Neil deGrasse Tyson continues to deny he’s an atheist despite also saying he does not believe in the existence of a deity.

This may sound like mere semantics, but it’s not an innocent position and its actually harmful to the atheist community. I’ll explain why.

His reasoning is that he doesn’t agree with some Atheists, therefore, he must not be an Atheist. He is referring to the actions by prominent atheists like Dawkins and Harris. The actions which include debating the religious, deriding the religious or choosing not to use words with religious origin. That is literally NDT’s stated reason for rejecting the word atheist.

Here’s why that’s harmful to our community: it reinforces negative stereotypes of our community. He’s essentially saying that you can’t be an Atheist if you disagree with an Atheist; which also means all atheists agree with the actions of another.

It’s like saying you’re not a feminist because a popular feminist tried to deplatform someone at a University. If you believe in the equality of the sexes, you’re a feminist; that’s it. Sharing an ideology with someone doesn’t mean you support their every action. It’s also like saying I’m not a vegetarian, because Hitler was a vegetarian.

Disagreement within a community of like minded individuals is healthy for the community to grow. That’s not the problem here. The problem is someone with massive influence, who is viewed as an atheist (because by definition, he is), is not using his position to educate in this regard. Instead, he’s defining the entire atheist community by the actions of a few, and rejecting it. Essentially strawmanning atheists and shitting on it.