This is my attempt to point out the flaws I have found in myself and other Atheist activists. By no means should anything I have to say be taken as authoritative or superior to anyone. I am merely trying to help weed out bad habits, stereotypes, misconceptions and poorly informed atheists. As much as we all would like to speak as elegantly as Hitchens, stay as calm and confident as Harris, or be as educated and witty as Dawkins, this simply is not the case. Nor can anyone expect to reach their level of skill or experience just by debating friends and trolls on blogs. We need to abandon the notion that we can counter any argument presented. One day when you least expect it you will be caught off guard by a question or statement that you've never heard and will have to defend your credibility as an educated Atheist. How you respond to these conundrums will forever be perceived by not only the recipient but anyone who happens to be observant of the event.
This is the point where you should consider your role in this movement and how you can help best represent Atheism and people who call themselves Atheists. We should ask ourselves, “What is the best response to this particular event and to these specific recipients?” Not any one method alone will convince every theist, but we should use our best judgment as to what method might work best under the circumstances presented. Learning these skills and how to implement them is more than just calling yourself an Atheist and denying the existence of a god or any gods.
Being an educated Atheist Activist is a skill that needs to be honed and continually expounded upon. As soon as you think your proficient enough to stop learning the skill, that should be the moment at which you know its time to relearn what you already know in order verify once more that what you are advocating is what you actually believe. Learning a skill takes hundreds of hours and lots of dedication. We should treat our ability to reason and proclaim ourselves Atheists Activists as a well-researched, well-examined, practiced and refined skill. With this skill practiced and used correctly it could one day lead us towards a post-theistic future where this skill is no longer a rare commodity.
