Labels

[Wertbag]

I was listening to a podcast by Sam Harris talking to Neil Tyson.  One question that came up was whether Neil considered himself an atheist, to which he said in a round about way 'no comment'.  He gave two reasons, one I completely agree with and one I believe is a bad excuse.  The first good point was that if he said he was an atheist there is a whole range of society who would no longer listen to him.  Christians will bring out their standard lines "a fool says there is no god, you shall not listen to fools" and shut down all discussion, even for completely unrelated subjects like astrophysics.  So yes I agree that avoiding the label so that you can reach more people is a perfectly valid choice.

The second point he made was that it has a whole load of other things attached to it that he didn't agree with.  He said (and I'm paraphrasing) "I like Christian music, art and love the architecture of churches, it feels like many atheists don't agree with this".  My problem with this reason is that you are saying you don't want a label because people are using it incorrectly.  Atheist = no belief in god, that is all, nothing else.  There is no reason an atheist can't love Christian art or music, and I've personally toured the Vatican twice and was in complete awe both times (I'd love to go again if I ever get the chance).  As an educator these kinds of mistakes should be things he can correct.  Even if you don't want to use the label, it is still good to make sure people use it correctly and that goes for both atheists and Christians.

 

My personal feeling about labels is that they work really well when the question is a black and white, yes/no question.  Do you believe in god, yes or no?  Perfect, there can be no confusion as to what the label atheist means.  That is opposed to a label like Christian...  what is a Christian?  If it is only belief in Jesus, what exactly do you need to believe?  That he existed?  That he was god or perhaps only the son of god?  That he rose from the dead and the bible account is literally true?  If you are going with a broad brush stroke that it is purely a belief in Christ then you are saying the Jo Witnesses, Mormons, Catholics and protestants are all 'Christian'?  If it is only a belief in his existence then aren't Muslims 'Christian' as well?

Terms like this or another example feminist are so vague that you can't use the term without a whole paragraph of follow up description to clarify what you mean. 

 

Labels work when there is a clear cut meaning and no misunderstanding.  There should only be three possible answers, yes, no or I don't know.  I've seen the argument that some people believe babies are atheists as they have no belief in god, but others say until they even know such a question exists they have no active disbelief but purely a lack of knowledge and hence agnostic is a better phrase for not knowing.

 

So I label myself as a gnostic, atheist, secularist, evolutionist, but while I believe in sexual equality I would never use the label feminist.