Mississippi Atheists

How Many Mississippians Ever Hear About the Problem of Evil?

2011-09-16T06:28:00.001-05:00

Over and over, I am reminded that Mississippi is not exactly a hotbed of education and critical thinking. It is a fair assessment. Each semester, I encounter a shocking number of college undergraduates who have never heard of philosophy and have no idea what it is. If they are lucky enough to have a good professor in their introductory psychology course, they are usually exposed to some material on critical thinking, and yet, classic subjects like the problem of evil can be escaped altogether unless they opt for a philosophy course. And can you guess what students can take in place of philosophy to meet the same requirement? If you guessed religion, you were right.

In spite of all this, I have a hard time imagining myself giving up. If we keep asking questions, more of our Christian neighbors may realize that their pastors do not have any answers. If we are willing to discuss our atheism openly and explain why we do not share the religious beliefs of the majority, we provoke thought and model the application of reason. If we reach out to the youth to demonstrate that it is quite possible to live one's life without gods, we leave a lasting influence.

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Why Let a Little Religion Bother You?

2011-07-09T14:17:00.001-05:00

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Agnostic or Atheist: Lets All Start Using the Right Word(s)!

2011-04-30T09:01:00.001-05:00

This post was contributed by Emo.

I hear people all the time using phrases like, “I’m not an atheist, I’m an agnostic”. It really bothers me to hear people say things like this. (A)gnostic and (a)theist are not mutually exclusive terms; in fact, they complement each other if used properly. Let’s examine the terms and see what the words really mean.

Gnosticism is about knowledge or the lack of, that’s it. If you are a Gnostic you know something - in this case the existence or non-existence of a deity.

Theism is the belief in a god, and atheism is the lack of belief in one.

I for example am an agnostic atheist. That means I have no knowledge of the existence of a deity and also have no belief in such. I know examples of agnostic theists (i.e., Christians who believe in god but will admit that they have no proof or certain knowledge of Gods existence).

In summation, if you cannot make the statement: “I believe in God,” then you are by definition an atheist. If you cannot say directly, “I know that god exists,” then you are agnostic. Clearly you can be both, and most people who label themselves as agnostic are actually saying they are atheists and many people who claim to be Christians are in fact agnostic.

emo

Ridgeland, MS

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Being an Open Atheist in Mississippi

2011-04-10T08:25:00.001-05:00

We know there are atheists in Mississippi. We also know that many keep their thoughts on religion to themselves because "coming out" as an atheist can be a scary proposition around here. What is a bit more surprising - at least to some of us who live here - is that there are also people here who are fairly open about their atheism. Granted, the few I know personally moved here from other states (or even other countries). But I have encountered at least a few Mississippi natives via the Internet who are fairly open about their atheism.

I write this post not to make anyone who cannot be open feel guilty. I know full well that this must be a personal decision made with full appreciation of the potential consequences. Rather, I post it to offer hope. It seems to be at least possible for some people to be open about their atheism here in Mississippi without being run out of the state. Perhaps it will become somewhat easier in time, and more of us will be able to join those who do not conceal themselves.

I certainly have my own horror stories of losing friendships and being told by strangers I was going to hell simply for disclosing that I do not attend church. I've had coworkers steer clear of me and spread rumors behind my back related to my "immorality" and the like. But I've also had the experience of being at least somewhat accepted by some Christians.

There are many obstacles to being an open atheist in Mississippi. But there should at least be some hope that more of us will eventually be able to take the plunge and find that it might not be as bad as we'd feared. We do have a choice in how we live our lives. Maybe we will find that the benefits of being more open outweigh the costs.

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Finding Good Atheist Blogs

2011-03-27T09:48:00.001-05:00

A reader sent me a link to a post she wrote about the top 25 atheist blogs. I know that many of you already read atheist blogs (or else you probably wouldn't be here, would you?), but I know how tough it can be to find good ones. I'm familiar with most of these, and while my own list would probably not be identical, there would be quite a bit of overlap. Besides, I'm always looking for easy and effective ways to promote what my colleagues in the atheist blogosphere are doing.

