Members of the "Club"

Trey Smith

Like a fresh-baked loaf of sanity resting on the window of human possibility, atheism is on the rise in the United States. Will this growing constituency become a formidable political force before global warming decimates civilization? I'm skeptical. But according to the Pew Research Center, 1 in 5 of Americans now say they're either atheist, agnostic, or that they simply don't believe in anything in particular. That godless number was a scant 6 percent in 1990, and this spring roughly 20,000 atheists showed up — rain and all — at the first ever Reason Rally in DC, so, surely, despite the protestations of Texas Republicans, this newfangled thing called “critical thinking” is poised to better the national discourse, yes? Well...

The thing about the so-called “rationalist” movement in America is that disbelief in gods seems to be the only qualification to join the club. Disbelief in a supernatural creator, especially as the movement becomes more popular or “hep,” as I'm pretending the kids say, in no way guarantees rationality in matters of foreign policy or economics, for example. Many notable atheists believe in some powerfully stupid stuff — likely owing their prominence to these same benighted beliefs, lending an air of scientific credibility to the myths corporate media seeks to highlight, and thereby eroding the credibility of all atheists in the long-term. In other words: The crap always rises to the top.
~ from The 5 Most Awful Atheists by Ian Murphy ~

While I don't necessarily agree with Murphy's list, I think his main point is well taken. Contrary to what most contemporary religious figures say, there is only one requisite to being an atheist: disbelief in God. Once you get beyond this meager requirement, there rarely is any agreement at all.

You see, this is why atheism is different than belief in a specific religion. The latter has a litmus test filled with several definitive answers. Agree with those answers and you're welcomed into the club with open arms.

Atheism is far more broad. Once a person has rejected the God question, all other kinds of beliefs are fair game. You can be a pro-capitalist atheist (like some people I know) or a radical socialist atheist (like me). To say that I am the same as a pro-capitalist atheist simply because we both reject the notion of a god is ludicrous! The subject of a God may be the ONLY thing we agree on.

And so, when you see some folks try to pigeonhole atheists as something akin to a political party or church denomination, all you should basically take from such a definition is that this is how they see the world. Because they belong to an exclusive club (like Baptists, Catholics, Muslims or Mormons), they simply can't fathom that some people are okay with being free agents.