TurboFool (Neither, really)

I don’t believe in God. That’s no secret. If you’ve read my blog or had a conversation with me on the topic, you’re aware of this. I work hard to be respectful of the people I know and love and their right to believe what they wish, and I avoid arguments with them simply because I like to maintain the relationships I have with them. But that doesn’t keep me quiet everywhere, and that doesn’t stop me from caring.

But why DO I care? After all, if I don’t believe, then what does it matter? Why do I as an atheist, or all atheists, seem to spend so much time talking about something we don’t believe in? Religious people seem to find this concept silly, and on the surface I can see why. I don’t put a title on my lack of belief in fairies, nor do I write blog posts about it, have heated discussions online, join activist groups, attend conferences, or read books about it. And since I respect each individual’s right to those beliefs, what does it matter?

I’ve wanted to answer this question for quite some time, honestly, and get into the nitty-gritty of it. But today, my Twitter friend @natheist favorited a new (well, maybe just new to me, I didn’t check the date) video by the AWESOME @gogreen18 (who is awesome, to clarify, for being brilliant and well-spoken, all while happening to prove the stereotype that gorgeous women can’t be either is complete bull) that just so happens to say everything I wanted to say better, more compactly, and with prettier eyes. Take a look:

That’s it, in a nutshell. That’s why I care, why it all matters. Historically, and currently, religion tends to impact my life and those of the people I love more than most other forces, and it’s my opinion, and that of a consistently growing number of people, that it does so negatively. Now perhaps you’re one of those who believes in a god or spirituality in some more generalized or personal sense, and one who doesn’t buy into this organized religion thing. Then perhaps you’re one of the people who doesn’t directly harm me. But when you believe your holy text overrides my rights as someone who hasn’t bought into it, you impact my life. And that’s when I have to start doing something about it.

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So a few weeks back, one of our local City Council members, Bob Kellar (ex-mayor, if I’m not mistaken), shocked the room by proposing we add “In God We Trust” to the city seal. His feeling was that it’s somehow raised morale in other cities that have done it, and in these trying times, we all need a little more… what, exactly? What is it that a few words on a sign that reference something a large percentage of the population have no belief in is expected to do?

Either way, it was agreed to table it and discuss a vote at a future meeting. That meeting was held last night.

According to SCVTalk.com, that discussing didn’t go quite as was expected. Seems the council felt it completely unnecessary to have the fair citizens of this city vote on the subject. “I strongly believe we are a representative government,” Mayor Frank Ferry said, according to The Signal [warning, link full of incredibly ignorant comments]. “We are elected to represent the people.” And so, with that understanding, they went ahead and made the decision without us.

Apparently these people are unaware that their view of God is not the only one that exists. Not only that, but apparently it never crossed their minds that the people who voted them into office didn’t do so with any remote expectation that they would be representing not only their interests in managing the city, but also their religious affiliation. While I didn’t vote for any of the people who make up the current council, I also didn’t vote for the people I did based on their likelihood to vote against combining church and state. That was never discussed in campaign speeches or mailings. But then again, with comments like “What I don’t want through a city election is for this to become a religious issue; where it’s atheist verse Christian, Atheist verse Catholic or Christian verse Jew” by Mayor Frank Ferry, maybe I give them too much credit. Apparently they were aware we exist, and were aware we would be upset by this. So, as opposed to recognizing it’s a controversial subject and skipping it, or as opposed to allowing us to be adults and have those arguments, they simply made the decision for us to approve one of those viewpoints over all the rest.

I’m unbelievably frustrated, saddened, angered, and disenfranchised by this. I am not the only atheist in this valley, nor are atheists the only people given the finger by this decision. In God I don’t trust, but I was under the impression that I could trust the people who were elected to manage this city to make decisions in the best interest of its people, and their personal freedoms. Deciding their religion needs to be displayed all over our city in an official capacity does not protect those interests.

Santa Clarita is not in the middle of nowhere. We’re not in the bible belt, we’re not a small town with nothing but churchgoers. We’re in Southern California, not that far from the coast, right outside of the big city, and our town’s made up of people who commute to those coast cities. We’re therefore a melting pot of beliefs and opinions. Yes, this city tends to lean right-wing, and therefore religious, but I never had the impression that it was this close-minded and foolish as to forget such a large percentage of its citizens in exchange for what? Simple platitudes on a wall? Something that will make a few religious people smile when it happens, and then forget about it within days, but will stand as a silent, yet blaring reminder to the rest of us that our city thinks we’re irrelevant?

