Atheists and activism

[PoetPhilosopher]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

My activism is a manifestation of my ethics. I'll gladly stand with anyone who shares them.

 

[Mock Turtle]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

Not an activist apart from expressing my views, and as such, I'll oppose whatever I see as harmful from wherever they come from - religions, culture, poor thinking, or for any other reason.

 

[Meow Mix]

My activism is a manifestation of my ethics. I'll gladly stand with anyone who shares them.

This. I’ve been different levels of active in local secular activists groups (some political, some charity, some both) as time has allowed. We were not shy about teaming up with religious orgs and houses of worship to feed and clothe people or to come together on political activism.

 

[Meow Mix]

To more directly answer the question, I don’t think in my time in these groups that we’ve directly butted heads with Hindus or Wiccans.

We had problems with some churches that we distributed food for because they wanted to be coercive to the people receiving the food and we just wanted hungry people to eat.

So maybe it would have been different if we were using help from a Hindu group’s kitchens or something.

 

[viole]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

I am pro-choice, in favour of marriage for everyone, but against face covering, minarets, and Halal/Kosher slaughtering. So, I voted accordingly in the two countries I am citizen of. But I did that not as an opposition to Christianity, or Islam. That was just incidental. It is perfectly possible that I would vote for something, Christians also agree to.

And if the Hindus would try to impose, say, a caste system in Sweden/Switzerland, I would vote against that, too.

Ciao

- viole

 

[Altfish]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

I help Humanism UK campaign against religious schools. In the UK it is mainly CofE and Catholic schools that are state funded but I disagree with all religious schools. There are many 'underground' schools particularly Muslim and Jewish.

Isn't Hindu Atheist an oxymoron?

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Isn't Hindu Atheist an oxymoron?

Then at least one knowledgeable and respected member here is an oxymoron.

I won't explain the Hindu atheist mindset since I'm not an atheist who is Hindu, but some see Hinduism as a culture rather than a religion. Still, others see it as a religion.

 

[Justanatheist]

I do not really care what religion someone is, it is the ideas I protest, if Hindus were still carrying out suttee I would be protesting it, I kind of hope you would to.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I do not really care what religion someone is, it is the ideas I protest, if Hindus were still carrying out suttee I would be protesting it, I kind of hope you would to.

Yes, I'd be against it, can't think of a time when I would have supported it. I'm trying to be a bit more reasonable these days, even if it's a slow path forward.

 

[AlexanderG]

I focus my activism to reduce the harm and suffering of human beings. Does a progressive Christian cause some amount of harm by believing in superstitious feelings of love and tolerance without evidence? Yes but it's incredibly minor, and it's causing them to do good for humanity, even if it's for irrational reasons. That's still fine, especially when compared to conservative Christians pushing anti-choice laws, gay conversion therapy, purity culture, white supremacy, anti-mask mandates, etc.

I'll focus my attention on ameliorating the worst harms. Only when those are dealt with would I move on to lesser harms, and I don't see the greatest harms being solved in my lifetime.

My focus is on the US since I live here, where I think irrational gratuitous harm is mainly caused by conservative Christians, at least on a religious level. I don't know enough about Wicca or Hinduism, although it does seem like the caste system is terribly harmful in parts of India.

 

[Altfish]

Then at least one knowledgeable and respected member here is an oxymoron.

I won't explain the Hindu atheist mindset since I'm not an atheist who is Hindu, but some see Hinduism as a culture rather than a religion. Still, others see it as a religion.

OK, I know some Jewish non-believers, so i can relate to that

 

[icehorse]

It's heartening in this thread to see how many people are values-driven. Given that, perhaps the OP is more about whether the Abrahamic religions "tend" to be more or less aligned with our values than other religions. I have an intuition that the Abrahamic religions are a bit LESS aligned. But of course any given system will have its strengths and its weaknesses.

