[[File:Richard Carrier.jpg|thumbnail|165px|right|[[Richard Carrier]] at the launch of the Atheism plus movement wrote: "I am fully on board. I will provide any intellectual artillery they need to expand this cause and make it successful."<ref>[http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/2207 The New Atheism +] by Richard Carrier</ref>]]
'''Atheism plus''' was a [[Atheist factionsSchools of atheist thought|faction type of atheism]] which held to a [[progressivism|progressive]] political agenda. It encouraged progressive atheists to also focus on issues beyond atheism - including the issues of [[social justice]], [[feminism]], anti-[[racism]], LGBTQ issues and [[Philosophical skepticism|skepticism]]. In August 2012, [[Jen McCreight|Jennifer McCreight]], the founder of the Atheism plus movement, wrote that the movement "applies skepticism to everything, including social issues like sexism, racism, politics, poverty, and crime."<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/|title=Blag Hag|author=Jen|website=freethoughtblogs.com|access-date=2013-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921135039/http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag|archive-date=2013-09-21|dead-url=no|df=}}
</ref> The Atheism plus website was active from 2012 to 2016.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160422122532/http://atheismplus.com/ Atheism plus website - Archived/copied from the original website], Archive date April 22, 2016</ref>
{{Cquote|The movement started back in 2012 when a woman named Jennifer McCreight participated in a protest known as "boobquake" which was raised in reply to Kazem Seddiqi's claim that women dressing in revealing clothing causes earthquakes. Jennifer rose to online fame during this protest, an already avowed atheist, she soon begun promoting her atheism and feminism online. The comments she received however from the rest of the atheist community were mostly sexist remarks and invitations to sex, bringing to media attention the long known fact that most of those that are part of the new atheist movement are mostly men and [[misogyny|misogynistic]] sexist men at that, it should be no surprise also that many of atheism's public famous speakers and promoters are also sexist and have made sexist remarks about women in the past, prime examples being atheists [[Sam Harris]], [[Penn Jillette]], [[Christopher Hitchens]] (now deceased) and [[Richard Dawkins]].<ref>[https://www.news24.com/MyNews24/atheism-plus-and-the-intellectual-suicide-of-the-atheist-community-20160318 Atheism Plus and the intellectual suicide of the atheist community], website: https://www.news24.com</ref>}}
In October 20142012, Joe Humphreys wrote in the popular YouTube atheist [[Thunderf00t]] commented on how Jen McCreight, ''Irish Times'' about the founder of the atheist feminist movement Atheism plus abandoned her movement within two weeks. Anti:{{Cquote|Last August, a new online forum, Atheism Plus, or A+, was launched by Jen McCreight, a Seattle-feminist based blogger and secularist. Backed by a number of prominent women atheists still mention the short lived Atheism plus movement, it seeks “a new wave of atheism” aimed at “promoting social justice” and “working against bigotry, hatred and discrimination”.
Her biggest concern is what she sees as deep-rooted misogyny in the atheist community. Whenever she speaks in a light-hearted way about sexual issues, she says she receives obscene propositions, while posts about feminism are usually met with abuse.<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/is-there-a-new-face-of-atheism-1.557837 Is there a new face of atheism?] by Joe Humphreys, Iris Times, Oct 26, 2012</ref>}} [[Richard Carrier]] at the launch of the Atheism plus movement wrote: "I am fully on board. I will provide any intellectual artillery they need to expand this cause and make it successful."<ref>[http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/2207 The New Atheism +] by Richard Carrier</ref> [[Thunderf00t ]] commented on how Richard Carrier "the intellectual artillery" of the movement, quit promoting the movement within a month.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inqcLXNlEes Atheism+ Stream: How SJWs pushed their way into Atheism]</ref> See also: [[Atheism, social justice and hypocrisy]] In October 2014, the popular YouTube atheist [[Thunderf00t]] commented on how Jen McCreight, the founder of the atheist feminist movement Atheism plus abandoned her movement within two weeks. In addition, he commented on how [[Richard Carrier]] "the intellectual artillery" of the movement, quit promoting the movement within a month.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuRRTXb0VFY Atheism+ Stream: How SJWs pushed their way into Atheism]</ref> Damion Reinhardt wrote about Carrier and Atheism plus movement: "About the only thing he did spectacularly wrong (from an [[atheist movement]] perspective) was turning Atheism Plus into an “us vs. them” festival of denunciation and excommunication, but that was arguably bound to happen. Possibly he should be credited with speeding up the inevitable collapse."<ref>[http://www.skepticink.com/backgroundprobability/2016/10/02/analysis-richard-carrier-lawsuit/ ANALYSIS OF THE RICHARD CARRIER LAWSUIT] by Damion Reinhardt</ref>
Damion Reinhardt wrote about Carrier and Atheism plus movement:
