Stuff White People Like: Secular Tourists

[rug]

Jan 08 2014
By Sikivu Hutchinson

A thriving brand of secular tourism can now be definitively filed under the category “stuff white people like”: Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta has sponsored a crowd-funding campaign for a white male former pastor named Ryan Bell who—in a bit of brilliant PR stagecraft—“decided to…give atheism a try” for a year. As a result of his “experiment” Bell was fired from two Christian schools. Currently the campaign has far exceeded its $5,000 goal, generating over $16,000 from 700 plus donors in one day. Bell joins a jam-packed, largely white, mostly Christian cottage industry of religious leaders who are capitalizing off of untapped reserves of atheist dollars, adulation and publicity by jumping onto the “maverick ex-pastor” bandwagon.

But the campaign for Bell is just one of the more egregious examples of the backward race/gender/ableist politics of organized atheism. The meteoric rise and fall of ex-pastor Teresa MacBain—who, touting false credentials, scored a high profile job with the Harvard Humanist Center—was another example of privileged white atheist overzealousness and affirmative action. It is highly doubtful that MacBain would have been considered much less hired for this elite post without a thorough vetting of her credentials if she’d been a woman of color. In addition to the automatic privilege and preferential treatment accorded white women (of all class and professional backgrounds), MacBain benefited from the kind of white atheist cronyism that keeps the leadership and management structures of the major non-believer organizations (i.e., American Atheists, American Humanist Association, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Richard Dawkins Foundation, etc.) predominantly white. Time and again, when it comes to hiring and promotion in the elite fields of academia and corporate America in particular, African American job-seekers typically must have more education and experience than white applicants. In studiesconducted by Princeton University researchers, white job seekers with criminal records were slightly more likely to be called back for and/or offered entry-level jobs than African American job seekers with no criminal record. According to lead researcher Devah Pager, “Even whites with criminal records received more favorable treatment (17%) than blacks without criminal records (14%). The rank ordering of (these) groups…is painfully revealing of employer preferences: race continues to play a dominant role in shaping employment opportunities, equal to or greater than the impact of a criminal record.”

As people of color with the highest unemployment, foreclosure and criminalization rates in the nation, we should all be so “blessed” to have atheist fairy god-people swooping in to save us from insolvency, ostracism and career marginalization. As I noted last year in my article “The Trouble With Those Atheists”, “For white folk, centuries of racial apartheid, de facto segregation, and white supremacy in education, housing, employment and the criminal justice system are a source of “invisible” power, privilege, advantage and identity. Nonetheless, many white atheists believe non-believers of color should just be able to roll in any environment, regardless of whether the local research university employs more black service workers than it enrolls black students or whether white families have fled public schools for elite charters and private academies…For example, although many atheists profess a commitment to ‘science and reason’ there are still no atheist STEM initiatives that acknowledge the egregious lack of STEM K-12 and college access for students of color. In their zeal to brand predominantly religious communities as backward, unenlightened and unsophisticated in the exceptionalist ways of Western rationality, atheist organizations are MIA when it comes to discussions about STEM college pipelining, STEM literacy and culturally responsive recruitment and retention of STEM scholars and professionals of color in academia.” While white atheists give jobs, “atheist” pulpits and big bucks to American secular tourists numerous black churches support STEM tutoring, mentoring, college access and scholarship programs to confront the gaping educational divide between white and black America. And because many progressive black and Latino churches and faith organizations work actively to redress the impact of structural racism and segregation closeted atheist pastors of color can’t afford to publicly waltz off from their communities to “experiment” with atheism for a year. Nor can non-believers of color rely on atheist organizations (as Heina Dadabhoy trenchantly observes in her latest piece, citing my efforts for the Women’s Leadership Project) to fully fund/support humanist social justice initiatives developed for working class communities of color outside the segregated neighborhoods that most white atheists—like their white Christian counterparts—live, work and congregate in. By lionizing high profile white “defectors” organized atheism has become a sideshow that is just as demographically and politically clueless as the Tea Party in a multicultural nation with the greatest wealth gap between whites and people of color.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/blackskeptics/2014/01/08/stuff-white-people-like-secular-tourists/

[dimbear]

1. A careful observer may note that atheists have not solved racism in the last few years.

The failure of atheism to be a universal panacea is noted. File it over there with Orgone.