 

[SomeRandom]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

I feel like it’s important to note that the dichotomy of atheism and theism isn’t actually a 1 to 1 translation among Hindus or Dharmic religions. One can be an Atheist and still attend religious ritual without there being an inherent conflict. The conservatives might pitch a fit, but at its base Hinduism and Buddhism and I suspect Jainism doesn’t care about theistic affiliation. So why would there be conflict between western atheists and Hindus? As long as both are in good faith agreement over their shared goals. To feed the hungry is noble, regardless of religious identification. So who cares?
I can’t comment on Wicca. But from my limited understanding I feel like they would be in sort of the same boat. Since helping the needy would outweigh any petty arguments. Wiccans are pretty chill nice people, in my experience anyway.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

To the extent that I'm an activist, I'm mostly focused on anti-secularism. Anti-secularism tends to hurt minority religions as much as it hurts the non-religious.

At least here in Canada, the vast majority of infringements on secularism come from Christians specifically and not from any other group. I mean, the only government-funded religious schools here are Christian... mostly Catholic, but Protestant in a few isolated cases.

I don't fund Hindu or Wicca schools with my taxes, Hindus and Wiccans aren't picketing in front of abortion clinics, etc. For the most part, minority religions are on the same side as me.

The only real exceptions I can think of:

• Small religious groups that engage in abuse, like Lev Tahor
• Small religious groups that engage in behaviour that harms society at large, like the local Mennonite groups here who have been ignoring public health restrictions during the pandemic (note: I recognize that Mennonites are Christian, but they aren't exactly part of the Christian establishment in this country)

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

I am against the ideas of anyone who wants to make a claim "from the hip" that something they believe in actively affects my life, but without even the least consideration to having or providing evidence for that claim. That is what I am against. It just so happens that religious people tend to be some of the very worst perpetrators of this ridiculousness.

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

I don't have an "opposition" per se. I am on the side of reality, and what can be demonstrated to most closely adhere to that. If someone is opposed to that, then I am opposed to their ideas that break from that. Otherwise, they are not my "opposition" in any intrinsic way.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

To the extent that I'm an activist, I'm mostly focused on anti-secularism. Anti-secularism tends to hurt minority religions as much as it hurts the non-religious.

At least here in Canada, the vast majority of infringements on secularism come from Christians specifically and not from any other group. I mean, the only government-funded religious schools here are Christian... mostly Catholic, but Protestant in a few isolated cases.

I don't fund Hindu or Wicca schools with my taxes, Hindus and Wiccans aren't picketing in front of abortion clinics, etc. For the most part, minority religions are on the same side as me.

The only real exceptions I can think of:

• Small religious groups that engage in abuse, like Lev Tahor
• Small religious groups that engage in behaviour that harms society at large, like the local Mennonite groups here who have been ignoring public health restrictions during the pandemic (note: I recognize that Mennonites are Christian, but they aren't exactly part of the Christian establishment in this country)

Fair point.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

I'm indifferent to the theology of abrahamics, hindus, pagans, and so forth. Since I don't believe in deities it's hard for me to really understand how deities talk and give edicts, or what incarnations mean, and the variation of ways pagans view deities that makes it hard for an atheist to determine if they believe in "their" gods or not. So, I'm pretty much neutral in regards to activism about theology.

I'm not really in a place, time, and energy to be an activist against religious laws that affect the country and people, children, teenagers, and so forth. If I could, I would.

 

[VoidCat]

Isn't Hindu Atheist an oxymoron?

Ask @Aupmanyav

 

[Samael_Khan]

For atheists who feel they participate in some form of activism that happens to be a cause against the ideas of some religious people.... do you feel that your problems only span fundamentalist Abrahamics and their ideas and/or the far right, or do they tend to extend to Hindus, people in Wicca, etc, etc, etc?

And if you answer "yes" to the opposition spanning groups like Hindus, do you consider Hindu atheists your allies - or part of the opposition?

My activism is against indoctrination, which addresses issues far beyond religion and which religion is merely a product of. I even criticize other atheists.