Looking for Blog Posts on Atheism

[Shell B]

I go back to college very soon, I'd love to write some material on atheism.

Help yourself to any title on the list or come up with a title of your own. Just let me know what you start writing, so I can knock it off the list.

[Anymouse]

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-- cut for brevity from post #1 to this thread --
We are getting closer to having the blog up and running. The more tech savvy admins (meaning more tech savvy than myself) are getting it ready for us, particularly theVoid and Tiberius (I hope I spelled that correctly. ) We would like to have some blog posts to put on the blog before it goes live, so we don't have a one post blog. In my experience, this will look better and attract more readers. Therefore, we are asking you to help us get the blog populated. I will also be doing some writing.
. . .
Here are some title ideas that I came up with based on common searches with the keyword atheism. Try to represent all atheists with some of these, not just yourself. (Titles in red are being worked on by other members. If they become available again, we'll remove the color.)

Do atheists hate Christians?

Atheist Jokes

What is atheism?

Best Books on Atheism

Are atheists smarter?

Are atheists evil?

Are atheists immoral?
. . . rest cut

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I am neither an atheist, nor do I like to write (that's why I edit Romances instead of writing them). While I don't think you would want any writings I might offer on various topics surrounding "the atheist experience," I can offer my services as an editor to help writers polish their submissions on the topic, and I have a meter thick stack of style and grammar manuals just itching for use.

I am quite aware of the misconceptions surrounding atheism, such as those you listed above. Atheists are not immoral, as morality and ethics do not derive from a religious outlook or lack thereof.

Likewise, evil can be done by anyone; atheists, yes; religious as well. Evil is actions, not a religious worldview.

Are atheists more intelligent? That might be up for debate, but one could certainly make a case for atheists being better informed about religious choices in their societies, and being more open to weighing evidence and drawing conclusions based on fact, not assumption; at least regarding religious points.

(A religious person can be just as concrete about evidence and assumption as an atheist, except regarding their faith. To that I would tend to believe they are not less intelligent, but perhaps a bit too close and personally involved with that question to make a completely reasoned or dispassionate conclusion.)

As to hatred, it is a powerful emotion, and blind hatred can certainly convey evil, regardless of religious alignment. While I do not doubt there are atheists who hate Christians (or other faith groups) simply because they are religious, I have never met such a person. I have, on the other hand, met many religious people that truly hate anyone who is a declared atheist, or other religious faith (especially my own).

I have met atheists who could care less what another believes, others that do care and don't say anything, and and still others that do care and try to move (any, not just Christians) to think about what it is they believe; even if in the end it does not shake the foundations of their faith.

There are those who mind a great deal when someone makes a religious reference, thinking it anything from callousness to outright display of "superiority," and those who just consider it another's view of the world and "everyone is different."

I do not believe I have ever met an atheist (or an agnostic, however one defines it) who will sit still for brow-beating, either of themselves or another person. "Freedom of religion means all religions, or no religion, else it is not freedom."

And I have met atheists who will cheerfully engage all comers with questions (even if they have heard the same question forty times before, because to the questioner it is new to them), and others who have no patience answering the same questions over and over again. One that specifically comes to mind is one you pose above, rephrased: How can atheists have a moral compass without religion to guide them?

That one seems to rile up many people. To the person asking it, they may be simply trolling, or they may truly not know. A biting retort will certainly do nothing to improve the understanding of the latter, and it hurts nothing to be polite to the former.

It does me no good to respond to someone on the street wishing me a "Merry Christmas" with "I don't worship as you, but have a happy Yule and Solstice." I can respond to them in kind and truly desire they in fact have a merry Christmas, or any other day on the calendar. I have no desire to cause strife or wish discontent on someone because they made an assumption in what is arguably a Christian nation.

The only time I might even mention something about that would be if a person knew me and knew my religious background. In that case, I would not expect their blessing, but I would expect equal treatment. That has nothing to do with religion, that is a humanist sentiment, that all people are good in and of themselves.

