TurboFool (Neither, really)

In this day and age there’s a definite feeling among atheists that we’re on the shit list. We rank below the “terror” that is the Muslims (no pun intended), we’re barred from public office in several states, and considered sub-human by well-spoken members of the clergy. Most atheists are afraid to admit their lack of belief, and will do whatever they can to avoid the subject. Some go so far as to fake belief in order to avoid detection.

I typically find a middle ground between this and the heavily outspoken atheists that are finally making us known. I rarely directly bring up the subject (except online), especially as there’s rarely a point, but I also don’t avoid it. If someone asks me my religion, I’ll readily state that I have none, and am an atheist. But that doesn’t mean I don’t dread the moment, wondering what reaction I’ll get.

Now I’ll admit that in Southern California it’s really not that hard for me as it would be elsewhere. I can’t really think of any moments where I’ve been directly, recognizably persecuted for my lack of belief, or treated especially poorly. That said, outside of my circle of friends, it does generally bring up challenges. I’ve had people tell me it takes as much faith to be an atheist as a Christian. I’ve had people start questioning me on where love comes from. I’ve had people try to prove the divinity of the Bible. I’ve had people in a conversational, accepting, friendly tone let me know that they accept that I’m an atheist, but feel bad for me that I’ll be burning for eternity in Hell. The point is, it’s very uncommon that it’s mentioned and doesn’t lead to someone trying to save me, or point out that I’m wrong, and that’s never comfortable.

Yesterday, though, I was at a client’s office, assisting with the phone support for their email host. I spelled out my name to the support technician, and heard the owner of the company joke to her associate, “ooh, a nice Jewish boy!” I chuckled slightly at this since yes, my surname and background back up this assumption, and I’ve heard it before. I’ve also had the least problem with Jews as while I disagree with their religion no less than any of the rest, they tend to be some of the most likable and least judgmental towards others of any religious group that I’ve dealt with.

Anyway, her associate chided back that she had no way of knowing I was a Jew. The owner pointed out my last name. The smirk on my face was growing by the second. Her associate parried back that just because I had a Jewish last name didn’t prove my religion. Maybe I was Catholic. “Heck, I bet he’s an atheist. I’m sure of it.” I could barely keep from laughing on the phone at this point as I finished up the call.

Once I hung up, the owner asked me if I was Jewish. I laughed, gestured to her associate, and said, “nope, she wins,” with a chuckle as I got back to work. Her associate cheered over her successful guess, we chatted for a few moments about my family history, explaining the blood connections and roots of the name while I worked, and nothing else was said. It was friendly, open, non-confrontational, and felt nice.

Why can’t we have this more? Why do people like us have to live in dread of these conversations going the other way? Why can’t all of us be this tolerant of others and their idiosyncrasies? I think people’s religious beliefs are completely wrong, but I’m respectful enough to begrudge them their right to them and not treat them poorly over them. And likewise I’m sure many of my friends and coworkers who accept me believe I’m nuts for not accepting Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior, or whatever their religion dictates. But the people I choose to surround myself with are respectful enough to recognize and accept that difference. Heck, one of my best friends from my old job, and one of the most intelligent people I know, is an extremely hardcore Christian, but I only learned this from his MySpace page. Hasn’t changed the way I interact with him one bit, and considering how open I am about what I believe, I can only assume he’s aware of me. Yet neither of us has ever discussed the topic, and I hope to keep it that way. I respect him too much to get into a religious argument that could damage a friendship. And don’t get me started with the most important person in my life, the woman I’ve chosen to spend the rest of my life with. We even take the risk and have the conversations, but we still work hard to respect each other’s differences and grow our perspectives off them, and it’s fantastic.

My point is that there’s plenty of room for this in the world, but there seems to be so very little of it. Right now Christians claim there’s a war on their religion from the secularists. But what they don’t seem to realize is that they started it. Their lack of respect for beliefs no more crazy than their own, and their push to either convert us or make us live by their laws has forced our hand. We’re not at war with them, but we’re also not going to be stepped on by their bigotry, prejudice, and disrespect any longer. We’re here, we live alongside them, we’re just as valuable to society, and we’re HAPPY to work together with them to make our towns, cities, states, and countries a wonderful place for us all. There is a middle ground, and most on our side are merely striving to reach even that. Right now we’re barely pushing back from the edge. But we’re gaining. Mingle with us in the center, like so many of the wonderful people I’ve managed to associate with, and everything will be just fine. Those that don’t will likely eventually find themselves on that very same edge.

