• The Blanking Atheist

    Many years ago, PZ Myers asked his followers, “What would you call me?” in a blog post oddly reminiscent of Mark 8:29.

    Myers essentially asked his fans to fill in the blank in the phrase “The _______ Atheist” in a manner that reflects his character and writing style. A commenter known as ‘madbull’ was the first to suggest “happy” which would eventually become the correct answer when PZ’s book was published around two years later.

    I’d have suggested “The Incivil Atheist,” had I been allowed to comment at the time, for retrospectively obvious reasons. Three years after The Happy Atheist hit the bookshelves, those of us with reasonably functional memories were surprised to find PZ railing against “The _______ Atheist” as a personal brand:

    Everyone, PZ? The Friendly Atheist responds:

    https://twitter.com/_gdow/status/769320066978578438

    And thus was the circle completed.

    (For those playing along at home, the relevant logical fallacy on display here is known as hasty generalization.)

     

    Category: AtheismHumor

    Article by: Damion Reinhardt

    Former fundie finds freethought fairly fab.