Frivology

I don’t get much of a chance to blog at work, but I do get opportunities to catch up on my RSS feeds.  Which means, I got to watch the world react to Obama’s Inauguration even though I wasn’t able to really participate init.  Planet Atheism was a pretty big aid to doing that, as I got to read all of the reactions to the part that made me ‘woohoo’ out loud - Obama recognizing non-believers.  I also just kind of got to see how people would react. 

Unfortunately, one of my favorite bloggers - PZ Myers - disappointed me the most with, really, the least to say: 

I’m not wildly enthusiastic about our new president, but he is so much better than the amoral sleazebuckets he is replacing in office that I have to see it all as a largely positive change. I also just read the speech … not bad. I’ll give him a few years to prove himself.

I also caught the brief acknowledgment of the existence of non-believers. It’s a small thing, but appreciated. Everyone seems to be a bit unsatisfied with his specific choice of word, and I agree a bit. The better choice, the word that would have been more inclusive and positive, is “freethinkers”. Someone let his speechwriters know.

via: Catching up with the event of the day

Well, first, as I understand it Obama wrote his own speech for this one, but that’s me being nit-picky.  Secondly, I really don’t like the term ‘freethinkers’, it doesn’t really hit with the right punch what it really means.  Non-believers works very well, thank-you-very-much.  I feel like PZ, and then later when I read him, Hemant, are really … I don’t want to say cynical as that sends the wrong impression, so does bitter, but maybe … jaded?  

Hemant didn’t think the ‘non-believers’ part was a big deal, and reading that just made me sad.  

Or should we chill out because this really isn’t that big of a deal? Should we think less of it because he only briefly referred to us — minutes after Rick Warren was given center stage to deliver a Christian prayer? Perhaps we should wait until he does something *really* worthy of our applause, whatever that may be.

I’m not sure what the right reaction is.

His mention of us was nice. But that’s not entirely the type of change atheists are looking for.

via:  Was “And Non-Believers” a Big Deal?

I really want to know what that last bit means.  Not entirely the type of change atheists are looking for?  Curious, then… what are we looking for?  Well, granted… lack of any gods during the inauguration would have been nice.  I would have been way more than thrilled to see that… but, Rome wasn’t built overnight and moments of rejoice in the Atheist community seem to be few and far between with a country this religious.  Shouldn’t we take every opportunity we can to flaunt every victory - no matter how small? 

I rather feel very similar to what Richard Wade felt: 

But three little words this morning have made me feel hopeful again.

Some cynics may say that I am grasping at straws or being too easily satisfied by being tossed a bone, but I am encouraged by “and non-believers,” because of the historical unlikelihood of any leader mentioning and thereby validating non-believers as a legitimate part of the nation’s makeup. When in the past have we ever been invited to the party during the one of the most important speeches of a President? I think such mention has never been included in an inaugural speech before.

via: Three Little Words

Yeah, me too.  I had a wealth of hope welling in me on November 4th, and it’s been waning since then the more I read about how horribly religious Obama is.. but today, that well of hope was renewed.  Let’s think about all of the things that Obama said today that just rocked me.  He wants to restore science to it’s rightful place of importance.  He’s interested in us helping to end poverty rather than creating more.  He’s interested in doing our part to cease global warming and treat the planet with some sort of dignity.  It was all of the good things that a bleeding heart lefty like me needed to hear to feel that maybe, somehow, we are going to change the world after all… and ‘and non-belivers’… that was like putting the biggest, fattest, tastiest cherry right on top. 

We’ll see, though.  I may well be let down, but I hope not.  Today was a red-letter day and it made me feel proud, once again, to be an American.  I mean, Obama is a NERD.  Who can’t love a guy that collected comic books, plays video games with his daughters and made a joke to his wife about Dilithium Crystals?

What I see Obama did is a step in the right direction.  It may not have been as big a step as I would have liked, but it was a step.  He included many voices of religion, not just a few voices that stuck to one common ground.  He pushed the kind of ideals of rational thinking, scientific research and a future where mankind believes in itself as a force of change, and he wove in the fact that non-believers are an integral part of the heritage of this country.  It’s a beginning and it’s enough.  I’m willing to look over, for the moment, all of the god-speaking, and invoke Martin Luther King Jr. 

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. - Martin Luther King Jr. 

It might be a stretch, but let’s have a little faith in the future.

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