FAQ
This FAQ is a work in progress. There may be errors/typos below.
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If you have any (non-philosophical) questions you’d like answered, please email Hemant using the contact page.
1. What exactly is a “Friendly Atheist”?
2. What did your original eBay post say?
3. Why would you offer to go to Church?
4. Why eBay?
5. What did you do with the money?
6. What is the Secular Student Alliance?
7. How did you become an Atheist?
1. What exactly is a “Friendly Atheist”?
A Friendly Atheist is someone who:
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Believes everyone should do what makes them happy, provided they are not stopping anyone else from doing the same.
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Does not judge others for following a different path than his/her own.
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Shows kindness, volunteers, and helps others.
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Does not go around denigrating other religions, because he/she knows that to get respect, one must give it.
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Can talk to a religious person without invoking an argument.
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Questions his/her own beliefs as much as others’ beliefs.
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Invites positive dialogue from religious people.
In my own experience, nearly every Atheist I’ve met has been a Friendly Atheist. We’re everywhere. This is, sadly, a well-kept secret. By talking about the definition, as well as showcasing examples of Friendly Atheism as they occur, perhaps the public image of Atheists can be reshaped.
2. What did your original eBay post say?
The eBay link can be found here. But here’s what I wrote:
I’m a 22-year-old Atheist from Chicago. I stopped believing in God when I was 14. Currently, I am an active volunteer for a couple different national, secular organizations. For one of them, I am the editor of a newsletter that reaches over 1,000 Atheist/Agnostic college students. I have written several Letters to the Editor to newspapers in and around Chicago, espousing my Atheistic beliefs when Church/State issues arose. My point being that I don’t take my non-belief lightly. However, while I don’t believe in God, I firmly believe I would immediately change those views if presented with evidence to the contrary. And at 22, this is possibly the best chance anyone has of changing me.
So, here’s my proposal. Everytime I come home, I pass this old Irish church. I promise to go into that church every day– for a certain number of days– for at least an hour each visit. For every $10 you bid, I will go to the Church for 1 day. For $50, you would have me going to mass every day for a week.
My promise: I will go willingly and with an open mind. I will not say/do anything inappropriate. I will respectfully participate in service, speak to priests, volunteer with the church if possible, do my best to learn about the religious beliefs of the church-goers, and make conversation with anyone who is willing to talk. (Though I do reserve the rights to ask the person questions about the faith.)
I will record my visits through a journal, pictures, or whatever other method of proof you’d like– I will uphold my promise.
Will I become religious? Well, I don’t know. I really do have an open mind, but no one has convinced me to change my mind so far. Then again, I have also never attended a real church service. Perhaps being around a group of people who will show me “the way” could do what no one else has done before.
If the Irish Church doesn’t work for you, we’ll just find some other place local to me. I’ll go to any place of worship– a Christian Church, a Catholic Church [revision: I realize a Catholic Church is a Christian Church... so let me rephrase. By Christian, I mean Protestant], a Mosque, a Synagogue, etc. They’re all nearby. Makes no difference to me, but perhaps it’s your faith that could change the mind of this Atheist.
I also assure you that if you bid on this, I will write an article about my experiences in the newsletter mentioned earlier. The article would reach over 1,000 college students who share my current views. Even if you don’t end up changing my mind, perhaps you can change theirs.
If you have any questions about this auction, I’d be glad to answer them.
The auction ended on February 3, 2006. The winning bid from Jim Henderson of www.Off-the-Map.org was $504.
3. Why would you offer to go to Church?
I found that many Atheists had already had the experience and rejected the churches they went to… and many Christians assume that Atheists simply have never gone. I was not raised as a Christian, so I figured I would put my beliefs under scrutiny to see what would happen.
I wanted people to be able to read about my journey as I documented it. And at the time, the best way I could think of to get the word out about my “project” was by setting up the eBay auction. It wasn’t about the money (the idea that the money would be donated was made very early in the auction). While I didn’t expect the amount of publicity (that’s an undersrtatement…), I don’t think I would have been able to get anyone to listen without doing something out-of-the-box.
5. What did you do with the money?
I donated the $504.00 to the Secular Student Alliance, a non-profit national organization I work with.
6. What is the Secular Student Alliance?
The Secular Student Alliance, a non-profit, democratically-elected umbrella organization for Atheist/Agnostic/etc. student groups. Their website is www.secularstudents.org.
7. How did you become an Atheist?
I turned away from God for an admittedly hasty reason. My family had to move right before I began high school. I had to leave my old friends and start over somewhere else. At the time, I thought this was the worst thing to ever happen to anyone. Which is obviously not true. (In hindsight, a religious person could say that God did this for a reason. In fact, I loved my high school and I credit any success I’ve had academically or otherwise to my years there.) But the seed of doubt was planted in my head, and I began to think that maybe God didn’t exist. I went online and researched those thoughts and Atheism made the most sense.
