A New Year’s Resolution for Atheists
January 1, 2018 by Hemant Mehta

The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, discusses a useful new year’s resolution for skeptics everywhere.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the project — more videos will be posted soon — and we’d also appreciate your suggestions as to which questions we ought to tackle next!

The Atheist Voice
Published on Jan 1, 2018
Make This Your Atheist New Year's Resolution

Happy new year! It's been a while. An infant will do that to you. I hope you're well.

Since the new year is here, and you may be thinking about resolutions, I wanted to make one suggestion for something all of you can do this year: Try spreading reason, in some way, to people who aren't using it.

That doesn't mean you have to start an argument or convince a religious relative to abandon Jesus. Good luck with that. But maybe you come across a friend spreading a picture on Facebook that contains misinformation. I want you to politely explain why that information is wrong. Back it up with a citation. I know they might dismiss it or ignore it, but do it.

Maybe you read a news story that gets the facts wrong. Write to that newspaper or reporter and politely let them know what they screwed up. (Better yet, share that letter on social media.)

Maybe someone you know promotes alternative medicine, or some mid-level marketing scheme, or thinks your astrological sign has something to do with how you act, or wants to go on a detox diet. Talk to them. Guide them to a path of reason. Do it privately if that's easier. You don't have to publicly shame them.