{"id":6519,"date":"2021-04-29T14:02:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T13:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/?p=6519"},"modified":"2021-04-27T14:16:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T13:16:00","slug":"ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Ep#175 &#8211; Why did American Atheism lose its way?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/thumbsheedy3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/thumbsheedy3-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6521\" width=\"481\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/thumbsheedy3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/thumbsheedy3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/thumbsheedy3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/thumbsheedy3.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 481px) 100vw, 481px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This week on The Knight Tube, Stephen Knight (@Gspellchecker) welcomes co-founder of Atheists for Liberty Thomas Sheedy (@SheedyThom). They talk about the controversy surrounding Richard Dawkins and the regressive descent of other American atheist groups into intersectional ideology. Where did it all go wrong for American atheism? And what can we do to course-correct?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>0:00 Intro<br>2:19 Start of interview &amp; About Thomas Sheedy<br>3:54 The creation of Atheists for Liberty<br>5:35 Why did the \u2018Reason Rally\u2019 fail so badly?<br>6:48 \u2018Elevatorgate\u2019 &amp; the beginning of the end<br>13:45 Is going woke really hurting these groups?<br>21:09 American atheist organisations excommunicate Richard Dawkins<br>24:13 Why is the debate around self-ID and gender forbidden by \u2018sceptics\u2019?<br>29:33 Is far-left secular ideology making religion seem more appealing?<br>35:26 What atheist issues should we be paying attention to?<br>38:52 Can Atheists for Liberty claim political neutrality?<br>42:30 Setting up Atheist for Liberty stalls at conservative conventions<br>46:52 The rise of \u2018Trumpism\u2019 and the Capitol Hill attack<br>50:58 Is America on a political knife edge?<br>53:27 Wokeness uniting non-believers and believers in opposition?<br>59:30 How to support Atheists for Liberty<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Support the podcast at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/gspellchecker\">http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/gspellchecker<\/a><br><br>Also available on <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/godless-spellchecker-podcast\/id780794967\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/s?fid=41293&amp;refid=stpr\">Stitcher<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/gspellchecker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0TTwnlVpzJRQuM6xfj7W0h\">Spotify.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Atheists for Liberty: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atheistsforliberty.org\/\">https:\/\/www.atheistsforliberty.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stephen Knight blog on Richard Dawkins Controversy: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/american-atheists-american-humanists-and-the-secular-coalition-join-the-woke-church\/\">https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/american-atheists-american-humanists-and-the-secular-coalition-join-the-woke-church\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas Sheedy\u2019s YouTube Channel: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCaR_8e3N15aLNGPABUhs_vg\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCaR_8e3N15aLNGPABUhs_vg<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-libsyn-podcasting-gutenberg\"><div class=\"libsyn-shortcode\" style=\"display:block\"><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share This<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" data-text=\"Ep#175 - Why did American Atheism lose its way?\" data-via=\"Gspellchecker\" >Tweet<\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><div class=\"fb-share-button\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" data-layout=\"button_count\"><\/div><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email sd-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/?share=email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a class=\"tumblr-share-button\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tumblr.com\/share\" data-title=\"Ep#175 - Why did American Atheism lose its way?\" data-content=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" title=\"Share on Tumblr\"data-posttype=\"link\">Share on Tumblr<\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-reddit\"><div class=\"reddit_button\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/static\/button\/button1.html?newwindow=true&width=120&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gspellchecker.com%2F2021%2F04%2Fep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way%2F&amp;title=Ep%23175%20-%20Why%20did%20American%20Atheism%20lose%20its%20way%3F\" height=\"22\" width=\"120\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><div class=\"pinterest_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gspellchecker.com%2F2021%2F04%2Fep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way%2F&#038;media=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gspellchecker.