CBS Sunday Morning,"The challenges facing atheists in the U.S."

[edhopper]

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-challenges-facing-atheists-in-the-u-s/

Interesting story about atheist in South, especially the part on black atheist.

[cbayer]

1. Good piece. I am glad to see more stories like this,

particularly on such main stream shows.

The very negative connotations associated with the word "atheist" are really problematic and the Openly Secular project is taking a really positive approach.

The focus on black atheists and the Duke University minister who talked about doubt being a part of faith were also really excellent.

Bottom line - people can make the world a better place if they work together, regardless of what they do or don't believe.

I lost the video feed for part of it and it looks like it's a problem on their end.

Great job by Moe Rocca. Thanks for posting.

[edhopper]

2. I also thought when I was watching

that it makes sense culturally why NDT does want to use the word atheist. In edition to his other reasons of course.

[cbayer]

3. For those who consider themselves non-believers but not atheist,

I think there can be multiple reasons.

People should be permitted to call themselves what they wish when it comes to belief in god. They should be permitted to decline from explaining it as well.

One might reject the word atheist because of the negative connotations or because it doesn't really describe how they think or feel about things.

I think that in the end this piece makes the case for just letting people be what they are and for working towards the destigmatization of any of the labels when it comes to religious belief or lack of belief.

[edhopper]

4. Yes

And NDT has said part of it is the connotations of the word atheist.

This segment just gave me an insight that perhaps for him, being an African American, those connotations were particularly negative within his community.

This is just me thinking out loud.

[cbayer]

5. I don't think he really said it was the connotation of the word

atheist in particular, but the connotations of labels in general.

I could be wrong, but that's I have read it.

The AA connection may be critical though, and I also hadn't thought of that.

As I said above, I think the Openly Secular project is really on the right track here. By recognizing and addressing the issues around the term itself, particularly when it comes to public perception, and issues relating to certain groups, they have the potential to make some significant headway here.

[edhopper]

6. Hard to say

he said this in reference to the word atheist.

“The moment when someone attaches you to a philosophy or a movement,” says Tyson, “then they assign all the baggage, and all the rest of the philosophy that goes with it, to you. And when you want to have a conversation, they will assert that they already know everything important that there is to know about you because of that association. And that’s not the way to have a conversation.”

Non-believer is a better fit for him.

It's a question though, is it better to push for society to accept "atheist" and not see it in the bad light it is, or to call people who don't believe something less stigmatizing like 'non-believer'?

I would go with whatever gets acceptance sooner.

[cbayer]

7. Exactly, and I see that as a much more general statement.

Non-believer is the word I tend to use the most. I have examined why I don't use atheist and have concluded that the reasons are complex but mostly have to do with not wanting to be that definitive, but there may be a degree of not wanting to be associated with a specific group, particularly in certain places.

I think pushing for the acceptance of atheist and allowing for the use of other terms (secular, agnostic, non-believer) are both important in destigmatizing the whole concept. It's not an either/or thing.

[edhopper]

8. It's funny

there aren't any real derogatory words for an atheist (maybe heathen, but that is a general term)
People just say atheist.

On edit, i think this is worth a thread.

[pinto]

9. Kick.

Good piece.