This billboard, on I-480, between the State and Ridge exits, was paid for the Northeast Ohio Coalition of Reason (NEO CoR), which brings together “freethinkers” of various stripes. To find out more, we contacted Mark Tiborsky and Ray Valenti, the Northeast Ohio and Akron/Canton coordinators, respectively.
Your website [neocor.org] uses
different terms for NEO CoR member groups, like humanists,
freethinkers, rationalists, atheists — what do they all share in
common?
Tiborsky:
They’re all code words for “infidel.” Just kidding. All those terms
imply personal convictions which are firmly rooted in the secular
— although it must be noted that one need not be an atheist to be
a humanist, freethinker or rationalist.
Valenti: We all reject forms of mysticism, dogma and belief
systems unsupported by empirical evidence and untestable using the
scientific method. We have had a few Christians join us at our meetings
in the past, and we invite others who are interested in honest
discussions to engage with us online or in person.
What happened to the term “brights”?
Tiborsky:
It is still used sparingly, mostly by the younger generation. Other
atheists, humanists, etc. don’t like the term because they feel it has
a “smarter than thou” ring to it.
Valenti: The Brights is another community with a naturalistic
worldview, and we fully support them. But for me, using that name might
suggest that we view those who do not agree with us as “Dims.” This is
not a good way to begin a conversation.
What are the most common misconceptions about your
beliefs?
Valenti:
Probably that since we reject Christian beliefs, we also reject
Christian morality. In reality, there is much overlap and agreement,
particularly with the liberal denominations. We do tend to diverge from
the positions of the “Christian Right,” however. I don’t think I’ve
ever met a Freethinker who is opposed to gay rights or marriage. This
is an example of where religion is a regressive force in society. The
limits placed on stem-cell research during the Bush administration is
another area where allowing the mythology of the past to enter into
politics has hindered progress. My wife has MS and so far no deity has
appeared to help, but if government-sponsored research had not been
limited, we might be closer to a cure by now.
Tiborsky: The most common miscon-ception about atheism is
that “atheists believe in nothing.” We atheists believe — or
better yet, are convinced —that the universe came about by purely
naturalistic means. We also believe in our fellow humans,
sometimes.
How did the billboard come about? What has the response been
like?
Valenti:
We were happily holding our meetings when we were approached by
[United Coalition of Reason] with the offer to make our presence more
public. So far it has been fairly quiet, and this is good. We have
decided that Northeast Ohio is an atheist-friendly region since no real
negative response has resulted so far. But the billboard will be up for
a month, so there could be more to come.
Where does United Coalition of Reason get its funds?
Tiborsky:
United CoR is independently funded; they accept no public donations.
They do, however, recommend that in lieu of donations to United CoR,
one can donate to the local CoR groups. Got any?
Are you open with friends and family about your atheism? Has it
ever strained relationships?
Tiborsky:
I was reared in a non-religious family, so I have always been able
to be fairly open about my nontheism. Other members of the various
NEOCoR groups are not so lucky. Some are 50-plus years old, and still
can’t tell mom that they are atheist.
Valenti: Actually, I’m fortunate in that my family is aware,
and they have always been very accepting. But this is not the case for
everyone. Some people are simply disowned and feel very isolated when
they announce that they don’t believe. NEOCoR affiliates serve as
support system for people in this situation.
What’s the most memorable thing anyone has ever said to you about
your beliefs?
Valenti:
That’s a tough one. I had one friend who claimed that I seemed angry
about religion. Perhaps this was out of frustration with being a member
of a minority with no public voice. Thanks to our local Freethought
groups, that has now been remedied.
Tiborsky: “You are one weird dude.”
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2009.
Tiborsky goes astray with “The most common misconception about atheism is that ‘atheists believe in nothing.’ We atheists believe — or better yet, are convinced —that the universe came about by purely naturalistic means. We also believe in our fellow humans, sometimes.” I personally BELIEVE IN NOTHING! I choose to accept and assume the best naturalistic explanations available, and to live with the controversies in those explanations. ACCEPTING and ASSUMING explanations and LIVING WITH CONTROVERSIES surrounding what I accept and assume IS DEFINITELY NOT the same thing as believing. The assertion that we reach a point at which we must accept some belief IS UTTERLY FALSE!
