I’m not normally one for the aethosphere’s internet memes (my iPod is down the back of the sofa somewhere…), but (((Billy))), by way of The Exterminator, via Friendly Atheist and Greta Christina, has just inadvertently created this one, and I thought it was worth answering.

Why do you blog?

It would be nice to say that I blog to improve the lot of mankind, to counter the omnipresence of theism and to create world peace. To some extent, that’s true, but my real reason is summed up in two words (and a link): Daylight Atheism. I found Ebonmuse’s blog quite by accident, and both it and Ebon Musings were instrumental in my embryonic atheism. Here at last was a thoughtful, insightful and above all hopeful message of humanism, which convinced me that I could be both an atheist and a fully realised human being. I don’t aspire to the same heights of philosophy, but I do hope that by alerting my readers to the illogical, contradictory and downright odd aspects of religion I can encourage other fledgling atheists to make the final leap out of the unknown.

I also blog because it helps me establish and clarify my own thoughts – it’s all very well to say, “I think this…”, but when your words are read by millions (alright, about six people really, but potentially millions) there is a certain imperative to consider your line of reasoning and phrase your argument well. This lets me know when my thinking is off-target, and makes me investigate things more closely.

What is our endgame as atheist bloggers?

We’re in the endgame already? I’m still working out how the pieces move! The endgame is a long, long way off… I don’t foresee an end to this process; reason and truth will always need a voice.

Do we want religion to become eradicated?

Interesting one, this. My first response was: “Live and let live, y’know; all we want is for religions to respect other people, freedom of religion is important, everyone sees their own rainbow, man…” Then I looked again and found that my gut reaction was “Yes”. Which surprised me, I really didn’t think I believed that.

It might be fairer to say that I would like to see the eradication of organised religion. I have no real problem with the guy who feels the need to believe in something greater than himself, it’s just worrying when the greater something is, for example, the Roman Catholic Church. What I want is to see people thinking for themselves, considering the implications of their beliefs and basing those beliefs on what they themselves discover, not what they are told by a man in a dress. Hence the name Right To Think.

Do we want more theists to treat atheists and atheism with respect? — This would involve the notion that laws would not be passed based on religious beliefs.

Hell yes! What self-respecting atheist could say otherwise? The Golden Rule is just as shiny today as it ever was, and it glitters for atheists too.

Do we just want to rant?

What’s wrong with a good rant? In scouring the internet for material, I often come across stuff to which ranting is the only rational response (Ray Comfort, anyone?). That or derision, I suppose, but the two are closely related. Plus, ranting is funny. That said, “just” ranting is far from being a good reason to blog – there are many other ways to approach our audiences. A good rant is like Dave’s Insanity Sauce: firey, attention-grabbing, and applied in small doses.

Read this far? Right, consider yourself tagged. Let’s see these answers on your blog, then.