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F04%2Fthumbsheedy3.jpg&#038;description=Ep%23175%20-%20Why%20did%20American%20Atheism%20lose%20its%20way%3F\" data-pin-do=\"buttonPin\" data-pin-config=\"beside\"><img src=\"\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/pidgets\/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/li><li><a href=\"#\" class=\"sharing-anchor sd-button share-more\"><span>More<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"sharing-hidden\"><div class=\"inner\" style=\"display: none;\"><ul><li class=\"share-pocket\"><div class=\"pocket_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/getpocket.com\/save\" class=\"pocket-btn\" data-lang=\"en\" data-save-url=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" data-pocket-count=\"horizontal\" >Pocket<\/a><\/div><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><div class=\"linkedin_button\"><script type=\"in\/share\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" data-counter=\"right\"><\/script><\/div><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week on The Knight Tube, Stephen Knight (@Gspellchecker) welcomes co-founder of Atheists for Liberty Thomas Sheedy (@SheedyThom). They talk about the controversy surrounding Richard Dawkins and the regressive descent of other American atheist groups into intersectional ideology. Where did it all go wrong for American atheism? And what can we do to course-correct? 0:00 Intro2:19 Start of interview &amp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share This<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" data-text=\"Ep#175 - Why did American Atheism lose its way?\" data-via=\"Gspellchecker\" >Tweet<\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><div class=\"fb-share-button\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" data-layout=\"button_count\"><\/div><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email sd-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/?share=email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a class=\"tumblr-share-button\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tumblr.com\/share\" data-title=\"Ep#175 - Why did American Atheism lose its way?\" data-content=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" title=\"Share on Tumblr\"data-posttype=\"link\">Share on Tumblr<\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-reddit\"><div class=\"reddit_button\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/static\/button\/button1.html?newwindow=true&width=120&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gspellchecker.com%2F2021%2F04%2Fep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way%2F&amp;title=Ep%23175%20-%20Why%20did%20American%20Atheism%20lose%20its%20way%3F\" height=\"22\" width=\"120\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><div class=\"pinterest_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gspellchecker.com%2F2021%2F04%2Fep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way%2F&#038;media=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gspellchecker.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F04%2Fthumbsheedy3.jpg&#038;description=Ep%23175%20-%20Why%20did%20American%20Atheism%20lose%20its%20way%3F\" data-pin-do=\"buttonPin\" data-pin-config=\"beside\"><img src=\"\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/pidgets\/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/li><li><a href=\"#\" class=\"sharing-anchor sd-button share-more\"><span>More<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"sharing-hidden\"><div class=\"inner\" style=\"display: none;\"><ul><li class=\"share-pocket\"><div class=\"pocket_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/getpocket.com\/save\" class=\"pocket-btn\" data-lang=\"en\" data-save-url=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" data-pocket-count=\"horizontal\" >Pocket<\/a><\/div><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><div class=\"linkedin_button\"><script type=\"in\/share\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/ep175-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way\/\" data-counter=\"right\"><\/script><\/div><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"libsyn-item-id":18878702,"libsyn-show-id":49746,"libsyn-post-error":"","libsyn-post-error_post-type":"","libsyn-post-error_post-permissions":"true","libsyn-post-error_api":"","playlist-podcast-url":"","libsyn-episode-thumbnail":"","libsyn-episode-widescreen_image":"","libsyn-episode-blog_image":"","libsyn-episode-background_image":"","libsyn-post-episode-category-selection":"atheism","libsyn-post-episode-player_use_thumbnail":"use_thumbnail","libsyn-post-episode-player_use_theme":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_height":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_width":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_placement":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_use_download_link":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_use_download_link_text":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_custom_color":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-explicit":"","libsyn-post-episode":"isLibsynPost","libsyn-post-episode-update-id3":"","libsyn-post-episode-release-date":"","libsyn-post-episode-simple-download":"available","libsyn-release-date":"2021-04-29 13:02:00","libsyn-post-update-release-date":"","libsyn-is_draft":"false","isLibsynPost":"","libsyn-new-media-media":"libsyn-upload-101842328","libsyn-post-episode-subtitle":"","libsyn-new-media-image":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/thumbsheedy3.jpg","libsyn-post-episode-keywords":"","libsyn-post-itunes":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-number":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-season-number":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-type":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-summary":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-title":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-author":"","libsyn-destination-releases":"","libsyn-post-episode-advanced-destination-form-data":"[]","libsyn-post-episode-advanced-destination-form-data-enabled":"","libsyn-post-episode-advanced-destination-form-data-input-enabled":true,"libsyn-post-episode-premium_state":"","libsyn-episode-shortcode":"[podcast src=\"https:\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/18878702\/height\/360\/theme\/standard\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"360\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"podcast-class\" frameborder=\"0\" placement=\"top\" use_download_link=\"\" download_link_text=\"\" primary_content_url=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/gspellchecker\/The_Knight_Tube_-_Thomas_Sheedy.mp3\" theme=\"standard\" custom_color=\"\" libsyn_item_id=\"18878702\" \/]","libsyn-episode-embedurl":"https:\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/18878702\/height\/360\/theme\/standard\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/thumbsheedy3.