Here in Mississippi, I often wonder what I'd do without atheist websites, blogs, and forums.

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Obstacles to Being Openly Atheistic in Mississippi

2011-03-21T06:27:00.001-05:00

If we were to ask readers to comment on the biggest obstacle to being openly atheistic in Mississippi, I suspect we'd have multiple answers. What might pose a serious obstacle for one person might not bother another in the least. Take me for example. I don't have any family in Mississippi, so that doesn't even enter the picture for me. I suspect that is not going to be true of most people.

What is my biggest obstacle? I really don't have many significant obstacles to being open about my atheism. Work probably poses the closest thing I do have to an obstacle, but it is really more of an obstacle to atheist activism rather than atheism per se. That is, I'm not particularly secretive about my atheism at work (anyone who asks will receive an honest answer, assuming I decide it is any of their business). However, I am not interested in those I work with learning that my atheism might actually motivate me to action from time to time.

I'm not sure if that makes any sense or not. For me at least, saying I do not believe in gods is different from disclosing that I write an atheist blog, belong to various secular organizations, defend atheist civil rights, etc. But for better or worse, the idea of disclosing such things holds considerably less fear for me than it used to.

How about you? What is your biggest obstacle to being openly atheistic in Mississippi?

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Why is Alabama So Far Ahead of Us in Atheism?

2011-02-02T05:04:00.001-06:00

Alabama may not have a significantly better reputation than Mississippi around the rest of the country, but I often find myself feeling envious of those who live there. For reasons I still don't understand, Alabama seems to be far ahead of Mississippi when it comes to organized atheism.

They seem to have more atheist groups than we do and to be far ahead of us in terms of organization at the state level. Now I learn that they have become the second state to have a state chapter of the Secular Coalition for America, a national advocacy group for atheists, agnostics, and humanists. Check out the Secular Coalition for Alabama.

I understand that we'll seem fairly backward compared to say New York or California, but why do we seem so far behind Alabama when it comes to atheism? And more to the point, what can we do about it?

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Blair Scott on Huntsville Atheist Billboard

2011-01-04T07:04:00.001-06:00

Here is American Atheists' Communication Director, Blair Scott, explaining the intention behind the "You KNOW they're all SCAMS" billboard that recently went up in Huntsville, Alabama.

I know that some of you are not crazy about the billboard. I happen to like it, but I am in complete agreement with those who say that this should not be the only message atheists are sharing. But as Blair suggests in the interview, a lot more of us are going to need to "come out" if we want the atheist movement to better reflect our diversity.

H/T to American Atheists

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Connecting Atheists in Mississippi

2010-12-26T09:09:00.002-06:00

I realize that blogs can serve as useful hubs for providing information, but they are not particularly well suited for connecting people. This is part of why I finally set up a Mississippi Atheists page on Facebook. However, that is inherently limited to those who are reasonable "out" about their atheism. I previously tried an email group through Google Groups, but I have not done a good job promoting it and it is rarely utilized.

I'd like to revive the Google Group idea and see if we can turn it into a state-wide listserv that atheists in our state can use to communicate and share information. If you'd like to participate, you can subscribe here:

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Email:

Visit this group

I have adjusted the settings in an effort to accomplish the following:

Maximum privacy (group content can only be viewed by group members, and only managers have access to full list of subscribers)
Membership is restricted to atheists residing in Mississippi
Messages sent to the group will have the prefix "[MS Atheists]" to make it easier for subscribers to filter group messages as desired

I think this is worth trying again to see if we can indeed build a community of atheists throughout our state, but I am also open to other ideas. If anybody has ideas for how we might do a better job of helping to connect atheists in our state, I'd love to hear from you.

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Atheism: So Simple

2010-08-15T08:20:00.002-05:00

Trying to explain that you are an atheist and especially why you are an atheist to someone raised here in Mississippi can be challenging. I have found that many local Christians tend to be more sheltered than the Christians in other parts of the country where I have lived in the sense that their exposure to non-Christians is often limited. Not only are they likely to tell you that they've never encountered an atheist, but they may well have never met anyone who was not a Christian either.

