“Do I call myself an atheist or agnostic?” asks an unbeliever on the Internet forum Newgrounds who calls himself ouchichi. He chooses neither word, “because they have become religious labels themselves, almost as if atheism is a religion, or agnosticism. Anyone [who] wants to label me because of the way I think can go fuck themselves.”[1]
A lot of unbelievers like ouchichi don’t want any labels. They’re not marching in a political movement or otherwise declaring themselves for one tribe instead of another.
Besides, quite a few atheists pride themselves on having independent minds. Tagging their viewpoint with a specific name feels almost like signing up for a church denomination. As a 17-year-old unbeliever named Matt says, “I don’t really wanna call myself anything or give myself a label. I just wanna live my life.”[2]
No comments:
Post a Comment