13AR18-46

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Apologia Report 18:46 (1,182)

December 18, 2013

Subject: a new manual for the 'atheist street-corner preacher'

In this issue:

ATHEISM - a guide for evangelistic atheists

HOMOSEXUALITY - how far it's come ... and where it may be headed

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ATHEISM

A Manual for Creating Atheists, by Peter Boghossian [1] -- "Eager to share the good news that there's no god? Here's the book that will teach you how to persuade unsuspecting believers that scientific rationalism is the one true faith. The loose ensemble known as the 'New Atheists' have always had a weirdly evangelical [sic] streak.... Boghossian's book formalizes that missionary streak. The result has all the passion, tact, and nuance of a street-corner preacher.

"Don't believe me? Try to identify which of the following are Billy Graham quotes, and which are taken from A Manual for Creating Atheists:" - the six items listed make the point.

"Boghossian, who teaches philosophy at Portland State University, is upset because so many people view the world through the lens of faith, which he considers 'an unreliable epistemology.' Drawing on the Socratic method, Boghossian develops a set of tools for 'Street Epistemologists,' who, in his vision, will engage complete strangers and undertake 'clinical interventions designed to disabuse them of their faith.' Muscular atheism has arrived; 'left behind is the idealized vision of wimpy, effete philosophers.'

"Boghossian instructs atheists to ask leading questions to guide the believer toward moments of uncertainty. Like Socrates, Street Epistemologists are to understand themselves as inquisitive teachers, not combative lecturers. ...

"Boghossian argues that the faithful should be politically

marginalized and perhaps even considered mentally ill. Wisely, Boghossian advises missionary atheists against attacking God and, in particular, religion. ...

"By his own accounts, Boghossian is a veteran Street Epistemologist. In one scene, he wanders around a church looking for faith-infected victims to cure. ... Boghossian explains that every time he goes to the bank, he looks for a particular teller who 'wears a cross, and every time I see her I go out of my way to wait in her line, and I immediately begin the intervention.' ...

"His book has endorsements from a number of prominent atheists, including [Michael] Shermer, Richard Dawkins, and the University of Chicago biology professor Jerry Coyne. 'Since atheism is truly Good News, it should not be hidden under a bushel,' writes Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation <www.ffrf.org>, in his endorsement of Boghossian's book. ...

"Like other New Atheists, Boghossian's efforts are directed toward convincing religious believers that there are more effective methods than faith for reaching factual absolutes - as if the goal of faith, for all believers, were empirical accuracy. ...

"As far as I can tell, there are only two groups of people who consistently evaluate religious postulates and scientific facts on the same terms: certain members of the fundamentalist fringe, and New Atheists. ...

"Though many religious people accept that faith can't be articulated in scientific terms, many of them, at least when under questioning from a philosophy professor, will try to rationalize their beliefs. Boghossian's proselytizing tactics - which he illustrates in a number of stilted real-life dialogues - work by pressuring believers to translate their beliefs into the language of empirical rationalism, and then pouncing on them when they fail. ...

"As a result, we can see in the writing of Dawkins and Sam Harris, and certainly in A Manual for Creating Atheists, a disdain for the whole idea of a pluralistic society - a disdain, tellingly, that they share with conservative evangelicals. ... It's frightening to imagine a society in which there's only one sanctioned method for evaluating the world. (Theocracy, anyone?) Frustrating as our national discourse can be, the checks-and-balances of a pluralistic society certainly seems preferable to that.

"Movements don't radicalize when they start having crazy ideas. Movements radicalize when their members become unable to have ordinary interactions with people different from themselves. We need strong, persuasive secular voices, who can explain the power and advantages of non-belief, and draw intelligent comparisons between their own ways of seeing the world and the ways of faith. If A Manual for Creating Atheists has any moral, it's that New Atheists run the risk of becoming a reflection of that which they most despise." The Daily Beast, Nov 2 '13, <www.ow.ly/rLOMX>

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HOMOSEXUALITY

A Queer Thing Happened to America: And What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been, by Michael L. Brown [2] -- reviewer Hyesun Ku finds that we are "moving toward a genderless generation, as if a gender distinction is another form of oppression to be rid of, the life-giving institutions of marriage, human civilization, freedom, and conscience are under attack. ... Now, what the gay community has is not a psychological disorder but only a social disqualification. The LGBT movement is not seen as 'part of the sexual revolution of the 60's [rather,] it is seen as part of the Civil Rights movement, thereby being identified as a struggle for equality and justice.'

