What is the Mission Statement of Freethought Blogs (FtB)?
Before reading any further this present post was prompted by responses to my post In Defense of DJ Grothe. I'm not picking a fight with the FtB but I would really like to know what the mission statement of the mammoth skeptical Freethought Blog is. What unites them? What is it? Most organizations have a mission statement. I think the FtB's should come together to produce one. I would really be interested beyond the fact that they are non-believers. I'm not talking about what they agree about, since they are united about non-belief and the need for diversity, but rather what their agendas are, their goals for being there. However, my guess is that if they produced one it would be so broad of a statement that it would end up being equivalent to something like this:
So what is the mission statement of the Freethought Blog? For all many of us can tell, it looks like it only highlights that atheists cannot agree on much more than non-belief, and that seems counter-productive to atheist causes. My opinion is that because the FtB does not have a mission statement it's becoming more and more like a loose cannon on deck, at least on some issues. Because they lack one they invite diverse voices who drown each other out. All other people have to do is sit back and let them self-destruct. And it also gives some FtB's a bigger voice among atheist circles than they would otherwise have had, who in turn use that bigger voice to blast other atheists who don't have such a big voice. I welcome your thoughts. One thing we agree here at DC is that Christianity is not true, not reasonable, and not defensible. We offer a consistent voice, a unified voice. I suggest the atheists at FtB's should focus on that which they agree about, and I know they agree with our goals here at DC.
articulett linked to this talk by Carol Tavris at last years TAM saying it's about "the fracturing amongst allies," which I loved myself having seen it:
We at FtB have come together as a diverse group of atheists who have a diverse set of atheist agendas in order to have a bigger voice than we would normally have if we were not here.Now that’s okay if so, and if the people there are happy with having a bigger voice. But if this is what it amounts to then even though they have a bigger voice for being at FtB they are drowning out each other’s voice when they disagree. Some say they are against prostitution and pornography while others are for them both. Some call for the resignation of DJ Grothe while others support him. Some are against the hiring of an ex-Bush White House adviser as an Executive Director for the Secular Coalition of America while others disagree. Some want more activists invited to the FtB while others like Richard Carrier want credentialed women philosophers (and he's proven that they exist). So individual FtB's should consider how their goals are being achieved by being there, when their voices are being drowned out by other FtB’s. Why are they there? It's a simple question, a respectful one. Some of the bloggers don't even blog much at all in their area of expertise, like my good friend Mano Singham who is a theoretical physicist (sorry Mano). One of them characterized a different blogger by saying: "We even have a drunken chef." Why is he there at all then? If so, that's wasted space.
So what is the mission statement of the Freethought Blog? For all many of us can tell, it looks like it only highlights that atheists cannot agree on much more than non-belief, and that seems counter-productive to atheist causes. My opinion is that because the FtB does not have a mission statement it's becoming more and more like a loose cannon on deck, at least on some issues. Because they lack one they invite diverse voices who drown each other out. All other people have to do is sit back and let them self-destruct. And it also gives some FtB's a bigger voice among atheist circles than they would otherwise have had, who in turn use that bigger voice to blast other atheists who don't have such a big voice. I welcome your thoughts. One thing we agree here at DC is that Christianity is not true, not reasonable, and not defensible. We offer a consistent voice, a unified voice. I suggest the atheists at FtB's should focus on that which they agree about, and I know they agree with our goals here at DC.
articulett linked to this talk by Carol Tavris at last years TAM saying it's about "the fracturing amongst allies," which I loved myself having seen it: