The Cause of Vocal Atheism

In an article about local atheists in The Argus (Increasingly, atheists are coming out of the closet), the article states:

Atheists say this sprouting visibility is partly a response to the country's growing religiosity — especially under President Bush.

This is one atheist that does not share that theory. In fact, I think it is mistaken.

If not for the harm that is being done in the name of God, I do not think that atheists would concern themselves with the matter of religion at all. If it remained a substantially peaceful and private pasttime, like taking mega-vitamins or wearing good luck charms, atheists would substantially ignore the practice as they went about the business of living their lives.

However, when one looks at religiosity in this country and the world, one sees great harm being done - people being killed or denied medical care, women who are denied an education, cures for diseases going unresearched, qualified individuals kept out of public office, poverty and diseases spreading, and a growing ignorance of the way the real world works, because of adherance to myth and superstition.

People are dying, and those who do not die are still being made to suffer, because of actions taken by those who claim to be serving a "higher power".

What it means to identify the 'cause' of something is to identify a property that can be linked to a change. If it is possible for religiosity to shift without a vocal rise in atheism, then religiosity is not the cause. And, I would assert, this is the case. It is not the rise in religiosity that is the issue. It is a rise in an awareness of real-world harms being inflicted on real-world people that is the cause of this increased vocalization.

And this is how it should be.

I think that it is important to get this simple truth out to the public as loudly as possible. Attributing the rise in atheism to increased religiosity gives atheists an appearance of being overly concerned with trivial and unimportant matters. Attributing the rise in atheism to its true cause - a rise in the awareness of real-world death and suffering supported by beliefs in myth and superstition - accurately explains its importance.