I usually start by explaining that I was raised Christian too. If I leave that out, they tend to want to share some "good news." I tell them that while I was raised Christian and did once believe in the Christian bible that I no longer find any of it relevant to my life. I no longer need it and have discovered that I am happier without it.

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What Do We Want?

2010-03-19T15:10:00.002-05:00

When it comes to the plight of atheists in Mississippi, what do we want? If there was an atheist movement of some sort in Mississippi, what would be the goals of such a movement? Some of what I would like to see in the relative short term include:

Recognition that bigotry toward atheists is still bigotry and no more acceptable than any other sort of bigotry.
Equal rights for atheists under the law.
An erosion of Christian privilege, including recognition that church-state separation applies to Christianity just as it does other religions.
The ability for atheists in our state to express themselves without any more fear of assault or vandalism than Christians experience in our state.

Most of the other goals I have for Mississippi are only peripherally related to atheism. When it comes to atheism, I think this brief list just about covers it. What did I miss?

Technorati Tags: atheism, atheist, Mississippi

Coming Out of the Atheist Closet: You Do Have a Choice

2010-02-07T13:46:00.001-06:00

I am on several different listservs maintained by atheist groups around Mississippi. I like to see what other atheists are doing around our state so that I can help spread the word about it here. This was a big part of why I created Mississippi Atheists. But what I like best about these listservs is that I get to experience the diversity of thought among atheists in our state. While we may agree more often than not, there is also intelligent, lively debate happening on these listservs. When I have time to read and participate, I always come away thinking on a deeper level. This post was inspired by some recent discussions about the need to remain secretive about one's atheism here in Mississippi.

There is no question that Mississippi is a difficult place for an atheist to live. Judging by what I have seen on the listservs of atheist groups throughout our state, the majority of atheists here remain securely closeted. Some may reveal their atheism to close friends or family members, but few are "out" at work or in their daily social lives.

This is perfectly understandable. I have the good fortune to work in one of the more enlightened settings, and I'm still not 100% out. From what I have heard about the less enlightened settings, I cannot imagine how hard it would be to be even a little bit out there. It almost certainly seems as if someone working in such a setting has no choice but to remain highly guarded.

And yet, we do have a choice. We always have a choice. I could be 100% out tomorrow, and so could you. We would almost certainly face some unpleasant consequences, and some might indeed be as bad as those we imagine. But we are still making a decision.

I often hear atheists complaining that they have "no choice," but I have always found it more empowering to accept my choice and realize that I am doing what I need to do in order to protect myself, my family, or my career. I can think of many good reasons for not being more open than I am, and I can think of many equally good reasons for not being more secretive and guarded than I am.

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Why Atheists Must Speak Out

2010-01-12T09:30:00.001-06:00

This post was inspired by an intriguing discussion on one of the many local atheist listservs I'm on, the Central MS Atheist Meetup Group. There are some great folks in this group, and they always make me think.

I want to start by acknowledging that living in Mississippi is no picnic for an atheist. This is about as oppressively religious environment as one is likely to find in the U.S., and we face situations on a regular basis that are virtually unheard of in more secular regions of the country. It is commonplace for complete strangers to approach us and ask where we go to church and whether we would like to visit their church. Church/state violations abound, and our complaints are often met with, "We're in the South; what do you expect?" Most of us have lost friends simply for describing ourselves as non-religious, and many of us have been threatened with hell.

In such an environment, it is only natural that we would learn to keep our views on religion concealed. We dread the point in the conversation when the topic comes up. There is tremendous social pressure to lie, even if only by omission. We don't want to use the a-word because we fear many negative outcomes. Some of us know - or at least suspect - that disclosing our atheism might mean the loss of our job, social ostracization, vandalism, threats of harm to our families, and even physical assault.

