Godless grifters: How the New Atheists merged with the far right

[Anonymous]

https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/

What once seemed like a bracing intellectual movement has degenerated into a pack of abusive, small-minded bigots

“Fast-forward to the present: What a grift that was! Many of the most prominent New Atheists turned out to be nothing more than self-aggrandizing, dogmatic, irascible, censorious, morally compromised people who, at every opportunity, have propped up the powerful over the powerless, the privileged over the marginalized. This may sound hyperbolic, but it's not when, well, you look at the evidence. So I thought it might be illuminating to take a look at where some of the heavy hitters in the atheist and "skeptic" communities are today. What do their legacies look like? In what direction have they taken their cultural quest to secularize the world?“

The author goes on (in the linked article) to detail the bigotry, misogyny, and overall grift and bad behavior of the “heavy hitters” of new atheism. It’s an extremely eye-opening article and was not written by a religious person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/

What once seemed like a bracing intellectual movement has degenerated into a pack of abusive, small-minded bigots

“Fast-forward to the present: What a grift that was! Many of the most prominent New Atheists turned out to be nothing more than self-aggrandizing, dogmatic, irascible, censorious, morally compromised people who, at every opportunity, have propped up the powerful over the powerless, the privileged over the marginalized. This may sound hyperbolic, but it's not when, well, you look at the evidence. So I thought it might be illuminating to take a look at where some of the heavy hitters in the atheist and "skeptic" communities are today. What do their legacies look like? In what direction have they taken their cultural quest to secularize the world?“

The author goes on (in the linked article) to detail the bigotry, misogyny, and overall grift and bad behavior of the “heavy hitters” of new atheism. It’s an extremely eye-opening article and was not written by a religious person.

It's ba-a-a-ack! the thread that was taken down returns -- but in less graphic detail than before.

And here's an earlier response:

People can be good or bad with or without religion. Pointing our the human flaws of a few prominent atheists is unrelated to belief in the supernatural. All atheism is, is a lack of belief in God -- it's not a set of principles/beliefs. Atheists can be communists or capitalists, Democrats or Republicans, etc.

There are plenty of bad stories about prominent religious people too, through the ages. In many cases they used religion to punish or repress people -- all supposedly in the name of their God. Religion has done both evil and good - that because, IMO, it's practiced by humans, who are capable of evil and good.

The same could be said for governments. They are developed by humans and, like religion, are capable of good and evil.

--- and yes, I'm pressing "report" now, to try to get it to disappear again. Nice try, Meat puppet poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/

What once seemed like a bracing intellectual movement has degenerated into a pack of abusive, small-minded bigots

“Fast-forward to the present: What a grift that was! Many of the most prominent New Atheists turned out to be nothing more than self-aggrandizing, dogmatic, irascible, censorious, morally compromised people who, at every opportunity, have propped up the powerful over the powerless, the privileged over the marginalized. This may sound hyperbolic, but it's not when, well, you look at the evidence. So I thought it might be illuminating to take a look at where some of the heavy hitters in the atheist and "skeptic" communities are today. What do their legacies look like? In what direction have they taken their cultural quest to secularize the world?“

The author goes on (in the linked article) to detail the bigotry, misogyny, and overall grift and bad behavior of the “heavy hitters” of new atheism. It’s an extremely eye-opening article and was not written by a religious person.

It's ba-a-a-ack! the thread that was taken down returns -- but in less graphic detail than before.

And here's an earlier response:

People can be good or bad with or without religion. Pointing our the human flaws of a few prominent atheists is unrelated to belief in the supernatural. All atheism is, is a lack of belief in God -- it's not a set of principles/beliefs. Atheists can be communists or capitalists, Democrats or Republicans, etc.

There are plenty of bad stories about prominent religious people too, through the ages. In many cases they used religion to punish or repress people -- all supposedly in the name of their God. Religion has done both evil and good - that because, IMO, it's practiced by humans, who are capable of evil and good.

The same could be said for governments. They are developed by humans and, like religion, are capable of good and evil.

--- and yes, I'm pressing "report" now, to try to get it to disappear again. Nice try, Meat puppet poster.