When I stumble upon things like this on the internet, I can’t help but continually wonder why we have television shows like America’s Got Talent, which are simply littered with people who clearly have NO talent in comparison to people like this. These kids are amazing. Where’s the TV show that scours the ‘net for people like this and gives them the credit they deserve? Why do we perpetually reward talentless hacks on television (and the radio, and, and nearly everywhere else) when there are people who truly deserve to be heralded out there?The whole thing leads me back to the realization that in a very real way, television’s days are numbered. No, I’m not saying TVs are going away, or that networks are in any immediate danger. But the internet is absorbing more and more of the average person’s entertainment time, and for now, at least, the democracy that social sites, voting, digging, stumbling, and so on has created on the ‘net makes it easier and easier for us to find the truly GOOD content as opposed to wading through the garbage the networks think we want. And for some people, that’s more enticing than the TV craps shoot.

The internet also further fragments the entertainment into smaller, more niche markets that fit specific interests better than the everything-to-everyone approach network television constantly tries and fails with. It also gives us more freedom to enjoy uncensored, unedited, material that connects with our interests that the average network would be afraid to or barred from airing due to nudity, sexuality, coarse language, or strong political stances. This is both a plus and a minus, though, as it also makes it harder to make truly good money off of it, since a smaller slice of the market will be interested in it, and therefore production values are forced to be much lower, and advertisers may stay away completely from supporting some entertainment that pushes the limits of what they feel their main customer base could handle.

It also runs a noticeable risks of dividing us EVEN MORE. Watered-down, politically-correct, corporate/FCC-controlled television is almost inarguably damaging to culture, but is a world of entertainment divided into niche groups in which people can say safely tucked away from anything that doesn’t interest them really foster any personal growth or respect for others? I know since picking my topics on StumbleUpon my knowledge of atheism has increased drastically, while simultaneously my exposure to religion has dropped off quite a bit. Does the fact that I think I chose the right side mean it’s really okay for me to lose that connection to what the rest of the world is thinking?

In the end, I don’t see us replacing our hour-long dramas, or even our half-hour sit-coms with internet equivalents, but the internet is becoming tighter and tighter competition, and is providing us with forms of entertainment people could barely dream of before. And how long before the networks DO shift to seeing this as a much heavier source of revenue? As it is, most television shows are available for download via iTunes (yeech) or other less restrictive services, and now even for free in many cases on the network’s web site. If done right, might we eventually see the networks using this as more and more of a primary revenue stream for these shows, as standard television slowly becomes the secondary target for the outdated, technophobic generations?

I think one thing that’s going to be absolutely necessary to this transition is better integration of television and internet for the typical user. Yes, HTPCs (home theater PCs) are slowly penetrating the market and let you use your computer on your television with relative ease, but they’re still far too intimidating to the mass market, who like to sit down in front of a television that doesn’t crash, doesn’t slow down, doesn’t require use of a mouse or multiple programs to do one thing. But the current efforts like AppleTV or even the Xbox 360 have a way to go before you can pull it all off. Services like Orb are getting closer, making all of your media as well as many Flash video sites available from nearly anywhere, including game consoles. But we need to reach the point where we can, with ease, access any of these internet video services from any television with the simplicity people are used to getting from normal television, while simultaneously gaining all of the benefits of network television on the computer.

Anyone else want to weigh in on this? Is television in danger? Are we on our way to a world where the internet and TV are interchangeable? Is the whole entertainment industry behind the times and at risk of being overshot by forms of entertainment they never saw coming? Is the freedom and democracy of the internet about to be ruined as the big corporations take notice and overrun it the same way they did television and radio? Will the average joe be able to soon feel comfortable accessing their entertainment from anywhere in ways only us geeks previously could? Where are we going? What is that strange mark on my hand?