Why does the atheist movement (meeting in Melbourne next week) look so much like the religious organisations they seek to annihilate.
- promotes only one way to understand and enjoy life
- shows great zeal to deal with the unbelief of non believers
- concerned about the blindness of those who follow other paths
- concerned about the lack of blessedness accompanying false paths
- sees unbelievers as irrational and therefore a threat to rational thought itself.
- Threatens damnation and morbidity (DVD "Root of all Evil")
- Offers salvation through a complete, "wholistic approach"
The advocates of a revival of secularism may be over selling themselves: Evidence of their fanaticsm is interpreted by outsiders as suggestive of a redoubling of effort when one has lost sight of the aim. http://politicaceleste.blogspot.com
Thinking people may be a little more interested in the old cave dwellers ( Plato) IF they:
- had dealt with public fears and lack of interest in science more effectively( where has ABCTV been with the growth of fearmongering and politicization of science over the last decade?)
- played fair on the hustings-not using so much of our taxes to promote their own worldview - ad infinitum ABCTV.
- written some good rousing songs, especially for young people
- had some more practicing scientists at their gatherings (AFA are saying "science and truth are at stake" )
- started some schools other than the ones they have usurped for the preaching of some old pedantic comfort word lessons in misplaced concreteness at their new curriculum schools of mere description.

You get all types, but I can only speak for myself when I say my concern towards religion boils down to:

-Unwelcome input of religious principals into government (abortion, Euthanasia, contraceptives, Tony Abbot in general).
Or for that matter, any policies inspired by theological teachings instead of logic (although this is more of an absence of direct democracy as far as Australia goes in which nobody else gets a say).

-Strangely gigantic concessions given to the Pope and Catholic pilgrims over the rights of Sydney-siders on WYD_08 (although this isn't quite 'religions' fault entirely- although I can't think of any other reason our pollies were so fast to roll out the welcome mat (and kick out the locals)- but still, admittedly also a democratic shortcoming of Australia.

-Taxes and legal concessions given to clerics and churches.

-Fundi Muslims, their hostility to anything unlike themselves and
insistance that we must live under a stone-age theocracy.

Anyway, the "rise" of Atheism tends to boil down to an increasing amount of people who don't believe God, etc are real.
Pretty simple.

more correctly the rise of afictionalism.

I once met a family who had no fiction in the house. No doubt they would have been annoyed by people perpetually telling them they were missing out on star trek, the latest crap on telly, etc. Otherwise grown adults who talk about nothing else.

One would be annoyed at someone who constantly tries to interpret everything through the stained glass of Gene Roddenberry, discounting the views of those who don't and constantly overstating the importance of those who do. Annoying lecturers with "prime directive" as if it held the weight of real law. Using any possible means to subvert the political process.....

The afictionalists might just get sick of public policy based on fictionalist assumptions, and start clubs, having meetings, just to hear about other stuff as well as complain about what a noisy place Kakrafoon had suddenly become.

Rusty

What is the problem if atheists would get organised and have their media as well as believers are organised around their places of worship and their believers’ media? This is free country and everyone has right for free speech. There is space for clubs of interest for everyone. Let's not to pretend that any opinion could be taken as the ultimate true in the universe. That all matter if belief and trust.

Tatiana - I didn't make the point about ABC and the media lightly. State supported secularism.
Any government organisation can be affected by a world view filter and ABCTV is very religious about their's. http://abcchurch.blogspot.com . Note how many ABC's choristers will be at the conference. Yet if they published on line , or out in the real commercial world of ideas - how many people would read their stuff? How often do you learn something new on "current affairs"?. What drives their comedy push, and is it working - why or why not?
Ask George Negus or even Phillip Adams about the worldview there and whether its developed some diversity over the last 20years .

Our forefathers in the media in Australia were passionate about NOT having state support for any religious view - such as it is now - secularism and determinism.
I don't know how old you are, but I am also concerned about the lack of choice offered for young people -are you like them inspired , or just cynical by what you see in others on the TV ( eg Where is the reporting of young people -the old format of woosy RageRage ? ) ? Where was the coverage of Obama and the sort of great diversity that's on SBS. Will ABC 3 report what teenagers are doing and thinking , or just sameold sameold -what presenters want us to move on to , or never move off of .

Hanrahan,

I don't see any example of atheists offering salvation, nor threatening damnation, nor being concerned with anyone's blessedness. Your attempt to draw parallels with major religions is somewhat feeble.

Their only faith is that faith is irrelevant, and that reason is the only help that man can rely on as he paddles his own boat. The reason that the atheists are having a convention is that for so long they have almost had to apologize for not being spiritual.

However, a tax exempt status would be welcome