Hello Hell-Bound Friends!

It’s been a while since I actually sat down and wrote an article but with some free time I thought tonight would be a good time for an update of sorts. I honestly meant to start back into writing awhile back but life has been busy and so this got put off for awhile.

So where do I begin? Tomorrow will be the 7 month anniversary since starting my channel on YouTube. In that time I’ve had the chance to speak with many of my heroes producing atheist content on that platform. I’ve had a great time but would be lying if I said it was all incredible. I’ve gained friends, lost friends, and had to learn the rough lesson between a friend and a fan. That might sound a bit offensive but trust me it’s a valuable lesson to learn and the sooner you learn it the better off you will be later in your time on the platform.

The Enemy of My Enemy

One thing that has consistently bothered me during my time on the platform is the idea, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” There are some truly awful people out there promoting some of the worst theological stances imaginable and so it is easy to begin seeing those who are not promoting the worst of the worst arguments as allies in the fight against bad theism. However, it seems many then let their guard down and begin not only seeing these people as simply less awful but as actual friends.

Now you could be saying…but TGI are you saying an atheist can’t be a friend with a theist? Of course not, what I am saying is that many times these friendships then turn into a form of blinder, people gain a respect for those friends and so they no longer attack stances that they assume would be offensive towards those friends. It’s unfortunate but it’s true. No one wants to hurt the feelings of their friends but giving them a free pass is not acceptable in my opinion.

The second problem that I see with this is that it promotes Anti-theism as a form of professional wresting. Where to the public we stand off as enemies but behind the scenes are the best of friends, simply raking in money from the incredulity of our respective subscriber base. I don’t see how this is in any way helpful in pushing towards the goals of a secular society.

Leadership

Consistently one of the most frustrating things about being on YouTube is that people tend to view certain channels as leaders. Let me simply state there is no such thing as leadership in the YouTube Atheist channel situation. There are people that work to build others up but they want nothing more than to see people succeed. In the last 7 months I’ve heard many people who are claimed by others to be leaders in the Atheist Community. People like Godless Cranium, Shannon Q, Godless Engineer, Logicked, and I’ve heard some even refer to myself in that type of role. None of us are leaders, we are simply people, nothing else. We all have our faults, our worries, families, jobs, and many other things going on outside of YouTube. Some of us get along and are very good friends, others are acquaintances while still others I would view as enemies to logic and reason. No one mentioned in this paragraph are a part of the last group mentioned, just to be clear.

We get along but at the same time atheism is not something that you can really get people to rally behind. We have no dogma, no creeds, no rituals or traditions. Now one could say that we could rally behind anti-theism but at the same time that too is approached from so many different directions that it would be nearly impossible to get us all together in one place let alone decide on leadership roles.

The word leader is even used as a slur by some. I’ve had several refer to me as a leader in a backhanded way as if I were trying to portray myself as one while in reality I have ulterior motives.

The idea of atheist leadership is nothing more than a laughable idea and is in no way a reality at all.  There are no leaders and we don’t need leaders. What we need are voices and at this present moment there are a plethora of them out there with new channels being created daily.

The Good

I’ve made some awesome friends since starting my channel and I have improved as a creator greatly. A lesser known result that my channel has had is in my confidence and social ability. For those that have followed this blog it will be no surprise to find out that I am autistic, which has lead to numerous social issues throughout my life. By doing interviews on my channel I have begun to break through that shell quite a bit, I no longer spend hours in anxiety before an interview and instead am perfectly comfortable talking to just about anyone.

I’ve grown a lot as a person over the last 7 months and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Even though I’ve had some major spats in the last 7 months and have lost a few friends, I’ve had the time of my life and I look forward to many more months and years on the platform.

Thanks for reading and for your continued support!