"So, Brown shows us what is happening right now by exploring several of the dimensions of society, supported by extensive research and meticulous documentation. It is a must-read for anyone who is homosexual or heterosexual. Brown prophetically takes us to the logical conclusion of the current trajectory the human race....

"The words such as 'inclusion and diversity have become part of the stock vocabulary of gay-friendly political correctness.' Under the auspices of ... GLSEN <www.glsen.org>, children at school are learning not to be hateful, bigoted, and intolerant by receiving a lesson on 'cross dressing and non-gender conforming clothing'. School children in Massachusetts were asked to answer Orwellian questions such as: 'What do you think caused your heterosexuality?' 'If you have never slept with anyone of the same sex, how do you know you wouldn't prefer it?' 'Is it possible you merely need a good gay experience?' (And this is for school children? - RP)

"The celebration of bisexuality, the normalization of transgenderism, the recommendation of sex-change surgery, and the ridicule and the denial of ex-gays are not enough, until being gay becomes the new norm.

"Embracing diversity means 'endorsing homosexuality and supporting the goals of the gay and transgender agenda'. Diversity is enforced in the workplace by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and companies that openly support someone who adheres to traditional marriage can be a cause for boycott and economic disadvantage. Companies are being evaluated and rated based on HRC's Corporate Equality Index <www.ow.ly/rTsJi>. ...

"If a worker is perceived as offensive by a LGBT employee, the worker is subject to disciplinary training on diversity awareness. The gay agenda is revolutionizing the way we talk and even the way we think. Embracing diversity and tolerance means 'embracing all kinds of sexual orientation, (homo) sexual expression, and gender identification but rejects every kind of religious or moral conviction that does not embrace these orientations, expressions, and identifications'. 'Gays are virtually exempt from the charge of hate speech - no matter how vile and incendiary the rhetoric - since they are always the (perceived) victims and never the victimizers'. It is a one-sided tolerance and tolerance depends on the person who uses it.

"Homosexuals are offended when homosexuality is mentioned in connection with pedophilia. However, the issue of pedophilia follows the steps of homosexuality: 1) the same arguments such as innateness and involuntariness are raised for pedophilia, 2) the same arguments that were raised to remove homosexuality from the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) <www.ow.ly/rTsXY> in 1973 are being brought up to remove pedophilia from the DSM. ...

"If homosexuals can be accepted based on their claims of innateness, then logically there is nothing to stop inborn pedophiles from having the same rights and freedoms.

"Brown argues that having certain dispositions does not mean that one does not have any choices, and a penchant for certain behaviors does not mean that 'one is locked into acting out those behaviors'.

...

"Brown urges us that it is not too late to turn the tide. Although a queer thing has happened to America, 'there is a way forward (not backward), a better way, a "straighter" way'. We can do this by integrating our Christian truth with our areas of specialty. We can have our voices heard in the areas of our expertise to turn the tide even at the expense of being branded as 'intolerant bigots'. ... Let us not dismiss homosexuality matter-of-factly, rather let us draw ourselves close to our anguished friends whose journeys are often replete with loneliness, angst, and grief." Denver Journal, Jun '13, <www.ow.ly/rLTPu>

Hear the audio of Brown delivering his lecture "The Sexual Utopia: Eschatological Sodom" at this year’s truthXchange Think Tank by visiting <www.ow.ly/rTtg9>.

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - A Manual for Creating Atheists, by Peter Boghossian (Pitchstone, 2013, paperback, 280 pages) <www.ow.ly/rLOif>

2 - A Queer Thing Happened to America: And What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been, by Michael L. Brown (EqualTime, 2011, hardcover, 691 pages) <www.ow.ly/rLTZv>

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