One of the things I like about being around Atheists and
Humanists is their ability to think for themselves.
Unfortunately, this could lead to our downfall. There is an
often repeated saying that most of us have heard:
Organizing Atheists is like herding cats. Boy, can I tell you
how true that is!
I’ve been involved in the Humanist community for a few
years now and I am still surprised how “cat like” many of
us behave. This shouldn’t surprise me I know, after all
everyone knows this is just the typical atheist behavior. But
I have to stop and ask myself, “is this behavior helping us
and, if not, can we change it?”
This subject comes up for a few reasons, one of those being
that I’ve been trying to organize the Symposium for this
year, but I am just no good at “herding cats”. I hear stories
about how the first symposium nearly didn’t happen
simply because folks couldn’t agree on what to call it. I
know that all seems kind of silly if you think about it. I
thought that was all behind us, but I still get feedback
telling me some people refuse to come because we use the
word “Atheist” and others refuse to come because we use
the word “Humanist”. I tend to agree with the wisdom of
Shakespeare when he said “a rose by any other name
would smell as sweet”.
Putting a symposium together takes a lot of work from a lot
of people. Unfortunately all these “differences” have begun
to take their toll and we are not going to have a Symposium
this year. We simply have not had the involvement of
enough people to pull it off properly. I am hoping that with
a few extra months we can regroup and perhaps be able to
have a Symposium next year.
I have noticed that among the various groups, we seem too
quick to focus on our differences, rather then on our
strengths. I know it’s hard to get cats to work together
towards a common goal — but then again I’ve never been
one to shy away from a challenge! So maybe we should
start by NOT thinking of ourselves as cats.
I like to think of myself as a horse. I’m strong willed, but I
understand the need to be part of a herd. I understand that
we should stick together because there is strength in
numbers. Christians often refer to themselves as sheep in a
flock. They simply huddle together under the leadership of
one person. I am not part of a flock, I am part of a herd — a
number of wild animals that remain together as a group. I
know I can break away from the herd at anytime because I
can come as go as I please. I know I can survive on my own
in the wild, but prefer the companionship and safety of the
herd.
Christians don’t seem to have a problem surrendering their
will to a higher authority, in fact this is the entire tenement
of their religion. It is easy for them to surrender to authority
figures. It is easy for them to blindly support anyone who
asserts authority. It is easy for them to never stop and think
for themselves. This is how people like the Bush
administration can seize power so easily and rally so many
around them. They are succeeding in creating a massive
swarm of people who seem to eager to surrender their will
to the administration’s whims.
Atheists and Humanists are “freethinkers” — we don’t
need a higher authority to tell us how and what we should
think. Yet, at the same time, I wonder if we might take the
idea a step too far, in that by dividing ourselves into so
many separate groups, we are unable to prevent attacks on
our freedoms. I would never suggest we should all think
alike or that we should surrender that freethinking part of
us that makes us what we are, but I do suggest that, at
times, we should stop and consider the greater Atheist/
Humanist community. I would be so bold as to suggest
that sometimes it’s ok to give on the little things when it can
potentially reward us with so many larger things. I believe
we are stronger when we unite together to fight the good
fight.
I would like us to all take to heart the words of Patrick
Henry who said “United we stand, divided we fall. Let us
not split into factions which must destroy that union upon
which our existence hangs.”
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Angela C. Byers
Copyright © 1996 - 2003 Angela C. Byers