The 'source of morality' thread..

[onager]

7. Thanks! I sort of suspected that...

...from his quotes about his own atheism in the article I linked.

I see that attitude a lot from non-American atheists when I roam the Internet. Especially Europeans like de Waal:

"What's the big deal? What are you 'merikin atheists so upset about? Religion is virtually dead in Europe these days. And you have separation of church and state written right into your Constitution."

"Yes we do. We also have a passle of well-funded asshats who are trying to change that every day. So MAYBE THAT'S WHY WE'RE SO TOUCHY ABOUT THIS STUFF."

(Sample dialogue only, didn't really happen in exactly those words. For any lurking pedants and hair-splitters from That Other Group.)

Long as I'm here...I get similar arguments from a Republican atheist I work with. He gets really irked with FFRF and AA trying to change the Pledge of Allegiance or remove "In Cthulthu We Trust" from the money:

"What's the big deal? It's been there 50/100/n years and we're not a theocracy yet."

"Because it should never have been there in the first place. THAT'S the big deal."

I have to admit, I get nowhere in these kind of arguments. Except frustrated.

In my blackest moments, I imagine myself someday hearing: "What's the big deal? It's only a short train ride, to a nice camp where all of us non-believers will be together..."

Just kidding. Sort of.