Boy, I certainly digressed; the point was, while I probably have little to offer on atheist thought, and much of what I do have would probably not be representative of the atheist community (which is something like herding cats, anyway), I can and would be most happy to offer to the community a skill I do have, editing and polishing proposed posts to the blog.

On the other hand, if you'd rather I just mind my own business and get bent, I can do that too.

James.

[Faith No More]

Has 'Do atheists hate Christians' been taken? If not, I would love to tackle that, but if it is taken, can I get a link or a list of what's already been covered? I would very much like to contribute to this.

[fr0d0]

The blog isn't representing the forum if it's exclusively for atheist opinion is it? Sure we all know that's the thrust but we're many and varied in our approach. Or can we use the blog as members and not be promoting atheism? Just interested.

[Anymouse]

The blog isn't representing the forum if it's exclusively for atheist opinion is it? Sure we all know that's the thrust but we're many and varied in our approach. Or can we use the blog as members and not be promoting atheism? Just interested.

I don't own the forum or the blog, so my opinion probably means squat. However, this is atheistforums.org , not Fox News, so "fair and balanced" is not necessarily the goal here. (Not that Fox is fair and balanced, I just like their sound bite.)

I would suspect anyone seeking answers to a particular religious faith would go to a religious forum, rather than come to this one. But, as I said, it is not my forum, and perhaps a religious viewpoint (or a series of them on a number of religious faiths) might be enlightening, and show a contrast between them, and with an atheistic view.

Moreover, religious viewpoints (especially from those outside the Christian mainstream), might give atheists new talking points. While many are adept at wrangling over the Bible, for example, how many have read the Vedas, or are familiar with Shinto practice, or Wicca? Such religious overviews might wind up helpful to atheists in understanding those views and formulating opinion or marshalling facts in their argument (here I am giving suggestions about debating against my own practices - sheesh_

James.

[Tiberius]

The blog itself is for the forum; anything can be put up on it as long as it does not violate the rules. It won't be a full-on atheist blog, and in some cases theists would be able to submit articles, as long as they were covering some topic that atheists might find interesting, rather than something solely about a specific religion.

For instance, there would be nothing wrong with a theist posting an article about a scientific topic from a religious angle, or perhaps even a rebuttal to an article written previously on the blog. If a theist wants to outline a possible argument for the existence of God in order to get feedback from atheists, that would be acceptable as well.

I think the only reason Shell posted atheism-themed article suggestions was because she was coming from an atheist angle. Certainly, most of the articles (as with the forums) will be concerning atheism, hence why we are starting off that way. Anything our respected resident theists submit will be in all likelihood accepted.

[fr0d0]

Well us religious types sure like to espouse on this nasty 'atheist' stuffs and it adds a certain creative tension I find

@ Fox News

[Tiberius]

@fr0d0: See my post above yours.

[fr0d0]

@Tiberius: stop da ninja!

[Shell B]

Frodo, I did mention that we may do articles by non atheists in the original post. The only reason I didn't say we definitely would is because we (the staff) hadn't discussed it yet. I am okay with it, of course, but agree with Tiberius that it should be on topics interesting to atheists for one reason. Not everyone searching atheist topics or for atheist blogs is going to be aware that this community is not solely atheist. If I find a blog with a name like "Atheist Forums Blog," I wouldn't expect to find titles like, "Why I love God." You know what I mean?

Anymouse, if you want to work with any writers here by editing, I would not be opposed to it. I am currently doing all the editing for members who need it. There isn't much to do at this point. However, I suspect there will be occasions where a member is looking for help and I am not around. Therefore, if someone posts in here looking for help, feel free to offer your services via pm. Please do not post the result or even the rough draft in this thread because we do not want the blog and the forum to compete with each other. Once it is finished, send it to any staff member. Thank you very much.