I had a big long post prepared, but it’s one of those squishy subjects that I don’t do well with. I like science, because it’s very clear cut. Either the data supports the hypothesis or it doesn’t. It’s not always perfectly discriminatory and there’s some error that can creep in, but for the most part it’s pretty cut and dried.
People… are squishy. We can have contradictory ideas. We can believe things that aren’t true. We can accept false things on little more than some charismatic speaker saying so.
There’s a lot of discussion about the atheist community and the shooting in Chapel Hill. My personal feelings on any event like this are that it is the fault of the individual. Whether it is a terror attack like 9/11, US abortion clinic bombings, or Chapel Hill, it is always the fault of the individual.
The individual decides that his or her ideology is more important that the lives of other humans.
Humans have a long history of vilifying the “other”. In the US South, people with dark colored skin were (and still are) judged as less than human. In WWII, we vilified Japanese and German people to help promote the war. Now, every group with an ideology tries to vilify their opponents.
Some creationists say that evolution is atheistic and devil worship. Some feminists say that anything they don’t agree with is patriarchy. Some anti-GMOs equate food with a company that many say have some deplorable business practices. Political parties of all stripes attack their opponents.
This is the world we live in. Where anything you ever say can and will be used against you. If you aren’t with us, then you’re against us and we’ll try to get you fired, threaten you, and attack you in order to promote our ideology.
Notice how, I have carefully used examples from all areas of these things… including atheism groups.
There appears to be no organized group that is free from this kind of thing.
What all of these groups have decided is that their rules, their ideas, their worldview is more important that the lives of other people… and that’s what I find abhorrent.
I don’t care what you believe or think, I think that if you are not putting humans first (all humans, not just women, whites, Catholics, straight, whatever) then your ideology is flawed.
How can I say that?
It’s my morality and ethics. I put people before ideas. I think that all people are important and have the right live their life as they choose without interference from others. I say this in that very specific way because if a person chooses to engage in things like murder, child porn, theft, etc, then they are depriving others of that their rights… and that’s not OK.
I want people to be equal. Not by beating people to death with how unequal they are, but by showing them that it’s OK to treat people equally and nicely. This is where I disagree with much of modern feminism.
I don’t care what your religion is. But here’s a hint, killing people who disagree with your religion is not the way to win converts and show people how peaceful your religion is. And forcing your religious beliefs into policies that affect everyone is not a good thing. This is where I disagree with religion.
I don’t care what your ideology is. I just want people to be treated fairly. I want ideas to be shared. I want people who make mistakes to be called on it, discussion ensues and rationality wins. If I disagree with your idea, then I will tell you why and you are free to convince me, with evidence, otherwise. No one should live in fear because they disagree with someone. This is where I disagree with most of the rest of the internet.
I do think that most people are good, kind people. But some are jerks. Some get swept up in the mob mentality. And we see the loudest voices, we rarely see all the good in the world.
