Why is the atheist movement in decline?

[historia]

Consider these recent comments from several prominent atheist activists:

You know lately when I look around on social media, and in the media in general really, I see these proclamations. Proclamations that the atheist movement is on life support. It's dying. It's probably beyond saving.

. . .

As an atheist activist myself, I can understand myself why some activists have just left the party. They just got tired of it. All the politics and the posturing and the trolls and the bad faith operators out there. They have seen first hand that atheists are not immune to scandal, to ugliness, to irrationality, to this unhealthy rage.

If you look at the major atheist groups right now -- like the national groups, the ones that are doing the real activist work, like American Atheists or Secular Coalition -- they are not bringing in the kind of donations they used to. Most of them are starved for cash. They're downsizing left and right, because people aren't just giving like they used to.

And I talked to a lot of the major donors out there and they said, "Well, we're kind of tired of seeing the atheist community just fight amongst itself and not really get anything done. We'd rather not give money if we don't think it's going to go somewhere."

It is a hard time to be an atheist activist . . . We are suffering a level of defeatism that I've never seen before . . . I have heard "it's over" so many times it makes me sick . . . This apathy is infecting us and it's hurting us . . . That has resulted in a splintering and a faction-ing of the movement that I've never seen before . . . We're in a bad situation and it's getting worse.

Atheism has squandered its momentum on a defensive old guard and apologists for neglect of events happening in our world. I’m going to have to suggest that we all abandon it.

Question for debate: Why is the atheist movement in decline?

[Bust Nak]

It does appear that many atheists have never been particularly interested in supporting an organized atheist movement.

But that wouldn't, in itself, explain the situation described in the OP, in which people who previously supported the atheist movement have now become disillusioned with it.

I think that much was inevertable since atheists are an independent bunch, even if much of our political lines up. Indeed organizing atheists has been compared to herding cats.

How so?

I am a liberal through and though, I do not want to be assocated with the vocal section (and I have no idea how big a section it is) that are less than sympathetic to my views.

And why do you describe it as a "sideshow"?

I call it a sideshow because it wasn't a thing in the beginning. It kinda exploded since "Elevatorgate," and is the final nail in the movement.

[Kenisaw]

[Replying to post 1 by historia]

Atheism itself is not in decline. The percentage of the overall population that recognize as atheist continues to go up.

Atheist groups do indeed seem to be a different story. This is not surprising, since trying to build an organization around something that people don't believe is hardly a foundation of commonality. It'd be like a movement for people that don't believe in Bigfoot.

The only reason atheist groups were ever organized (in my opinion) was to fend off the increased attempts by a minority of religious folks to jam religion into things like science classes or the government, which is clearly forbidden by the Constitution. Hence organizations like the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF).

But atheist groups have found themselves also getting into other political arenas, like the gun control debate, or the social justice warrior nonsense around things like the fictitious gender wage gap. That's a problem obviously, because being an atheist has nothing to do with these other things, which means you probably have a wide array of opinions on non-atheist topics, which starts in-fighting in the group. I think that is precisely what we've seen, and it doesn't surprise me.

[NervyGuy]

Question for debate: Why is the atheist movement in decline?

Over the years, I think I've noticed fewer and fewer evolution/creation debates. I think it's the same reason there are few flat-world/round-world debates. Maybe the evolutionists and roundworlders just don't take the battle seriously enough anymore to join it.

Maybe it's the same with atheists and religion. Sometimes things end with a whimper instead of a bang.

[Jubal]

Question for debate: Why is the atheist movement in decline?

It isn't, as has been shown.

How did you get it so wrong ?

Why didn't you check the facts before preaching such nonsense ?

Jubal

[historia]

Gathering together to not do religion, and sneer about people who do, and watch old Christopher Hitchens YouTube videos is pointless.

It does seem that many atheists have just lost interest in critiques of religion.

Picking up Bust Nak's point from post 3, Dusty Smith, of Cult of Dusty fame, has been talking about this recently:

[Atheist] Youtubers had to give their audience something else besides religion to fight because it became boring. And so what they chose was social justice warriors and feminists. These have become the new evil bad guys of the skeptic atheist community that everybody stands up and fights.

. . .

This is what the community is supporting right now. A guy who has a channel primarily attacking Islam or Christianity gets minor support. Whereas the guy who is attacking primarily feminism or social justice warriors makes tens of thousands of dollars.

It seems this change in content has also brought about a change in who the audience is following.

PZ Myers notes that much of the attention these days has shifted to the so-called Intellectual Dark Web, including popular authors and speakers like Jordon Peterson, Dave Rubin, Sam Harris, and others, who make opposition to left-wing identity politics a major focus of their work.

Myers laments:

Where’s all the energy of atheism going? Right into the pockets of those jokers, many of whom are openly anti-atheist.

"Anti-atheist" is almost certainly an overstatement, but it is true that many IDW speakers have a much more positive view of religion than the old New Atheists.

As is the ridiculous claim that Atheism is a religion.

As no one here is making that claim, we can safely set aside this straw man argument.

I suspect that there is an inference in the OP that people are beginning to realise that there really was a universe-creating Jesus who visited this planet through the uterus of a human virgin ...

As well as this straw man argument.

[historia]

I'm speculatig a bit here but I think the New Atheist movement has hurt atheism more than it has helped.

How so?

[historia]

I'm urging atheists to develop a sense of social responsibility. As religion declines, we should replace it with something better and not assume that the absence of religion will automatically make the world a better place.

In fact, this appears to be one of the major problems that has sent the atheist movement into a tailspin -- at least according to some of the authors in the OP.

Apparently, in recent years, some atheist advocates have begun promoting specific social and political concerns. This has, in turn, created deep divisions within the atheist community, with the resulting infighting driving people away from the movement altogether.

[StuartJ]

[Replying to post 27 by historia]

It's that cat thing again ....

Some of us just don't DO belonging.

[Jagella]

Apparently, in recent years, some atheist advocates have begun promoting specific social and political concerns. This has, in turn, created deep divisions within the atheist community, with the resulting infighting driving people away from the movement altogether.

So are those being driven "from the movement" merely leaving groups like the American Atheists, or are they returning to belief in a god?

[StuartJ]

[Replying to post 29 by Jagella]

Personally ...

I know of not a single intentional Atheist who has returned to ANY version of "God".

Any hopes of an epiphanic religious revival in advanced cultures appear to me to be delusion on delusion.