I had an interesting conversation this morning and hit upon a minor realization. The atheism movement is changing. I know, I know, that’s kind of a DUH moment. But really, it is. There’s a generational shift happening, and what brought me to this realization was looking with some frankness at who my “heroes of atheism” really are at the moment. It is no longer the big bigger biggest names that inspire me to want to stand up, speak up, speak out, come out, and be out. The works of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Dan Barker, etc. will probably always hold an important place, at least they will in my intellectual history. But now, it is people like JT Eberhard, Greta Christina, Christina Stephens, Amanda Marcotte, Maryam Namazie, Jessica Ahlquist, Hemant Mehta, Beth Presswood & the rest of the women of Godless Bitches, Matt Dillahunty and the rest of the Atheist Community of Austin, the Ask an Atheist folks, Jen McCreight, Jerry DeWitt, Rich Lyons, Deanna Joy Lyons, the folks at Reasonable Doubts, David Smalley (or, the dude that does Dogma Debate), and the list really does go on. The big shots have had their sort of moment. It’s over. Now the broader community is taking over. And they are awesomesauce. They make me excited to be a part of this community right here and right now.
Even more than any of those individual contributors to the new newer newest atheism, it’s the people that are most clearly and closely around me. They are real, they are blooded members of this community, they shake my hand and smile when they see me (my insecurities notwithstanding, but that’s a whole different thing), they ask me to do things, they do things, they like to talk about EVERYTHING. I love them. They make me glad that I am a human among them.
On an entirely different note, job searching fucking suuuuucks. <sigh>
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