I don’t know what else to say. I’ve never felt this directly persecuted before for not going with the status quo and pretending to believe in something for which I see no reason to believe. I would never, and will never, begrudge these people their beliefs. And I would never decide, if elected, to modify the city seal to represent something that I believe that others do not share. I would, instead, leave well enough alone and choose to keep the city seal the simple, non-denominational, non-controversial seal it was, and leave the personal beliefs to our homes, churches, temples, synagogues, libraries, strip clubs, movie theaters, and wherever else we feel comfortable expressing interest in things others don’t necessarily share.

I don’t know what, if anything, can be done. But if there’s anyone else out there who’s as pissed off as I am who wants to do it, please join me. Let’s make a difference and remind these people that their entire citizenship matters.

EDIT: A friend of mine recommended the following revision to the seal. Seems just as fair:

A hastily-drawn alternative

EDIT 2: Dave Nichols does a great job addressing this issue, and its overall implications, from a much broader level. Check it out here.

As I get more and more involved in the world of skepticism, my skills at smelling bullshit become more finely honed (and boy is there a lot of it). I have a long way to go, but I still find myself picking up on things much faster than I did before, even if I can’t pinpoint what’s wrong, but just feel like there’s something “not right.”

Lately there’s been one word that, more and more, sets off my alarms whenever I see it. When I’m reading an article, or having a conversation, and this word comes up I start analyzing the subject much more closely than I might have before, and I begin to question my own instinctual reactions, opinions, and beliefs about the subject. What’s the word?

“Tradition”

Anybody who knows me personally and knows my politics has to know right off the bat what the most recent example of this for me has been: California’s Prop 8. That’s right, the supposed “re-affirmation of traditional marriage,” which is a friendlier way of saying, “we can’t publically admit to being religiously-motivated bigots, so we’ll pretend this isn’t about keeping you homos from that last piece of equality and recognition as human beings of which you just recently managed to get a tiny taste. (whew)”

And more and more often this word seems to be the excuse for all sorts of intolerance or backward thinking. The so-called “war on Christmas” exists in the minds of Christians who see their holiday being eroded by people and businesses who recognize that, shocker, everyone’s not a Christian, and it might just be a nice thing to include these people in your well-wishing. Suddenly people are forced to confront the awful realization that that one time a year (which is really one of many) that they think is all about their messiah (regardless of what history has to say about the real reasons for the season) is being filtered down to include everyone! Sure, it was already filtered down to a shopping holiday decades ago, after having been filtered from prior celebrations, but that’s irrelevant, because at least the name still had “Christ” in it! So what can they do? Why, they can complain about how people are trying to ruin “tradition,” and be intolerant of them! And who wants to do that?

The word “tradition” seems to strike a chord with people. Most traditions are pretty innocuous, consisting of silly things like family members taking turns setting the table for dinner, playing license plate bingo on road trips, what foods are served at what holidays, etc. These sorts of traditions are fun and harmless, of course, but they also provide stability, and stability provides comfort. The average person generally tries to stay as far-removed from change as possible (some political persuasions more than others), so anything they can do to stave off change is A-OK by them.

Now this isn’t anything new. Doing things the traditional way has existed for ages (duh), and it’s likely hard-wired into our brains. We’re pattern-seeking beasts, and when we find something that we can recognize works, we hold onto it tightly. But it still seems like lately I’m butting up against this word more and more, and it seems less and less harmless every time. Whether it’s traditional marriage, traditional holidays, traditional beliefs, etc., it just seems more and more like an excuse not to include people who don’t follow your way of life, or even to force that way of life upon them regardless of whether they believe it. And for me it’s turning into a bright, flashing bulb of a clue that whatever follows that word may be completely worthless.

Has anyone else had trouble with this, or any other words or concepts lately? Are there any other common signs you use to pick out fruitless, lazy arguments from the genuine ones? I’d love to get some feedback on your own experiences with these types of buzzwords, or anything else that makes a blip on your skeptical radar when it comes to social and societal concepts. Or maybe you disagree with my opinion on this word and feel there’s greater value to it than I’m taking into account. Let me know.