Well, my brother unceremoniously announced he's quitting blogging. He's been pretty frustrated lately about what he was trying to do, and didn't want to be someone who just recycled what he saw online.So, I think I should pretty much review my intentions over here:
1) Support First Amendment rights: I make a stand for separation of church and state, freedom of speech, and all that good stuff. The two are vital for the advancement of science, and our ability to improve ourselves. That was one of my reasons for going to the rally: To oppose some of the nasty laws passed in Texas, intended to tear down the wall, while masquerading as protection. Of course, that 'protection' is born of double-standards and such. Open-mindedness (the real stuff, not the fake woo kind) demands that we be able to speak about anything without government coercion intended to enforce conformity in children.
2) Atheist/Skeptic Representation: A lot of people out there lie about atheists and skeptics all the time. Expressing our actual opinions all over the internet is supposed to make it harder for them to get away with it. We've already got pithy responses for everything they say we don't. Additionally, I can do my part to show atheism and critical thinking in a positive light, and show evil in an appropriately bad light.
3) Vent: Sometimes, I just have to blow up at woos in comments. It's a luxury I can't afford here in meatspace most of the time. There are problems in the world, and it irritates the generic fiendish plane(s) out of me that there are people who so devote their lives to obstructionism, apathy, intellectual isolationism, and cynicism.
4) Have fun: Sometimes it's very easy, and other times it's very hard. Where there's gross absurdities in life, there's humor to be had if you can get in the right mindset.
Stuff I should probably do: Write to relevant politicians, take the fight to woo places more often, etcetera.
4 comments:
While my recent marriage and new baby has curtailed my blogging, I won't be quitting it entirely. It's a place for me to vent out. In a country where 99.9% are theists (and most are of the miracle-virgin-on-a-toast catholic variety) I don't have that many places to unwind and speak out my frustrations.
I hope you won't quit any time soon, I like reading your posts. :D
Don't worry. I've still got a lot of life left in me. Just been a bit slow, lately. I'm playing catch-up to get back to my 1-a-day average.
I think #2 there is a huge one, though I'd add in an additional reason it's important: It lets others know that they aren't alone. A lot of atheists and skeptics are surrounded by religion/woo and feel like they're all alone, so they just go with the crowd. But if they find others who not only have the same beliefs, but have the guts to blog about them, they realize that there are others out there like them. Then maybe they'll come out, and it'll encourage others in turn.
One other reason I have for blogging that's motivated some of my posts is to simply teach people about things that aren't usually taught to them. For instance, I know that if I entitle a post "Quantum Mechanics for Dummies," I'll get tons of Google hits from people who want to learn the basics of Quantum Mechanics. I also can be sure that if they get it from me, they're getting it right, and they aren't getting the woo version of it.
Best wishes
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