Our movement appears to have a public relations problem!
ATHEIST--Based on a negative. Some associate it with devil worship & such. Victim of demonetization by organized religion.
AGNOSTIC--Appears wishy-washy & indecisive. Has questions but not the easy answers people want.
SKEPTIC--Appears anarchic to many people. People are afraid of something that questions the status quo
FREETHINKER-- Again appears anarchic & a threat to people's sense of security
HUMANIST--Squishy soft & vague. Sounds non threatening & nice, although some may confuse it with socialism.
I think we should choose HUMANIST for our branding. How about you?
I like the term Secular Humanist.
"Secular humanism is a philosophy or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making."
So do I. For me, Secular Humanism seems the way to go--positive & relatively non threatening
I don't care about that. If it's what people perceive, tough cookie. Let them think what they want, right or wrong.
Branding appears to be what religious people do. I would rather not be branded thank you. I'm fine with live and let live. Don't try to force your beliefs on me and I won't try to force my lack of belief on you. Seems pretty simple but religious people feel this need to convert the world
They don't "feel the need". They are directed in their doctrine..."go out and teach all nations"...
How about the avoidance of labels in branding. Try: "A place for the sharing of questions, stimulating ideas, civil debate, for poignant perceptions, sharing of problems and concerns, civil debate of issues, and friendship. For a few, possible romantic connections."
It's an educational problem. They have mis-understandings.
I tend to use words like: evidence-based. Skeptical rather than gullible.
The public has many misunderstandings about our movement. Unfortunately many of us are too busy navel gazing to address them
@Remiforce I agree with you. There are some atheists who want to put an end to faith-based delusional thinking in the world, especially when the delusional's policies and laws affect atheists. That is the founding of the atheist movement to promote evidence-based, rational thinking. Those who aren't on-board, go back to sleep.
That would sound nice, but what happens if evolution takes a turn for increased "human" capabilities and people evolve into homo superduperious?
Understand, this generation is stuck with its Gene's, it would work as a brand for current generation but the next generation, homo superduperious, could be of those next advanced genetics like those that seperate homo sapiens from Homo erectus.
"...at the end if the day I'd rather not be any category at all." Neil deGrasse Tyson.
For more from his view point of labels here is video.
I can certainly see the appeal of believing in an authoritative Deity; people are absolved from responsibility. When negative things happen, it isn't because of human laziness or ignorance, but because god was teaching us a lesson. He has a plan, we just have to submit to authority, keep our behavior inside acceptable lines, don't criticize authority, do good deeds, and all our needs will be met.
It's so much easier than facing our flaws and changing behavior for the better.
Well stated.
I like to tell people I am free from religion, rather than put one of those labels on myself, although if it gets more personal then I will admit to being atheist.
i don't need a brand. i'm not a member of a religion called atheism. i'm just a person who believes there are no gods. there is a word for that: a theist. it's not a club, a brotherhood, a sisterhood or a church. if it had or was a brand, i'd probably look for something else to call myself.
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But without a brand, how can we effectively market our beliefs, or non beliefs, or whatever they are. Are we going to let the religionists out proseletize us & take our market share
@Remiforce why do we have to market our beliefs or nonbeliefs? don't we hate it when belioevers do that? they do it so we should do it too? isn't that kind of an eight-year-old's view of the world? wouldn't our mother's respond "if johnny jumps off a cliff, are you going to jump off a cliff too?"
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i’m an agnostic atheist. i don’t use humanism because my morality isn’t human-centric. we’re no more important than any other animal.
edit: also in case you didn’t know, and because you’re so worried about atheists being “associated with devil worship,” a lot of people say that humanists worship humans as god. no one has perfect “branding.”
Human Centric feels to me ripped from Peter Singer, nice turn of phrase.
@Davesnothere i hadn’t heard of him, but a google search showed a book called animal liberation so i’m into it lol
@basher He is the philosopher who coined the notion of interspecies prejudace.
We save you money.....you don't have to put money in the basket.
I have a concern many in the Agnostic, Atheist, Skeptic , Freethinker & Humanist community resist seeing themselves as part of a movement. Certainly there are core principles we can all agree on. We shouldn't let superficial differences scatter us & dilute our strength.
The religionists have been able to dominate our narrative without effective branding on our part., We have been marginalized because we haven't taken control of our own public perception. Too many in our community don't want to be "labeled", but if we don't project a unified & understandable image, the religionists will label us negatively.
Certainly there are differences among us. It is part of our brand to be free inquirers, but we need to focus on our Unity & take control of our image.
We won't have real clout until the politicians start being concerned about how the Humanist Vote is going in Ohio.
I agree totally with this . Certainly we will not get anywhere if we adopt the failings of religion like forming splinter groups.
In my church days I heard many sermons against "humanists." This is because they want you to "let go and let god." It's all the same old bullshit regardless of names and branding.
The people deeply committed to a religion are a lost cause, but how about all those others
That's a great question! In the US the Christians have been so successful at branding atheists as immoral because they don't have logic, evidence or morals on their side, so demonizing us is their only weapon. Regardless, many in the US thinks we're akin to Satanists even though the word just means "without god." They don't stop to think that this ideology means we don't believe in Satan either.
What I do is on my Twitter account is post good ways to help animals, the environment, the homeless and veterans (my pet causes) along with a hash tag that's trending, like # MondayMotivation.
I also try to give credit to a Pastor on TV if it's due, not in terms of their arguments but in terms of them seeming like a nice person.
And the Foundation Beyond Belief is a great atheist charity that has 5 stars, so you could always promote that on social media. They're out there for disasters, etc.
Good for you. You sound like you're doing nice things
Nah, that marginalizes the AIs and the aliens. Not to mention the alien AIs. Let not even mention the uplifted animals species.
We could go all classical and try "veritaphile" or " truthlover" or "veritaquaesitor" or truth seeker"
But I prefer simple clear unambiguous language describing what I'm actually trying to be.
I like "notanidiot" or "notstupid" or "nob-delusional", if you prefer a positive spin I'm "pro-truth" "pro-logic"...hey thats a brand...
I believe "notanidiot" perfectly captures exactly what I'm trying to be when not accepting any form of theism or other junk beliefs.
All hail the No-Tan Idiots!
The NRA has been trying to do that for years and most intelligent people can tell it is phony...
But the NRA raises large sums of money it uses to bribe politicians to keep the tools of death flowing into the wrong hands. They don't care how phony it is
Branding non believers is equivalent to herding cats.
The problem is what atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and to a certain extent freethinkers "believe" in is defined by a negative. I think it is important to define what we do believe in. Humanism may be a vehicle for that
That's right. If you're not an agnostic or atheist in New York, people wonder what's wrong with you
@Remiforce - LOL, that's right. While there are large populations of various Abrahamic persuasions here in NYC, there is a more "live and let live" attitude here. Naturally, there are exceptions, but most of the time I can wander about the place and not worry about being witnessed at.
It happens, but (hilariously enough) it's typically the "fringe" that try to get converts - the Moonies, the Krishnas, the Urantians, the Falun Gong...
We even have "buddhist" monks who dress in the robes, wander around and try to press a medallion or some sort of trinket in your hand, then demand that you give them money for it. Clearly a scam, but tourists fall for it all the time.