I'm sure you've all enjoyed my indepth coverage of the New Atheists. The media capitalise us, you know. We're kind of like the New Romantics without the eyeshadow, except when we wear eyeshadow.
It's kind of thematic for me, of course. Discover my themes here, if you dare.
And now we've got a lovely new campaign for you. It's the OUT Campaign. Yes, atheists are coming out of the closet, and calling out around the world. Are you ready for a brand new beat?
Now obviously in Britain closeting isn't such a problem, but we should all show solidarity with our secular siblings over the seas. Richard Dawkins has written us a rallying cry, and there's T-shirts and everything.
We've even got our own logo. Ironically for some of us, it's a big capital A.
I've added it to my profile, on that picture of me in the top right hand corner. Yes it is. I just happen to be the spitting image of Wittgenstein. You should check out Derek Jarman's film of his life, I did all the stunt scenes.
There's also a conference. It's in Washington DC, and it's already booked out, but I'm sure there'll be video coverage online. Like there was for the scientists' conference here.
Seriously, there is a political point to all this. Firstly, I know it's a joke in the UK, but in some countries atheists are under pressure to keep their views secret. In Muslim countries, people who abandon their religion can be and have been executed for it. In the US, whilst nothing quite like that happens, some states have laws banning atheists from elected office, and many people have lost child custody cases because their partner has promised to give the child a religious education, and they're an atheist. There's a handy summary of related issues here, on another excellent Science Blog.
What we need in the UK is a decent campaign to get our teeth into. Here are some ideas.
We should demand that every time they get some bishop on TV or radio to comment on an issue, instead of just adding a rabbi or an imam for balance, they add an atheist as well. Either a well-known face like Richard Dawkins, or someone from a humanist society or the like. If they argue that such figures don't represent all secularists, we can argue back that bishops, rabbis and imams don't represent every one they claim to either. We're 64% of the population, and we demand our say.
Never let people talk about Christian, Muslim or Jewish children. Or any other religion. You wouldn't talk about an atheist child just because their parents were atheists. Always refer to them as a child of Christian, Muslim or Jewish parents, and complain when other people don't.
Disestablishment. Why should the Church of England be officially our church? It's insulting to Catholics, Jews, Muslims, whatever. And, most importantly, to us. We're the majority, we are.
Faith schools. I think not. And they can damn well stop making the kids pray. Bastards. How many hours of my life did they steal?
I might have added a demand that they make religious education vaguer and less scriptural, but they already have.
I'm feeling much more enthusiastic about politics now it's got computers in it. Do you rmember the bad old days when you couldn't be political wthout getting dressed and leaving the house?
