Atheist Blogroll and the Scarlet Letter

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My Blog, "Figuring it Out," has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in my sidebar. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.


Ahem... Canned intro out of the way, here's why I've joined the Atheist Blogroll and added the scarlet A to my blog. My reasoning all comes down to 2 words, community and awareness. In Babylon 5, the point is made that humanities strength comes from the fact we build communities- the concept seems trite and high-minded, but there is some truth in it.

Atheists are perceived as interlopers within our predominantly christian, typically religious society. Even by non-theists, including agnostics, atheism is seen as a defect of character- the conceit of pride. We are, in many ways, shunned from participating within our communities. To be an atheist in America, is to live closeted, pandering to christian ideologies.

I see 2 ways through this, not mutually exclusive. The first is to establish our own communities. I'm not referring to the trend of "atheist churches," or somewhere establishing an atheist state/nation. No, an atheist community should exist, primarily as an academic community. Atheism is, after-all, an incidental trait, a by-product of healthy scepticism, not a defining characteristic of our being. The second is to spread awareness of atheism and who exactly these atheists are- to become a ubiquitous group within our existing communities, so that it becomes acceptable, if not common, to live a rational life.

Joining the blogroll, is part of my effort to join that community, on the web. Linking to the both the blogroll and Richard Dawkins' Out Campaign are part of my efforts to spread awareness.