{{Cquote|About the only thing he did spectacularly wrong (from an [[atheist movement]] perspective) was turning Atheism Plus into an “us vs. them” festival of denunciation and excommunication, but that was arguably bound to happen. Possibly he should be credited with speeding up the inevitable collapse.<ref>[http://www.skepticink.com/backgroundprobability/2016/10/02/analysis-richard-carrier-lawsuit/ ANALYSIS OF THE RICHARD CARRIER LAWSUIT] by Damion Reinhardt</ref>}}
== Richard Carrier on people who he believes understand Atheism plus ==
The abstract of 2017 journal article entitled ''Atheism Plus What? Social Justice And Lifestyle Politics Among Edmonton Atheists'' published in the ''Canadian Journal of Sociology'' states:
{{Cquote|This article addresses Edmonton secularists’ responses to the emergence of a social justice faction known as Atheism Plus (A+) within the broader secularist movement. I show that some atheist activists express a [[libertarian]] rationalism consistent with Enlightenment values to maintain a lifestyle free from collectivist ideologies that promote social justice. The data for this article comes from interviews and participant observation, focusing on three atheist organizations in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I draw from literature focused on everyday lifestyle choices as a form of protest to argue that for some atheist activists, their individual intellectual development takes priority over building a strong collective identity. Given that some scholars claim that atheism perpetuates gender inequality (Amarasingam and Brewster 2016; Miller 2013; Schnabel 2015), this work additionally contributes to our understanding of how atheists conceptualize their activism as sub- and micro-political activities free from community constraints.<ref>[https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/cjs/index.php/CJS/article/view/27297 Atheism Plus What? Social Justice And Lifestyle Politics Among Edmonton Atheists] by Jonathan Scott Simmons, Vol 42, No 4 (2017</ref>}}
The entire article can be found at: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322401200_Atheism_Plus_what_Social_justice_and_lifestyle_politics_among_Edmonton_atheists ''Atheism Plus What? Social Justice And Lifestyle Politics Among Edmonton Atheists''] by Jonathan Scott Simmons
== Atheism plus and the desire for something more than mere atheism ==
See also: [[Atheism and purpose]] and [[Atheism and meaninglessness]] and [[Atheism and incoherency]] and [[Atheism and emptiness|Emptiness of atheism]]
The Atheist Revolution website indicated about the inability of atheism to answer life's most important questions:
{{Cquote|There is a certain [[Atheism and emptiness|emptiness in atheism]] in the sense that it provides no answers to many of life's most important questions. For example, atheism tells us nothing about how one should live one's life. On this point, I can find agreement with some of the Atheism+ supporters in that I can see why people would say, "Great, we're atheists. Now what?" I certainly understand the appeal of wanting to go "beyond atheism."<ref>[https://www.atheistrev.com/2013/06/the-emptiness-of-atheism.html The Emptiness of Atheism], Atheist Revolution website</ref>}}
== See also ==
*[[Atheist feminism]]
*[[Atheism and women's rights]]
*[[Atheism and social justice]]
*[[SJW atheists|Social justice atheists]]
*[[Femen]]
== External links ==
*[http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/religion/2012/08/atheism-plus-new-new-atheists Atheism+: the new New Atheists], New Statesman, 2012
*[http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/08/atheism/ Freethoughtblogs - Blag Hag: ''Atheism+'']
*[https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/14153 How the Right and the Left Nuked Atheism Plus] by Richard Carrier, 2018
*[https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/some_observations_about_atheism_plus/ Some Observations About Atheism Plus] by Ronald A. Lindsay, [[Center for Inquiry]]
*[https://the-orbit.net/greta/2012/08/20/atheism-plus-the-new-wave-of-atheism/ Atheism Plus: The New Wave of Atheism] by Greta Christina, 2012
*[https://bigthink.com/daylight-atheism/myths-and-truths-about-atheism Myths and Truths About Atheism+] by Adam Lee
*[https://www.patheos.com/blogs/camelswithhammers/2012/08/atheism-plus-what/ Atheism Plus What?] by Daniel Fincke
*[https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/2412 Being with or against Atheism+] by Richard Carrier
*[https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/2207 The New Atheism +] by Richard Carrier
*[https://www.reddit.com/r/atheismplus/ Reddit - Atheism plus]
'''Videos:'''
Pro Atheism plus:
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZYhbj1RGKs Atheism+?] by [[PZ Myers]], Jen McCreight, [[Rebecca Watson]], Ian Brown and Louis
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWB54obUmOI Greta Christina, Atheism+, and AgentOfDoubt's question]
Criticisms of the Atheism plus movement by atheists:
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuRRTXb0VFY Atheism+ Stream-How SJWs pushed their way into Atheism]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF3LHRgYwFU Atheism+ My Opposition] by Noel Plum
Christian commentary on the Atheism plus movement:
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C9fQpKtW8A Atheism+ : The Matt Dillahunty Experience] by Jason Burns
== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Atheism]]