Faith+Values: Godless masses?

Those gathering in Minneapolis next weekend for the American Atheists' national convention won't stand out. In fact, chances are they'll look just like your neighbors and co-workers.

"That's because we are your neighbors and co-workers," said August Berkshire, a founder of the Minnesota Atheists chapter of the national organization. "You meet atheists every day. You just don't know it because we don't talk about it."

Decades of negative stereotyping have driven many atheists into hiding, he said. But that's changing dramatically, with the movement growing in numbers and visibility. Books on atheism are making bestseller lists, and two months ago Berkshire launched a local radio talk show devoted entirely to atheism.

An estimated 500 atheists are expected to be proudly wearing their name tags around the Marriott City Center Hotel next Friday through March 23. In fact, that public visibility is an important part of the convention.

"Our movement is where the gay movement was 30 years ago," said Ellen Johnson, president of the national association, from her office in New Jersey. "We still have a lot of members who are in the closet in terms of making their stance public. People have been disowned for being atheists. And there are places where you can be fired for it; you can't prove it [was discrimination], but you know the cause.

"A lot of our members have discovered that to get along with their religious friends, it's best for them to just keep it to themselves."

Atheists face widespread misunderstanding and misconceptions, she said. And people tend to be nasty, saying things that would be considered slurs if they were directed toward other minority groups.

"Most of the things people say about atheists are made up by people who want to put other people down," she said.

Berkshire agreed. He's been hearing mean things ever since he helped launch the Minnesota group in 1984.

"The first thing they [critics] say is that we're evil," he said. "They think that without a belief in God, we have no basis for ethics. We don't think that you should need to have ethics handed to you. We have a built-in sense of compassion as human beings."

No insult intended

The group acknowledged that some people will be upset when they realize the atheists are holding their convention over Easter weekend. Both Johnson and Berkshire were adamant in saying that there's no hidden agenda in the timing.

"It's one of the few weekends during the year that hotels are hurting for business," Johnson said. "The hotels are so empty that they bid for our business. It [the timing] is all just economic." She added with a laugh, "Besides, it's not like we're going to be doing anything else that weekend."

For much the same reason, another local atheist organization, Atheists for Human Rights, is sponsoring a public forum featuring Arvonne Fraser on March 30 (1 p.m., Southdale Regional Library; free admission). The sponsor is the Minnesota chapter of the Atheist Alliance, the other major national association.

"We're more [politically] activist-oriented," said Marie Alena Castle, spokeswoman for the state group and a former president of the national organization. "The [two] groups get along pretty well. We might make snippy remarks about each other every now and then, but you're never going to see atheists dropping bombs on each other."

No one can say for sure how many atheists there are, partly because those within the movement can't agree on the definition of an atheist. Some count humanists, agnostics and practitioners of astrology as atheists, but others draw a tighter circle.

"To me, if you don't believe in God, you're an atheist," Castle said.

But Berkshire said that a strong argument also can be made to the contrary. If atheism is considered the lack of belief in a higher force of any sort, "then humanism and other belief systems need to be excluded," he said. "We argue that atheism is not a philosophy; it's a state of being. It's like being rich or poor, old or young. We don't believe in any sort of supernatural power."

On the increase

Everyone does seem to agree that the number of atheists is growing, especially among adults under 25. A survey released two weeks ago by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reported that 19 percent of respondents between 18 and 25 listed themselves as "secular" rather than "religious."

In fact, the numbers were up in all age brackets, although not as radically: 5 percent for respondents over 60, 11 percent for those 40 to 60 and 14 percent for ages 25 to 40.

"While it lumped everyone together under 'no religion,' the Pew survey definitely showed that our numbers are going up," Berkshire said. "And the increase is huge among young people."

At the same time, books about atheism are making waves -- some might even say tidal waves -- on the bestseller lists. Between them, "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins (who will take part in next weekend's convention) and Christopher Hitchens' "God Is Not Great" sold nearly a million books last year. Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation" added another 200,000. A new book, "God: The Failed Hypothesis" by Victor Stenger, has climbed into the top 25 on the New York Times list.

A local atheist talk show (9 a.m. Sundays on AM 950) has been on the air only two months, but is finding its feet, said Berkshire, who produces the show, called "Atheists Talk."

"We're still in the process of finding out what works and what doesn't," he said. "But the important thing is that we're reaching people and helping them realize that they can have different opinions about religion without that making them bad."

And it never hurts to maintain a sense of humor. When Johnson agreed that the convention would be held in Minneapolis, she was hoping for temperatures in the 60s. Since then, she's been eyeing our prolonged winter with some trepidation.

Granted, there's still hope, but as she admitted with a laugh, "We don't believe in miracles."

Jeff Strickler • 612-673-7392