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4BYSb-1H9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6514,"url":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/the-knight-tube-why-did-american-atheism-lose-its-way-with-thomas-sheedy-of-atheists-for-liberty\/","url_meta":{"origin":6519,"position":0},"title":"The Knight Tube: Why did American atheism lose its way? With Thomas Sheedy of Atheists for Liberty","date":"April 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;GSPodcast&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/2021-04-27_10-51-33.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2930,"url":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2015\/09\/book-review-the-new-atheist-threat-by-cj-werleman\/","url_meta":{"origin":6519,"position":1},"title":"Book Review: 'The New Atheist Threat' By CJ Werleman","date":"September 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Like all cults, New Atheists believe that \u201cthe best human beings, as defined by them as \u2018rational\u2019 and \u2018enlightened\u2019 should become powerful enough to dictate to the rest of the planet a new way of being...they not only espouse white supremacy but they also speak in a language that is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Amazon Reviews\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/bookcover.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6463,"url":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2021\/04\/american-atheists-american-humanists-and-the-secular-coalition-join-the-woke-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":6519,"position":2},"title":"American Atheists, American Humanists and The Secular Coalition join the woke church","date":"April 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A number of American atheist, secular and humanist organisation have released public statements strongly condemning atheist thought leader Richard Dawkins. American Humanists even went so far as to withdraw their \u2018Humanist of the Year Award 1996\u2019 from the evolutionary biologist. Gosh. So, what on earth did Richard Dawkins do to\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 8 comments","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3601,"url":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2016\/02\/will-dean-obeidallah-tell-us-and-the-police-what-he-knows-about-craig-hicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":6519,"position":3},"title":"Will Dean Obeidallah Tell Us (And The Police) What He Knows About Craig Hicks?","date":"February 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently caught Dean Obeidallah making a very serious and entirely false allegation in the direction of Sam Harris. When Dean\u2019s error of judgement was pointed out to him, instead of assuming the role of \u2018decent human\u2019 and offering an apology or retraction, he decided to behave like a petulant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"atheism\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/image_thumb-25.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3038,"url":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2015\/10\/the-views-and-potential-motivations-of-craig-hicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":6519,"position":4},"title":"The Views And Potential Motivations Of Craig Hicks","date":"October 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yet another school shooting has taken place earlier this week in The USA. How often can you keep labelling these events as \u2018shocking\u2019 before \u2018routine\u2019 seems more appropriate? Reports suggest the killer quizzed his victims on their religious convictions before gunning down those identifying as Christians. The usual liberal regressive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Rant&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/image_thumb5.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2713,"url":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2015\/06\/cj-werlemans-racist-anti-muslim-bigotry-exposed\/","url_meta":{"origin":6519,"position":5},"title":"CJ Werleman's Racist, Anti-Muslim Bigotry Exposed.","date":"June 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"You may wonder what's left to write about CJ Werleman - already exposed for misrepresentation, serial plagiarism, probable sockpuppetry, outright lies\u00a0and a\u00a0suspicious\u00a0Twitter follower count\u00a0\u2013 not to mention public humiliation at the hands of Sam Harris. Both Salon and Alternet\u00a0have since dropped Werleman from their pages, the latter completely removing his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Anti-Muslim tweets\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Werleman.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6524,"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6519\/revisions\/6524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}