• The Dark Lord ☑️@lemmy.ca
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    10 months ago

    “It’s odd that the word atheist even exists. I don’t play golf. Is there a word for non-golf players? Do non-golf players gather and strategize? Do non-skiers have a word and come together and talk about the fact that they don’t ski?”

    • Neil deGrasse Tyson
    • LengAwaits@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      This is a pretty sad take from NdT, and it comes across as though he were attempting to dodge a question. Perhaps even to avoid being labeled, which is probably why you like it.

      If 99% of the population were golfers, and 1% weren’t, there would almost certainly be a word for the people who didn’t golf. Same applies to theists. Up until very recently it would have been considered quite unusual to not be a theist.

      Atheists did not decide on that label. The word is believed to have initially been pejorative.