Lords.
>>> The ending of religious indoctrination and religious assemblies in State schools.
>>> The closure of all publicly-funded “faith-based” schools.
>>> The ending of the provision of prison, hospital and armed forces chaplains at public expense.

GASP! Choke! How dare they IMPOSE their thoughts on freethinkers!

http://www.skeptic.com/about_us/manifesto.html

>>> As the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises warned against those anti-communists who presented no rational alternative to the system of which they were so skeptical (1956, p. 112):

>>> An anti-something movement displays a purely negative attitude. It has no chance whatever to succeed. It’s passionate diatribes virtually advertise the program they attack. People must fight for something that they want to achieve, not simply reject an evil, however bad it may be.

Oh NO! Skeptics are in on it. They also heretically claim value in affirming some positive values or objectives.



>>> We are all already telling the same facts, speaking critically in a reasonable, rational fashion because of what we each individually discovered to be, and because of the honesty inherent in concluding atheism.

Contrary to reality

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/23/new-pew-survey-21-of-atheists-believe-in-god/

And 5 minutes on twitter will evidence that atheists are not bastions of pure reason.


>>> the moment a code of conduct for atheists exists

just wow dude... so rape is ok? Murder is ok?

This isn't a rational position.

>>> Atheism plus embraces all the things to which I already subscribe, merely by being an honourable human.

Well, good for you... so what is the issue?

>>> but I will not be taking the label

I don't think anybody really cares -- so again, what is the problem?

If you don't like the UK Freethought principles then don't join.


There are a multitude of assaholic atheists -- I don't condemn atheism because of them, their behavior is irrelevant to the principle of atheism (deity disblief).

Richard Carrier doesn't define AtheismPlus any more than the AngryAtheist asshole fuckwit defines Atheists. Jen affirmed he was off his rocker.

I'm not personally a fan of labels at all, but that is my personal preference which I don't have a rational cause to try to impose on others - there are thousands of labels we use all the time. But I'm sure growing tired of the vast amount of irrational posts I'm having to read every day from supposed rational atheists. I've not seen a screed against A+ yet that didn't make me want to block the poster and I'm not a fan of movements or ideologies at all (again, my personal choice).

But having an atheist / freethought / skeptical movement that affirms a few core values/principles that nobody really disagrees with is not cause for alarm or concern.

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