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Neil deGrasse Tyson continues to deny he’s an atheist despite also saying he does not believe in the existence of a deity.

This may sound like mere semantics, but it’s not an innocent position and its actually harmful to the atheist community. I’ll explain why.

His reasoning is that he doesn’t agree with some Atheists, therefore, he must not be an Atheist. He is referring to the actions by prominent atheists like Dawkins and Harris. The actions which include debating the religious, deriding the religious or choosing not to use words with religious origin. That is literally NDT’s stated reason for rejecting the word atheist.

Here’s why that’s harmful to our community: it reinforces negative stereotypes of our community. He’s essentially saying that you can’t be an Atheist if you disagree with an Atheist; which also means all atheists agree with the actions of another.

It’s like saying you’re not a feminist because a popular feminist tried to deplatform someone at a University. If you believe in the equality of the sexes, you’re a feminist; that’s it. Sharing an ideology with someone doesn’t mean you support their every action. It’s also like saying I’m not a vegetarian, because Hitler was a vegetarian.

Disagreement within a community of like minded individuals is healthy for the community to grow. That’s not the problem here. The problem is someone with massive influence, who is viewed as an atheist (because by definition, he is), is not using his position to educate in this regard. Instead, he’s defining the entire atheist community by the actions of a few, and rejecting it. Essentially strawmanning atheists and shitting on it.

Marz 7 Aug 29
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6 comments

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I never liked the dude, too phony for me, but a person can label themselves however they want. An individual's label is up to the individual, no one else. I've been an atheist since I was a small child, but didn't learn the term til my early 20's. The lack of label during that time had no effect on myself or anyone else. I highly doubt him not using the label will have any real effect one way or another.

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Atheism is not a political party, movement or system of belief. Those of us who self-identify as atheists are pleased to recognize others who share the same values, but the label isn't as important as the way one conducts themself.

Exactly. Which is why it's especially awful that an educator adopts the narrative of those who hate atheists.

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I think to a certain degree he may be protecting his career people have a violent reaction sometimes to someone saying they're an atheist

No doubt, that is the case. I think the reasoning he gives is nonsensical and unlike him. Instead of educating, he feeds into the negative stereotypes.

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the issue is with anyone trying to tell anyone else what he must call himself, let alone, what he is. His fame entitles you to nothing. His autonomy entitles him to call himself whatever he cares to. Get over it.

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I listen to the Startalk Radio podcast fairly regularly & Tyson tends to go into a bit more detail on many subjects there than in his interviews. He has touched on the whole atheist thing quite a few times & has good reasons for choosing to not be affiliated with the movement. He is primarily an educator & his main purpose in life is to communicate the wonder of science to as many people as he can. If he were to join the atheist movement, he would alienate two thirds of the population by default, which is counter to his mission.

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I have watched several interviews over the years with Tyson. He always preferred to use agnostic. There’s nothing wrong with that. Bill gates is the same. We each are entitled to our own truth as we see it and live it. I refer to myself as an atheist but I don’t compare my beliefs to any others.

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