What makes all of this even worse is that most of us know, at least on some level, that this is no way to live. We deserve better than a life ruled by fear, and we know damn well that it is our silence that perpetuates these circumstances. By refusing to express ourselves honestly, we give power to those who oppress us. We know this rationally, but it provides little comfort to the individual contemplating such a disclosure.

A Relationship Analogy

I'd like to suggest that we take a moment and forget about the broader social implications of speaking out. Forget about how keeping silent enables discrimination and bigotry to continue. Set all of those considerations aside for now. Instead, I want you to consider how communication works in an intimate relationship and what happens when it becomes less than open and honest. I find that this can be a powerful analogy to help us realize that our silence is not fair to anyone.

Partner A was raised to be very conservative when it comes to spending money. She places great importance on saving, budgeting carefully, and planning for the future. Partner B has no interest in any of this, has never understood it, and derives great pleasure from impulsive buying. Partner A knows this about Partner B and due to her own fears of abandonment decides to keep her own values around money to herself. She does not want to be perceived as a nag, and so she refuses to tell Partner B what she wants. The outcome is inevitable. Partner B continues on without knowing anything is wrong, while Partner A becomes increasingly resentful, unhappy, etc. In all likelihood, this relationship is doomed.

Who is at fault here, and how do we fix the situation? Partner A bears the bulk of the responsibility here because her silence deprives Partner B of even knowing that there is a problem. She is guessing as to what Partner B's reaction to her values would be, but she is not willing to enter into any sort of negotiation or problem-solving. She becomes resentful because she thinks her partner should somehow know what the problem is without being told. Partner A needs to be honest with Partner B and express herself openly.

To Thine Own Self Be True

I know this is a difficult lesson to grasp, at least emotionally, but we atheists are not being fair to ourselves or to our Christian neighbors by remaining silent. Nobody enjoys feeling like they must live a lie, and doing so can be expected to take a toll on us. The harder lesson here is that our silence deprives our Christian neighbors of any opportunity for growth, compromise, or reconciliation.

Like Partner A, we fear all sorts of unpleasantries in exchange for disclosing our atheism. We've had enough life experience to estimate the probabilities of some of these as being reasonably high. But also like Partner A, we do not know for sure. We may be pleasantly surprised with some of the responses we receive. But even more important, our silence prevents our Christian neighbors from ever having the chance to develop increased tolerance.

"I'm not religious," "I do not attend church," and "I'd rather not discuss religion with strangers" are all perfectly acceptable responses. One does not need to identify oneself as an atheist unless one wants to. However, doing so can provide some Christians with a powerful learning opportunity (i.e., they can no longer claim that they've never met an atheist).

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Sam Singleton the Atheist Evangelist

2009-10-23T17:00:00.005-05:00

As much of our recent attention seems caught up in the heavier side of the ongoing socio-political "culture wars" between freethinking non-believers in religious claims and the assorted bible belt Christians here in the deep south of our wonderful state of Mississippi, I thought it would be a breath of fresh air to pony up with some Atheist Evangelism by way of our own Sam Singleton.

So, without further ado...the sound and concise wisdom of Brother Sam ~

God's Truth: You're either for us or shut up

Yeah, I know, you're welcome.

Something Else to Celebrate

2009-07-04T07:42:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

It looks like we are due for a hot and dry July 4th here in Mississippi. The hot part is to be expected this time of year, but it seems like forever since we've had any rain (at least here in Hattiesburg). I fear that my neighbors' excessive use of fireworks will not be deterred by what has to be extreme fire danger.

Amidst whatever celebrating you plan to do today, I just wanted to call your attention to something else worth celebrating. According to an article by Katrina vanden Huevel in the most recent edition of The Nation,

...there are now more nontheists in America than Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Mormons and Jews combined...

I'm sure you've probably heard this before. But have you stopped for a moment and really let it sink in? I'm not sure I have, but that is one of the things on my to-do list for today.

H/T to Friendly Atheist

How Do We Get an Atheist Billboard in Mississippi?

