Atheists — Page 2

I just read Greg Gaffin's "Anarchy Evolution", in which he espouses his preference for the term Naturalist over Atheist, as Atheist is grounded in negativity. And now I read this article in the NY Times talking about the rift in the Humanist movement, partially due to the disagreement over the same negative connotation inherrent in Atheism (although, the rift seems to have mostly to do with rather cliched inner organizational turmoil.)

In any event, I'm intrigued by the view of Atheism being grounded in negativity because of its focus on 'anti'-something rather than 'pro'-something. Seen in that light, I fall more squarely in the Naturalist movement than the Humanist one, although the distinctions seem to be rather minute.
NY Times article.

toanything - the negativity referred to isn't really about societal reaction, it has to do with a discomfort with the philosophical foundation of being 'without' (a-whatever.) Rather than grounding in tenets based on what you're against (simplistically speaking,) they rather align with what you are for (ie. humanist/naturalist ideology.)

You are correct that there has historically been an argument that you simply can't have a moral foundation without a particular theism, but that seems to be the basis for wanting to focus on a more 'positive' approach (without involving something with the etymological foundation of 'without' or 'against'.)

I agree. The atheists that pitch their tent in front of the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle every weekend really look mistreated. Maybe someone should call Sally Struthers or Laurie Metcalf to do one of those beg-athon commercials. "5 cents day, the price of a cup of coffee, will help save one atheist in New York City."

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