For the last couple of years now, March 23rd has been Atheist Day. In 2019 it was a day to come out as an atheist, and if you haven’t already done so, today is also a good day to do so this year.
For those of us who have already come out, Atheist Day goes to show our fellow heathens that they are not alone — although it doesn’t seem to have gained much traction among Western atheists, Atheist Day has been very well received among ex-Muslim organizations and in places around the world where Christianity’s competition has proliferated.
Atheist Day being more popular in places that have historically been oppressed by superstitions other than the Jewish zombie one makes sense, since this day accomplishes what the Out Campaign did in the West more than a decade ago (precisely where we take the term “coming out” from): it inspired many of us, and, for a few years he got us to group together and demand the same treatment as religious citizens. We didn’t want more, but we weren’t going to settle for less.
Ever since the regressive left tore apart organized atheism and cleared the way for the religious far-right around the world, atheists and freethinkers in places where the religion of special needs has prevailed were left even more helpless, as most Western atheists found more pressing matters to worry about, such as micro-aggressions, the intrinsic racism of Pumpkin Spice Latte sippers, cultural appropriation, and getting people fired for insensitive things they said more than 10 years ago.
Let this day, then, be one in which we vindicate our commitment to the radical idea that all human beings must be treated equally before the law and that our lives have intrinsic value, regardless of what´s going on inside our heads, and let those atheists in corners of the world where their lives and freedoms are in danger know that they are not alone and that some of us on this side of the world still find it distressing that they cannot exercise their most elemental rights.
Some people are skeptical about Atheist Day, yet if this initiative or this post helps even just one atheist anywhere in the world to feel more at ease or that not all is lost, that makes it worthwhile enough for me.