2009-06-30T18:23:00.000-05:00

Arkansas has one. So does Louisiana. Florida just got one. Where is Mississippi's atheist billboard? I'd sure like to see one in our state. We have plenty of crazy billboards, and it would be nice to see one promoting reality. I wonder what would be involved in getting an atheist billboard in Mississippi. I also wonder if raising the money for one would be the primary obstacle or whether we would even find a company in our state that would rent the necessary ad space.

I suppose we might not yet have the infrastructure in terms of organized atheist groups in our state to pull something like this off. Maybe that is the goal we should be working toward now.

Humanist Symposium #34 at Atheist Revolution

2009-03-22T08:08:00.000-05:00

The 34th edition of The Humanist Symposium was just posted at Atheist Revolution. It includes a recent post by our own Steve Schlicht. Check it out for some good Sunday reading.

And while you are in the carnival mood, be sure to visit Skeptical Parent Crossing #6, a monthly carnival for rational/skeptical parents.

No God(s)ess(es) required

2009-03-18T19:31:00.007-05:00

Since vjack recently took a stroll down memory lane (and I've been rather busy at work over the past few weeks!) I thought I would re-post a guest voices "On Faith" column I was invited to submit over at the Washington Post last year.

Y'all might be interested in checking out the discussions that ensued as well.

So, enjoy:

Let me try to clear some of the smoke from the On Faith pulpit.

I am an atheist because there is no objective evidence for the existence of God(s)ess(es), not any of them.

This label is one of many I have and really tells you nothing more about me or any other atheist. For more information about us, you really would have to spend some time to get to know us personally and actually ask us what we hold dear and what we have as behavioral standards for our lives.

You will find a wonderful world of diversity and depth, I assure you.

Atheism does not demand that we should be "anti"-belief or "anti"-believer or even "anti"-American. It is also very important to note that atheism does not demand that you should not be "anti" anything either. The word atheism, like the word theism, simply doesn't apply to those other important issues.

Atheism is a position taken regarding the claim that any God exists, no matter how he/she/them/it is defined. It isn't anything more or less than that. It has no dietary stipulations, hairstyle, geographical boundary, special authority figures in fancy robes or favorite baseball team.

Mr. Charles Colson and many of the other religious panelists have never met me, but hope to convince themselves and others that I am their fearfully ignorant and vehement arch nemesis when nothing could be further from the truth.

We operate through our senses and reason with our brain. It isn't too much to ask that objective evidence be the standard daily provision and not "faith" without it. If any God wants to be known then this should be the method by which to reach us and not through human intermediaries claiming to be the specially appointed conduits of divine authority, some of whom openly assert that they are born severely flawed.

It is a wonderfully unique human trait to ask questions, to doubt and to require evidence for all claims made about our real lives and the natural universe in plain view.

In contrast, instead of asking questions about the methodology of the Pew survey or doubting the veracity of the results, many of the religious panelists chose to accept them on faith and to demonize atheists by telling others how we live, what we think and even what we are so that it conveniently fits their belief that the faithful (of any faith) are better people, the right "kind". All people contradicting religious claims are redefined as non-existent, artless, distrustful and ignorant. There is a word for that behavior as well and it is a word that is ugly, inhuman and wasteful.

The evidence, however, shows that we are your doctors, nurses, scientists, artists, inventors, firefighters, police officers, teachers, students, programmers, soldiers and loving mothers and fathers, etc. And it really is our common humanity, our amazing curiosity and our love of potential that keeps us grounded in purpose and meaning.
No God(s)ess(es) required.

Take care everyone, be good to each another.

Steve Schlicht is a 17-year law enforcement veteran from Biloxi, Miss., who has special training and experience in violent crimes investigation, forensic video analysis, hostage negotiation and disaster response. He is a husband, father of three and an active community service volunteer who was awarded for his service to others before, during and after both Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Katrina.

“But you’re such a nice person!”

