Atheists may be hard-pressed to answer this question, I think, because it involves pointing out our “weaknesses.” And by mentioning that any exist, it’s opening ourselves to receive criticism. But here are some things I wish we would change:
– I wish we could remember (if it’s applicable) how comforted we felt when we were religious and we prayed.
– I wish we could be more proactive about political issues instead of only having to defend ourselves. Atheists only tend to be heard in the media when we are anti-something. Michael Newdow against the Pledge, (the fake idea of) Atheists against Christmas, etc. I know this is easier said than done. Politicians think they can’t support us for political reasons, and it’s hard to round up Atheists in the first place…
– I wish we were better able to meet each other. It’s hard to find others who share our beliefs even though there are so many of us out there (see next point). Atheists on the whole tend to be scared of organized meetings of any sort. We’ve had some bad experiences in that arena.
– I wish Atheist lecturers and debaters would speak some damn English. It’s not hard to explain why we don’t believe in God. Yet, I hear the phrases “Ontological argument,” “Teleological argument,” and “Transcendental argument” all the time. Stop that. If you want to reach more people with your message (that’s everyone, not just Atheists), you must speak in terms EVERYONE understands.
– I wish more of us would come out as Atheists. There seems to be a perception that there are so few of us; however, as the Secular Coalition for America states on their website, there are as just as many Atheists in this country as there are Jews. And there are more Atheists than Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus (http://www.secular.org/constituency.html). And no politician or leader could get away with making a derogatory statement about any of those other groups. Yet it’s always ok to rip on Atheists. That will keep happening until everyone understands there are a lot of us out there. And we vote. That’s when some of the prejudice against us will end.
– I wish we’d stop categorizing all religious people as the same. There are some religious people who feel the same way we do about blind faith and fundamentalism. They have the same evidence we do and simply came to a different conclusion about it.
– I wish more young people would become active about their (non-)belief. They need to report injustices they see again Atheists in school and question what they are told about religion. I would say they should question everything always, but that could get annoying as I learned when my little cousin kept asking me “Why?” to everything I said.
– I wish there were more girls in the Atheist movement… they exist, I’ve been told. But the ratio of girls to guys in any given college Atheist group is often the same as a Star Trek convention.
Editors Note: I reposted this post for Hemant due to technical problems in an earlier post