Do you feel (new) Atheist culture?

[Alex K]

As we often mention (when theists appear in the forum trying to explain to us all the things we allegedly believe), atheism is most commonly defined around these parts here as the lack of belief in deities (YMMV). As such, absolutely nothing else can be derived from the fact that someone is an atheist.

Still, we are mostly a social species, and many recurring elements of atheist culture have cropped up especially in the course of the new atheist thing which became famous ten years ago. So, whether you especially like them or not, you have more probably than not listened to talks by Richard Dawkins, or Christopher Hitchens, or you've read a book about Evolution or two because of creationism, or you've made jokes about the flying spaghetti monster, listened to the same podcasts as many others, maybe you get, like me, a warm fuzzy feeling and a strange sensation of awe when you look at Darwin's original specimens in the natural history museum, and so on and so forth.

Even if you don't share/know/are a fan of every single one of these things, they together form some kind of recognizable shared culture with shared slang, inside jokes, typical lines of arguments, maybe even rituals, which provide a sense of commonality and possibly community for those who are loosely associated with new atheism. There is an overlap with Skepticism with a "k", for which the same things are true. This is at least is the context in which I see my atheism and skepticism today, even though I was an atheist long before I knew who Richard Dawkins etc. were, and even though I don't want most of these people speaking for me.

Now I also know that many of you are die-hard individuals who tend to e.g. reject any association with the usual popular figureheads of atheism, but still I wonder whether those of you don't also, deep down, feel they are part of a shared atheist (popular) culture which provides some sense of comfort and belonging to you even if you aren't a formal member of any org.

I hope you understand what I mean, and I'd like to hear about your attitude towards all that

[Faith No More]

I am one of those die-hard individualist by nature, so I don't feel much in the sense of a communal bond with other atheists. Although, I will say that I've definitely started to get that feeling a little bit when I see non-belief portrayed constructively like in the FFRF ad with Ron Reagan, and seeing people being more open about not being religious certainly gives me the warm-fuzzies.

As for the so-called new atheist movement, I'm still not entirely certain what that is. To hear the the theists talk about it, a new atheist is anyone who is vehemently and rabidly opposed to religion and also a worshiper of Dawkins. I guess I can't be one of them, because what little of Dawkins I've seen where he is discussing religion, it appears to be more pompous chest-beating than actual proper criticism.

[BrokenQuill92]

I'm not sure what to call myself other than Alaina. I've never liked Richard Dawkins he's always seemed a bit of a pompous prick to me. I'm not saying he doesn't have a few good points, but he really shouldnt make it seem like he's the voice of all atheists. I like Christopher Hitchens, but again he's like the drunk uncle who's really fun but needs to be let away from the party occasionally. As both someone with a disability and a woman of color I have to work very hard to compartmentalize my views on Darwin. Well he's for all intents and purposes the keystone of modern evolutionary biology my brain still has to get around his other views which are quite scary. And which some people still believe in. I do tend to feel a sense of camaraderie with other atheists, being stuck in the south it's hard to remember sometimes that I'm not up shit creek without a paddle. But I am also just myself.

[Alex K]

To me, New Atheism is a combination of the following: the increased media presence of a certain crop of atheist spokespersons (especially Dawkins and Hitchens, Harris and Dennett to a smaller extent), a newly found unapologetic display of one's atheism, and a habitual reference to and reverence towards an idealized concept of "science" as the remedy against the oppression dealt out by religion.

[Alex K]

I'm not sure what to call myself other  than Alaina.  I've never liked Richard Dawkins he's always seemed a bit of a pompous prick to me.

Oh, he most definitely is a pompus prick, but he and his attitudes towards religion have also been an incredibly important life boat for atheists who felt isolated in mostly conservative theist societies - whether we like all of his actions and attitudes or not.

 I'm not saying he doesn't have a few good points, but he really shouldnt make it seem like he's the voice of all atheists.  I like Christopher Hitchens, but again he's like the drunk uncle who's really fun but needs to be let away from the party occasionally.  As both someone with a disability and a woman of color I have to work very hard to compartmentalize my views on Darwin.  Well he's for all intents and purposes the keystone of modern evolutionary biology my brain still has to get around his other views which are quite scary.

Can you elaborate? Do you perceive Darwin as unusually racist and ableist (or possibly a proponent of eugenics), or do you simply feel queasy about elevating any 19th century figure to hero status because of the zeitgeist?

 And which some people still believe in.  I do tend to feel a sense of camaraderie with other atheists,  being stuck in the south it's hard to remember sometimes that I'm not up shit creek without a paddle.  But I am also just myself.

[c172]

I feel a vague cameraderie with other atheists, as long as I'd like them anyway, and as long as they aren't try-hards. However, because of that cameraderie, what I enjoy most is posting here, and being responded to. Actual friendship is more important than witnessing stardom.

I am very impatient with reading books, which is too bad, because I think books possess a charm as an art forum, with all that implies. I'm not too familiar with Dawkins or Hitchens. I did get through a Sam Harris book I really liked. Maybe he's my guru. I dunno. Christina Rad videos are kind of fun to watch as well. She's our vixen, I guess. Her accent's a bit hard to understand at times, though.

Darwin I need to read more of. I'm not even aware of his apparent beef with the disabled.

[The Inquisition]

I certainly identify with other atheists that were indoctrinated at a young age, but eventually their skeptical mind overcame the anti-intellectual environment they were raised in.

We share very similar stories, it's a story of intellectual triumph over superstition, an intellectual Rocky mythos that played out in our lives.

I never get tired of hearing of their personal triumph.

[Exian]

I definitely get the warm and fuzzies with our culture. The other day, I found out one of my coworkers is an atheist, and we instantly clicked with all of the inside jokes you mentioned. It's a real thing.

We are each others first time meeting an atheist in RL. Although there is only one commonality amongst atheists (and even that differs), there are little signs that helped me guess he was an atheist. He and I were talking about Facebook, when he tells me he doesn't have any of his family friended, citing ideological differences as the reason. Now, I know a religious, right wing douche wouldn't take the higher ground by avoiding confrontation, so I guessed (internally) that he was probably liberal, which makes it more probable that he may be an atheist. So I say "Let me guess, you're a die-hard Republican creationist." And I tried to sound dead serious. In reaction, he says "No! I'm an atheist." Haha I explained that I had guessed and was only joking with him. We clicked straight away with all the inside jokes and even shared our reasons for deconversion, which we do often here at AF. Even though he's not a member here, sharing his deconversion story seemed normal to him, like it was part of his culture to share that story.

[Faith No More]

To me, New Atheism is a combination of the following: the increased media presence of a certain crop of atheist spokespersons (especially Dawkins and Hitchens, Harris and Dennett to a smaller extent), a newly found unapologetic display of one's atheism, and a habitual reference to and reverence towards an idealized concept of "science" as the remedy against the oppression dealt out by religion.

That's close to what I've gathered it meant, except for the fact that many people appear to use the term "new atheist" as a pejorative as if it comes with the connotations of being the angry, foaming-mouth type. Do you think this is just a reaction of frustration by the religious, or is there something legitimate to the claim that atheists that identify with the four horsemen tend to be more hostile?

[AFTT47]

To a degree. I do feel kinship with other atheists who out themselves and who publicly challenge religious views because I think it's important such a challenge be out there and visible. I don't have to have any idealistic commonality with them beyond that.

It's a two-sided coin, though. I get frustrated when I see atheists doing this in what I believe is a counter-productive way and sometimes want to distance myself from them.