2009-01-06T13:25:00.004-06:00

That’s an actual quote from a good friend of mine when we were talking the other day about the time he found out I was an atheist. “But you’re such a nice person!” It was echoed by his wife who was equally shocked, saying she couldn’t believe it because I was, “so sweet to (my) wife.” I found it funny. He even added, “Not that I expected all of you to have horns or anything.” That really made me laugh out loud. But this is an example of what I mean when I say that we’ll get infinitely more progress from us atheists/agnostics/free-thinkers/etc just being good and decent people while not being shy about our lack of faith than all the lawsuits and add campaigns (although I do love the “Why believe in a god” bus adds) in the world.

I do know that before we became friends this friend did indeed have a pretty unsympathetic view of atheists. And the thing is, he and his wife are good and decent people. But never having known any atheists in real life, the only thing they had to form an opinion on was what they heard from preachers and the news clips of people suing to have “In God We Trust” removed from our money (not that I disagree with that).

It makes me think of that song I used to sing when I was a born-again Christian, “You’re the only Jesus some will ever see.” I forget the theologian who said about witnessing that if you have to tell people you’re a Christian, you aren’t living as a Christian. Well, I disagree with him there, but the sentiment is a useful one. If they only atheist most people ever know are the sound bites on FoxNews then we’ll never make any progress. But if all the non-theists out there who they’re already friends with just admit their lack of faith when it comes up, I think we’d be surprised at how powerful that can be.

My Christian wife also got a kick out of their reaction, especially the part about me being so “sweet” to her.

Butch

Atheist Blogs

2008-06-17T20:24:00.000-05:00

Looking for atheist blogs? Then you need to check out the Atheist Blogroll, a collection of over 700 atheist blogs. For your convenience, I have included the entire list below. Happy reading!

Some Statistics About Atheism

2008-04-06T08:26:00.001-05:00

Tags: atheism, statistics, video

Atheism as a Civil Rights Issue

2008-03-13T06:59:00.001-05:00

In response to a comment I left about Mississippi Atheists in the Hattiesburg American online forums, I received a sarcastic reply asking why anyone would want to meet to discuss things they do not believe exist. This is a common reaction from believers first hearing about local atheist groups. What's the point, they figure, in assembling to talk about beliefs they do not share? In a nutshell, my response is that atheism is a civil rights issue. Let me explain.

In a strict philosophical sense, atheism is nothing more than the lack of theistic belief. A theist is one who asserts that some sort of god or gods exist. An atheist is simply one who does not accept this assertion as fact.

Granted, most people use atheist in a broader way to refer to a wide range of beliefs that are not synonymous with atheism (e.g., naturalism, ontological materialism, empiricism, etc.) but which are widely associated with it. Still others use atheism as a shorthand way of referring to the atheist movement, a broad activist coalition of atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, and freethinkers, working to preserve the separation of church and state. Although this notion of an atheist as one who belongs to this sort of atheist movement is both inaccurate and misleading, it will help the reader understand what I mean by saying that atheism in a civil rights issue.

Atheists living in the more culturally oppressive regions of the United States, of which Mississippi is certainly one, experience tremendous social pressure to conform to the dominant norm (i.e., Christianity). We live in an environment where everyone is assumed to be Christian and those who are not are viewed with suspicion, mistrust, and even hatred. It is this demonization of atheists, combined with Christian privilege, which helps drive discrimination and bigotry toward atheists.

The persecution of atheists simply for being atheists opens the door to civil rights violations. Examples include employment discrimination, legal tests for political suitability, and physical assault on the basis of one's atheism. Thus, it is no surprise that America's oldest and most respected civil rights organization, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) moved to include the Secular Coalition for America last December (see press release).

I can't speak for other atheists, but one of the primary reasons I am interested in atheist activism is because I want to protect the civil rights of all atheists. We are tired of being viewed as second class citizens (or worse) simply because we refuse to entertain religious notions for which no evidence exists.

For more information on this important topic, the interested reader is referred to the following sources:

Tags: Mississippi, civil rights, atheism, atheist movement, Christian privilege, discrimination, bigotry, Secular Coalition for America