This blog has, recently, been described as having an ”anti-religion bias”.
While I disagree that “bias” is the correct term, I feel I must address this.
The dictionary definition of “bias” is: “a particular tendency or inclination, esp. one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice.”
Is that the case here? I think not.
Yes, I’m an atheist. And not just because I felt like it, or because I wanted to “rebel”, or anything like that. I’m an atheist because I thought about it. Both atheism and religion are subjects that interest me, so it’s natural that I write a lot about them. Some commenters have, indeed, complained that this site has turned into “all atheism, all the time”. I’ve tried to write some posts about other subjects, but I can’t be condemned for writing, most of the time, about what I currently want to write about.
About the “bias” thing, let’s consider a different situation. Instead of being a Portuguese blogger in 2006, imagine I was an American writer for a newspaper, in 1800. Slavery, then, was still considered accepted and “normal”. I, however, was repulsed by it, and while the newspaper I wrote for wasn’t about slavery, most of my articles were. It was a subject that concerned me, and I wrote about how wrong it was, often. I denounced several particular situations I observed, argued about why slavery was wrong, and refuted pro-slavery arguments.
It’s quite likely, in that situation, that I, as a writer, would be accused of an “anti-slavery bias“. But how is such a “bias” different from having an opinion, a strong, considered one, and sticking to it? Should I be writing some pro-slavery articles as well, to maintain the “balance”? I don’t think so. Slavery was wrong, even if society didn’t see it; slaves are as human as myself or anyone else, and have the same capacity for both suffering and joy. Treating them as cattle, as property, as pieces of equipment is wrong - and I’d say it, even if it annoyed people. After all, anyone who though slavery was a good thing could always just read another newspaper.
I think the situation here, concerning religion, is similar. And, yes, I hope that some day religion will go the way of slavery, though I don’t expect it to happen in my lifetime.
Am I “biased”? No. I simply have a strong opinion about the matter, and my writing reflects it. I won’t do any kind of self-censorship. If my anti-religion posts annoy you, you can always stop reading and move on to the next post as soon as you see the “atheism“, “religion” or “christianity” categories.
Because I won’t stop speaking my mind. Sorry.
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