[Fumesucker]

2. Atheists are a smaller and more despised minority than are blacks

Admittedly atheists can "pass" amongst the religious, in fact a lot of us pass among fellow atheists, for instance I've never knowingly met another atheist.

It doesn't seem particularly rational to blame a small and powerless minority for the problems a larger and slightly less powerless minority is having.

Compare the number of black political leaders in the USA with the number of atheist political leaders.

[rug]

3. There's a lot more to her position than that.

http://thefeministwire.com/2011/08/beyond-the-sacrificial-good-woman-black-feminism-and-freethought/

[Fumesucker]

4. I responded to the part that piqued my interest

I think the pastor/minister this post mentions is either an idiot or looking for publicity and I wouldn't rule out both being true.

[cbayer]

8. Where do you get the statistics that "atheists ..are a more despised

minority than blacks"?

I have seen a single study on trust, which showed atheists at the bottom, and another on electability.

But despised? I've yet to see that.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. http://thesaurus.com/browse/despised

[cbayer]

11. Thanks. I know the definition. Was looking for the data.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. It is not unfair to substitute 'least trusted' with 'despised'.

There is considerable overlap between the word and phrase.

[cbayer]

13. If you read the study about who is trusted, it is fairly

complex and nuanced.

And it doesn't speak to anyone being despised at all. It speaks only to the issue of trust.

Which is not surprising, as atheists have been and remain a fairly unknown quantity, which has a lot of bearing on trust.

So it would be unfair to conflate the two, as there is no overlap in this particular case.

[AtheistCrusader]

14. Are you referring to the University of BC/Oregon study, or the ARIS survey?

[cbayer]

15. Why don't you toss me some links, and I will let you know.

[cbayer]

16. Never mind, I looked it up myself.

It's the BC study in which:

The researchers concluded that religious believer’s distrust – rather than dislike or disgust – was the central motivator of prejudice against atheists, adding that these studies offer important clues on how to combat this prejudice.

I can't find an ARIS study that talks about this topic, but would be happy to look at one.

At any rate, the BC findings are often used to distort the actual data, including in this group. The frequently made statements that "atheists are more despised than rapists" (and similar) is generally drawn from a shallow reading of this study or lack of understanding of it.

So, the data to support distrust is there. What do you make of that and how do you think it might be addressed?

[AtheistCrusader]

17. I agree the BC/Oregon study tends to show that it is distrust, rather than disgust.

I say 'tends to' because I cannot know for certain that the responders do not actually believe an atheist to be 'more disgusting' than a rapist. I can't know that. It sounds extreme, but not impossible. I have found that the concept certainly makes people angry. Like, instantly so. But that's not the same emotion as 'disgust'.

One way it might be addressed is movements like Dawkins' 'out' campaign. For us to clearly identify ourselves as atheists. So that people who know us begin to associate atheism with the possibility of moral, normal people.

[cbayer]

18. Well, as you can probably guess, I think that those that proclaim themselves

to be anti-theists are not the best people to address and lead.this issue. When someone has taken the position that what you believe is a disease, ruins everything and needs to be eliminated, it's probably not going to lead to the kind of normalization that is desired.

It's hard to trust a force that has declared you the enemy.


But I do think a campaign that is positive and inclusive would be good. And I think it would help create environments where people were freer to "out" themselves.

It's worked for other marginalized groups and I think it is already working for non-believers.

[Fumesucker]

20. Instantly angry?

Anger isn't the same emotion as distrust either.

[xfundy]

5. "Friendly Atheist" Hemant Mehta is not "white."

Still, atheists have obviously failed at being human, according to this article.

Though I have no doubt it's happened, I've never heard of an atheist molesting a child, and even organized atheists would never protect and hide a child molester, let alone thousands of them, as the church of Rome does.

Funny how that works.

