I won't be surprised if I learn that PZ Myers has written a scathing critique of Neil deGrasse Tyson's comments in the following video:
[via Big Think]
I don't read Myers' blog anymore, and I don't really care to start up again now, so unless someone tells me or shares it via Facebook or the blogosphere, I won't know about it. Naturally, I mention PZ because of the hoo-ha he started a while back within the atheist community over his definition of an atheist nonsense. I can sympathize with Neil Tyson's perspective, because my own thoughts are rather similar. Yes, reaching the point in which I was ready and able, both mentally and emotionally, to accept the fact that I am an atheist was a long, hard road. Yes, I am better off for having taken such a journey. And yes, I am an atheist - like Neil deGrasse Tyson - insofar as my worldview lacks belief in god(s). That's the definition of atheism. What I appreciate about Tyson's comments in this video is his emphasis on atheist as a cultural label, which is much different than just the dictionary definition. Here I can understand somewhat the point PZ Myers tried to communicate. No one who willingly bears the "atheist" label stays in the "lack of belief in god(s)" camp. Every "card-carrying" atheist I've met has constructed a cosmological and sociological worldview and lives one's life accordingly; furthermore, "atheist" as a cultural label indicates membership or association in a subculture of people who attend "Reason Rallys" and argue about women in elevators and uphold science and accept evolution and make fun of William Lane Craig. I'm not saying any of these are bad things, just cultural indicators.
Tyson isn't comfortable wearing the "atheist" label. Honestly, I don't blame him. In spite of my long, hard road to atheism, I still don't feel comfortable with the label. I much prefer "freethinker" or "philosopher," just as NDT prefers the term "scientist," because - and for the same reason as Tyson - such labels communicate that which is truly important to me. Lack of belief in god(s) isn't the important thing. My atheism isn't a dogma, but rather the current conclusion to which I have arrived based on the stuff that's actually important, like utilizing logic and reason, critical thinking, and evaluating the evidence. I don't really care whether someone is an atheist or not, or whether someone wants to use a label. We should be suspicious of labels. I don't care what people think nearly as much as why they think it.
— Dead-Logic
