I stumbled on a compelling new blog a few weeks back, and I’m afraid I must insist that you check it out.
Atheist Etiquette is the blog of “an atheist who’s interested in exploring the ways atheists and agnostics can relate to the rest of society without compromising their own integrity, harming the atheist cause (if there is such a thing) or causing unnecessary and inappropriate harm or discomfort to others.”
He continues: “I’ve learned over the years that getting along with people is a good thing to do when you can manage it, and that etiquette isn’t only (or mainly) about doing the ‘proper’ thing, but often about just showing some consideration for the other people who share the world with you….I’m not particularly interested in the ’cause’ of atheism — promoting atheism as a worldview or taking a big stand for atheists getting the rights and respect they deserve. I think it’s good that there are people doing that, but I’m more interested in the questions that affect ordinary, run-of-the-mill atheists and agnostics as they try to navigate life in a world where most people believe in gods and magic, and often assume that everyone else does as well.”
I wouldn’t have the least interest in this blog if it advocated a kind of indiscriminate respect for religious ideas. The narrower and far more interesting straits explored by Atheist Etiquette are revealed in its subtitle: “How to get along with real people and their imaginary friends.” There’s nuance and wisdom in there. It is possible to treat people well even as you withhold respect for, or actively challenge, their ideas. In fact, this blogger seems to fully grasp that it’s desirable – that we stand a far better chance of getting good people to reconsider bad ideas if we separate the people and their inherent worth from those ideas.
Atheist Etiquette isn’t always consistent on that score — but who is? And I’m not even certain he would quite agree with my own way of looking at this, which is fine. The main thing is that he’s hard at work sorting out this important but under-explored topic.
A few favorite posts to get you started:
Etiquette Rules #1-5 (starts here)
To bow (your head) or not to bow?
“I’ll pray for you”
Third-party insults
Being polite vs. being respectful
No RSS feed?! He’s gonna have a heck of a time getting a following without one!
Comment: BrianE – 15. September 2009 @ 12:03 pm
Indeed it is difficult to be consistent on any virtue. But I do love that people think about this. I think we often choose methods of engagement based more on our temperaments than on any well thought-out philosophy. I also feel each different type of voice serves a purpose. Ironically, criticizing each other’s voices also perhaps serves us in the long run !
Comment: Sabio Lantz – 15. September 2009 @ 8:10 pm
BrianE — There’s a feed here > http://atheistetiquette.wordpress.com/feed/
Comment: AmyS – 15. September 2009 @ 11:27 pm
Kool… and he’s using the same wordpress template as I am…
http://raisinghellions.wordpress.com/
Comment: blotzphoto – 16. September 2009 @ 7:43 am
Of course then I decided to change it…
Comment: blotzphoto – 16. September 2009 @ 10:11 am
Hi Dale, I’ve been following your site for a while now (about a couple months) and I really enjoy it. I’ve been toying with atheism for a bit, and it’s great to read about it from a very sensible pov. I also love the stories about your kids–it’s cool to see how you can raise children to think for themselves. I loved the link on this post. Thank you for your blog!
Comment: smartlyprettylacey – 17. September 2009 @ 1:27 pm
Aw, that keeps me going, thanks SPL! (And don’t toy with that atheism or you’ll put your eye out.)
Comment: Dale – 17. September 2009 @ 1:38 pm