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How atheists can be good allies

A few weeks back I commented on Greta Christina’s excellent article How To Be An Ally With Atheists. Now Greta follows up with another must-read article on how atheists can be good allies. Once again I’ll list her bullet points here, but please go read the full article. Once again I think it all boils down to the Golden Rule. And no, I don’t think the Golden Rule is necessarily a Christian invention. Rather I’d argue that it is the basis for all ethics and perhaps even bound up in the way humans have evolved as a social, cooperative species. But that’s not what this post is about. So without further dissembling, here’s Greta’s seven suggestions for atheists who would ally with others, particularly those who might be believers.

1. Treat other groups the way you want to be treated.
2. Don’t assume that religious believers are stupid — and don’t talk to them or treat them as if they’re stupid.
3. Don’t be quick to assume malice or willful ignorance.
4. If you’re going to talk about religion, tread carefully.
5. Be careful about making analogies.
6. Remember that it’s not always about us.
7. Support other atheists whose methods are different from yours.

I will say one thing about Greta’s point #7. We hear often about this divide between the so-called “new atheists” (sometimes called “militant atheists” or the oxymoron “fundamenatlist atheists”) like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris or PZ Myers and the older, more concilatory style of atheists such as Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould or Harvard Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein. Usually this is in the form of strawmen erected by theists wishing to denigrate outspoken atheists. However, sometimes it’s in the form of infighting by other atheists (sometimes by the very people I’ve mentioned above).

I know I’ve certainly been critical of both sides at times. Let’s face it, when people like Greg Epstein use idiotic terms like “atheist fundamentalists” they deserve to be criticized. I also admit that at times PZ will say things that make me cringe just thinking about the reaction it’ll provoke among theists (although I tend to agree with PZ on most things). However, when it comes down to advancing a cause, such as separation of church and state, we’re all on the same side and I think Greta is right. We need both styles. They speak to different people and we work better together as a whole than separately.

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