Mr. Soto: Do you believe the ground is down and the sky is up?
Do you believe the words you used have meaning?
Do you believe you are alive? Do you believe you are dead?
Do believe you are in a dream?
We all believe in something.
M. Orel
Yeah, basically we all hold some beliefs, some cognitive prejudices to some extent. There are general ideas that are conventional, like abstract language, spacial directions, etc.
Now, atheists don’t have to be absolut nihilists, nor they have to be skeptic extremists. That’s something I’ve found to come from believers: If you don’t believe in (my) God, then you don’t have a right to believe in anything else. I know this is ridiculous, but I’ve been told stuff like “you’ve to rely on medicine because you chose not to trust God, but you can’t and shouldn’t trust medicine” or”if you’re an atheist, don’t you look when you cross a street, because you don’t believe in those cars or in accidents?”, which makes no sense.
If anything, should they look first or do they cross the street praying with closed eyes? Don’t they know how many deadly diseases are no longer deadly since the discovery of penicillin?
Puzzles me out.
Love the billboard! I never talk about this subject because of the arguments and proselytizing that would ensue and since I am a non-believer, I have little interest in convincing anyone else not to believe and absolutely no interest in trying to be converted to some religion. The airwaves, television shows (“I want to thank God for this award” – I guess the other nominees didn’t worship God enough and didn’t have his backing?), online commentary, etc. are full of religious self-righteousness. I am respectful of those who do believe their holy scriptures (even if there are many varieties of the ONE TRUE RELIGION and many differing tenants in each), and would like to have the same respect for my views. It sometimes feels like we have to be in-the-closet so to speak – because we threaten the groupthink mentality of those that follow the supposed words of some mythical figure. This is at the root of much discrimination – be it against atheists, homosexuals, women who have children outside of marriage, even the subjugation of females across the world as second class citizens. I believe in humanity and a moral code. Therefore I will live my life in a positive way and contribute to the well being of my children, my neighbors, my co-workers and even strangers that I meet. I think that is sufficient for all of us – whether or not we believe in gods, the god or anything else.
Submitted by:
T.R.
Interesting to me that someone told Tiborsky “you are one weird dude” because I’ve known him since he was 18 and I’d say he’s one HAPPY dude.
Submitted by:
J.S.
John 20: 29-31
Thanks, J.S.! I’m long overdue for a cappucino…
Some background on that quote-
I was being religiously “felt out”, and I quickly admitted my atheism. I received the “you have two heads” look along with that response, but that person wasn’t being mean- I think he was just taken aback by my willingness to be honest about my “lack of belief”.
In years past, we freethinkers had a tendency to “beat around the bush”…
Well this is a great country we live in, and even with it being the land of the free – there are some who feel that they are responsible for the souls of those they identify as “lost.” So, if you divulge your beliefs (or non-beliefs) to someone, I’m sure you’re prepared to compose yourself for their trying to help you. We had many talks as young people (especially one big ta-da after seeing the movie “Poltergeist” with its “go toward the light children” scene) and you didn’t beat around the bush with me about your free thinking. I respected you then for the kind, generous, gentle, animal-loving, nature-appreciating person you are, and feel it’s none of my business to try to “save” you. I feel that our Creator (whom I have no doubt exists) loves all the souls he created and will bring them all back to Him upon our death. When asked by my 10 year old daughter recently why so many people build so many churches – I replied “because they feel it in their hearts that our God exists and they want to build things of beauty in which to worship together.” So there – I just shared a piece of why I believe so strongly. It’s in my heart, and it’s not because my parents brain-washed me or any of the other things some like to say about us Catholic Christians.
J.S.,
The respect was mutual then, as it is now! And you want to know what else? I used to very much enjoy attending church with you. It just goes to show- it’s our interpersonal relationships that truly matter, regardless of differences in ideologies or “belief systems”.