Did you read the article?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/

What once seemed like a bracing intellectual movement has degenerated into a pack of abusive, small-minded bigots

“Fast-forward to the present: What a grift that was! Many of the most prominent New Atheists turned out to be nothing more than self-aggrandizing, dogmatic, irascible, censorious, morally compromised people who, at every opportunity, have propped up the powerful over the powerless, the privileged over the marginalized. This may sound hyperbolic, but it's not when, well, you look at the evidence. So I thought it might be illuminating to take a look at where some of the heavy hitters in the atheist and "skeptic" communities are today. What do their legacies look like? In what direction have they taken their cultural quest to secularize the world?“

The author goes on (in the linked article) to detail the bigotry, misogyny, and overall grift and bad behavior of the “heavy hitters” of new atheism. It’s an extremely eye-opening article and was not written by a religious person.

It's ba-a-a-ack! the thread that was taken down returns -- but in less graphic detail than before.

And here's an earlier response:

People can be good or bad with or without religion. Pointing our the human flaws of a few prominent atheists is unrelated to belief in the supernatural. All atheism is, is a lack of belief in God -- it's not a set of principles/beliefs. Atheists can be communists or capitalists, Democrats or Republicans, etc.

There are plenty of bad stories about prominent religious people too, through the ages. In many cases they used religion to punish or repress people -- all supposedly in the name of their God. Religion has done both evil and good - that because, IMO, it's practiced by humans, who are capable of evil and good.

The same could be said for governments. They are developed by humans and, like religion, are capable of good and evil.

--- and yes, I'm pressing "report" now, to try to get it to disappear again. Nice try, Meat puppet poster.

Did you read the article?

Yes, when it came out. One article, one person's analysis. The info about individuals had already been reported. Everything stated in the earlier comment applies to people in general.

[Anonymous]

People in general, ok. What about the people in the article?

[Anonymous]

No one cares any more or less about some random dudes who happen to not believe in gods. We already covered that.

Well, no one except atheist haters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one cares any more or less about some random dudes who happen to not believe in gods. We already covered that.

Well, no one except atheist haters.

So discussing this article is hate? These men are the “heavy hitters” of atheism. They are above examination or accountability or criticism?

They are not random dudes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one cares any more or less about some random dudes who happen to not believe in gods. We already covered that.

Well, no one except atheist haters.

So discussing this article is hate? These men are the “heavy hitters” of atheism. They are above examination or accountability or criticism?

They are not random dudes.

The "heavy hitters" of atheism. Lol.

Guess what. People are imperfect. Attributing those imperfections to lack of belief in a god is idiocy. You know full well if it went the other way we could find a nearly infinite list of shitty things said and done by believers. That's called ad hominem and it is stupid when done by either side.

Why not address the concept directly and provide evidence for your beliefs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one cares any more or less about some random dudes who happen to not believe in gods. We already covered that.

Well, no one except atheist haters.

So discussing this article is hate? These men are the “heavy hitters” of atheism. They are above examination or accountability or criticism?

They are not random dudes.

Posting multiple threads to disparage atheists is hateful.

These guys are no more important or relevant than anyone other random dudes.

There is no "movement" or organization. There are no leaders.

You continue to have trouble grasping that. Why is that?

[Anonymous]

David Silverman worked with the American Atheists organization since 1996, and holding a variety of roles, including: New Jersey State Director, Communications Director, and Vice President. He was elected president of American Atheists on September 16, 2010, following Ed Buckner.

During his tenure as Communications Director and Vice President of American Atheists, Silverman made several media appearances, but became especially visible since becoming president.

On April 13, 2018, Silverman was terminated as president of American Atheists over complaints of financial and sexual misconduct. Silverman had been placed on paid leave on April 10 pending an investigation into a complaint received on April 7. The day after his termination, BuzzFeed News published an article detailing allegations of unwanted sexual contact by two women, subsequently denied by Silverman. The new president of American Atheists, Nick Fish, specified that Silverman's termination was not over sexual allegations, but as a result of a "loss of confidence" stemming from violations of internal policies on staff management, conflicts of interest, and their general code of conduct.

Silverman was appointed Executive Director of Atheist Alliance International (AAI) in October 2019. He resigned from his position in December 2019. AAI President Gail Miller recognized Silverman "for the contribution he had made in reorganizing the AAI board and its operations".

There are many atheist organizations with leaders.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Atheist_organizations

Here is a list from Wikipedia.

This thread doesn’t disparage atheists, it simply details some of the people who are advocates for atheism that are engaged in bigotry, misogyny, financial misdeeds, and how some very prominent atheists are espousing the same agenda and verbiage of right wing political groups. It’s quite scary and hard to understand why they would do this. If you see offended by the truth, then you have a problem.