[rug]

6. I doubt that's what this atheist wrote.

[goldent]

7. One thing I find fascinating about American culture

is that these days if you want to disparage a group or individual, you refer to them as white. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Brettongarcia]

9. Republicans have been trying to drive a wedge between white liberals & minorities; like this attempt

Don't fall for it.

Secular people, secular Jews say, were behind much of early liberalism, and minority rights.

[rug]

19. I don't think she's saying that. She's discusssing privilege.

As I noted last year in my article “The Trouble With Those Atheists”, “For white folk, centuries of racial apartheid, de facto segregation, and white supremacy in education, housing, employment and the criminal justice system are a source of “invisible” power, privilege, advantage and identity. Nonetheless, many white atheists believe non-believers of color should just be able to roll in any environment

[Fumesucker]

21. Yes, atheists in America are privileged to have zero political representation

Although I think I heard that there is one American politician who happens to be an atheist, out of the tens of thousands in this country that's close enough to zero as makes no practical difference.

[rug]

22. Male, white, affluent, educated people who are atheist have privileges other atheists do not.

And her observation is that there is faster, more substantial support for those sharing those privileges than those atheists who do not.

Hence the stark difference in the support for this ex-preacher, the "secular tourist", compared to the Women’s Leadership Project.

There are much more fundamental social factors in play than electoral politics.

[Fumesucker]

23. Electoral politics follow fundamental social patterns, that's where they come from ultimately

Male, white, affluent, educated people have privileges other people do not.

That's received wisdom on the DU.

What, you never heard of the 1%?



The cultural "elite" get weird(er) in a decadent society.

[rug]

24. Electoral politics ultimately come from money.

They adopt and discard social constructs as needed.

She's not writing about electoral politics but how demographics play out in atheist activities.

[okasha]

25. Funny how the least

represented population is the poor, regardless of color, location, sexual orientation or stance on religion.

[rug]

28. It's not funny how many self-identifying rational people ignore that.

[Fumesucker]

33. You expect atheists to be less or more human than theists?

Mark 14: 7 For ye have the poor with you always

So it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.

[Fumesucker]

26. I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member

Atheist Activities, you're slaying me here rug. :snicker:

My main Atheist Activity lately seems to be acting as a resting place for remarkably spoiled small dogs, there's one gently snoring in my right ear as I type this.

Oh, and I Atheistically split about a cord of wood today with the log splitter, sweetgum is a pain to split.

[rug]

27. Not to pick on your dogs, but I doubt you have them on your lap because you support their atheism.

Read the article again. That's exactly what it is.

[Fumesucker]

29. Dogs are definitely not atheists, or at least mine aren't

[rug]

30. So much for the default position.

[Fumesucker]

32. Open the Pod Bay doors, Hal

[giftedgirl77]

31. For the win..

[cbayer]

35. This isn't accurate.

There is one declared atheist in congress, but many in other positions throughout the country. Your "tens of thousands" number is way off the mark if you are referring only to congress.

Having said that, I think atheists are either underrepresented in general or not yet comfortable declaring their atheism and would like to see more openly atheist elected officials.

[MellowDem]

34. I don't doubt there are privileged atheists...

Who don't see their privilege, but it's not caused by their atheism.

Expecting atheism to be a full fledged ideology, much less a progressive one, is just wishful and wrong thinking.

These are always the undercurrents of disadvantaged groups. Whether it's homosexuals, women, or atheists, people within those disadvantaged groups will have widely varying other privileges or advantages from other types of groups, and this makes it hard to unify. It also makes competition for prioritizing certain goals.

As an atheist, I try to do what I can to convince others of my progressive ideals in that community, but I do that in all the communities I'm part of, and really, atheism isn't much of a thing to build a community around. It is a lack of belief. Most of the community in atheism comes from the disadvantage and societal fear and hatred of that one thing, not to mention the many shared experiences of being treated terribly by religion and the religious. But, it's not an ideology, belief system, hobby, culture, gender, ethnic group etc. So trying to make an impact in a community built on such a broad and shallow concept isn't really easy. Especially when so many are in the closet, and a good deal more are content with letting religion keep it's privileged status over them.