The American left has been experiencing something new in the past few years: defeat. The left has been watching its stranglehold on the public slowly wane, especially on cultural issues.
The crowing voices of late-night comedy and Hollywood celebrities just aren’t having the same impact they used to. Regular people of all political beliefs have become bored, skeptical, and resentful of these voices.
Perhaps it was the lockdowns, the summer of angry race riots stoked by the Democrats, the attempts to kneecap police, the promotion of childhood transgenderism and unrestricted abortion…
Whatever it was that tipped people over the edge, the country is pushing back against the hard left; the left says that it’s all signs of a coming right-wing theocracy.
Though worry not, they have a plan to stop it: organized atheism!
MSNBC: Time To Embrace Atheism!
MSNBC writer Zeeshan Aleem recently wrote for MSNBC about the need for a new kind of community-minded, organized atheism that can undo the power of religious right-wing people and the “reactionary” Supreme Court.
Read: reactionary means people who do things that the left does not like or that go back more than a few decades in interpreting jurisprudence.
According to Aleem, “Christian nationalists” are destroying America’s beloved institutions (like abortion and letting criminals out of jail without bail?)
He refers to growing up Muslim and dropping his religion when he was questioned about why he believed in his God, instead of many of the other versions and claims about what God was.
That was enough to convince young Aleem. He dropped his faith like a hot potato, becoming a liberated atheist who was free from the shackles of conservatism and narrow-minded bigotry.
Quick question: does this make Aleem Islamophobic or can we allow his dislike and dismissal of Islam in this instance since it is for the woke cause?
Continuing: Aleem’s article mainly attacks Christianity, however, since that is what’s safe to do on the left these days.
Presumably, Christianity is like the big bad mastermind boss; if it can be taken down and disproven, then the other faiths will fall away harmlessly and realize the error of their benighted beliefs.
No word from Aleem on why conservative individuals from other religions are no big deal, but presumably it’s because he doesn’t want to be seen as a bigot…despite being a bigot.
In which I make the case for a new style of atheism to tackle the twin crises of emerging theocracy and the slow death of conventional religion. https://t.co/9niQp39KQB
— Zeeshan Aleem (@ZeeshanAleem) August 1, 2022
Aleem’s Answer
To be fair, Aleem’s article raises some very genuine points. He notes there is a real lack of community solidarity and a gap of meaning in America today.
A quick look at the suicide rate and medication rate for psychological issues that barely even existed 20 years ago certainly backs that up.
He suggests having atheist meditation groups and community solidarity and institutions, as well as an atheist-backed version of the Federalist Society to reinstitute things like Roe v. Wade and get people back their rights. (It’s always those pesky babies, right?)
According to Aleem, the 2/3 Catholic Supreme Court is despicable and instituting some kind of theocracy since they disagree with his views. It might not reassure him to know the Ku Klux Klan also shares his strong dislike of Catholics and wants them barred from all higher office.
Yeah we tried "energetic atheism" in the 20th century and ended up worshipping the state. Let's not do that again.
— generic (@generic20385438) August 2, 2022
What do you think of Aleem’s idea? Is it time to give organized atheism more of a go?
This article appeared in StatesmanPost and has been published here with permission.