[Anonymous]

No one has ever heard of those organizations. Those aren't a "thing".

If you don't believe in gods you don't need other people to tell you not to believe in gods or how to do that. That's just not a thing. There are no common "beliefs" because there just aren't any.

You are looking at it as a different "belief system", but it's not. It's a lack of beliefs. Not comparable at all. Step back and take off your "belief" glasses. Maybe then you will get it.

So some of those guys are dickheads. Aside from you, no one cares - not any more than another dickhead. You are trying to force an association where there isn't one.

You are trying to pick a fight, atheist hater. Why are you doing that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:David Silverman worked with the American Atheists organization since 1996, and holding a variety of roles, including: New Jersey State Director, Communications Director, and Vice President. He was elected president of American Atheists on September 16, 2010, following Ed Buckner.

During his tenure as Communications Director and Vice President of American Atheists, Silverman made several media appearances, but became especially visible since becoming president.

On April 13, 2018, Silverman was terminated as president of American Atheists over complaints of financial and sexual misconduct. Silverman had been placed on paid leave on April 10 pending an investigation into a complaint received on April 7. The day after his termination, BuzzFeed News published an article detailing allegations of unwanted sexual contact by two women, subsequently denied by Silverman. The new president of American Atheists, Nick Fish, specified that Silverman's termination was not over sexual allegations, but as a result of a "loss of confidence" stemming from violations of internal policies on staff management, conflicts of interest, and their general code of conduct.

Silverman was appointed Executive Director of Atheist Alliance International (AAI) in October 2019. He resigned from his position in December 2019. AAI President Gail Miller recognized Silverman "for the contribution he had made in reorganizing the AAI board and its operations".

There are many atheist organizations with leaders.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Atheist_organizations

Here is a list from Wikipedia.

This thread doesn’t disparage atheists, it simply details some of the people who are advocates for atheism that are engaged in bigotry, misogyny, financial misdeeds, and how some very prominent atheists are espousing the same agenda and verbiage of right wing political groups. It’s quite scary and hard to understand why they would do this. If you see offended by the truth, then you have a problem.

Atheist organizations exist (unbeknowst to many atheists, who simply don't care) and many secular organizations exist (e.g., professional associations like the AMA) that have atheists as well as religious people and "nones" as members.

Some of these people, like Silverman, do bad things and are reported for them. Most people are simply following a personal, educational or work-related interests through these organizations.

OP is correct if pointing out human flaws in some people who are well-known as atheists, but incorrect if she is suggesting that such behavior is prevalent among people who openly do not believe in god. There is no evidence for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one has ever heard of those organizations. Those aren't a "thing".

If you don't believe in gods you don't need other people to tell you not to believe in gods or how to do that. That's just not a thing. There are no common "beliefs" because there just aren't any.

You are looking at it as a different "belief system", but it's not. It's a lack of beliefs. Not comparable at all. Step back and take off your "belief" glasses. Maybe then you will get it.

So some of those guys are dickheads. Aside from you, no one cares - not any more than another dickhead. You are trying to force an association where there isn't one.

You are trying to pick a fight, atheist hater. Why are you doing that?

Perhaps OP is trying to pick a fight because of being threatened by people with differing beliefs. Perhaps it's a part of OP's church's proselytization methods to try to convert atheists or warn other church members about them.

Perhaps OP feels chastised and treated unfairly because the original "Godless grifters" post was taken down and so is trying what seems like a milder approach.

Perhaps OP feels the tug of atheism and is doing everything possible to thwart it.

If this is the case, Don't worry, OP, once you truly don't believe, the fear of hell goes away too, because you realize it is just a tool to frighten people and keep them in line.

[Anonymous]

I can believe that the people who go around trying to convince other people to not believe in god are mostly jerks. Especially the ones that organize around it.

I'm not going to read the article because I'm not particularly interested in the beef between two groups of people I have no interest in. But if it's in the article, can someone tell me why the atheists feel the need to organize around their atheism in the first place? I don’t get the whole concept of "practicing" atheist. Tbh it does sound like a grift, just as much as some organized religions. Which makes this a dispute between grifters whose grifts conflict.

[Anonymous]

"New Atheism" is organized atheism and most atheists don't belong to any sort of organized religion, so for you to lump ALL atheists in with these weirdo organized atheists is going a bit far, don't you think?