Putting the "c" Back in Schmeity

Link to related content they tell me. Research SEO they tell me. Post daily and engage readers they tell me. Bah! I have ideas of my own, successful blog people! Here’s one: I’ll scale back on content creation while simultaneously starting a new blog!

And this is why they don’t invite me to Blogging Conferences.

Let me back-up. I started Deity Shmeity with the intention of posting my thoughts on various religious topics for reference when arguing with apologists. It was to be a debating database, if you will, but over time that changed. Interview projects, cross-post throwdowns and my personal struggle with Attention Deficient Disorder all contributed to the evolution of this site’s purpose. That is, if you believe in evolution.

Turns out I had a lot to say on Deity Shmeity. I posted everyday for some time. Then I posted every weekday. Then thrice weekly. Now twice. I still have stuff to say, don’t get me wrong, but clearly not as much. There are only so many ways to say that God isn't real. In an effort to avoid filling these digital pages with unoriginal ideas and C-material, I’m scaling back to a commitment of one post a week with a likelihood of two. I’m thinking a Monday and/or Wednesday schedule. I figure this is better than burning myself out grasping for every atheist thought in my head until I finally stop writing altogether. (Looking at you, Johnny Reason.) Actually, a bunch of atheist blogs suffer creative heat death on the web. Who am I kidding? Most blogs in general suffer the same fate. What’s cool about the atheist blogosphere is that for every blog that goes under, two more take it’s place. I do routine searches for atheist blogs and find new ones launching every week. That’s the momentum of god-skeptics in our culture and why I feel, as my tagline clearly states, that one day we’ll all be atheists.

That said, only a maniac would start a new blog while admitting his post tank is running dry, right? Color me maniacal. I’ve recently set up a Wordpress site to serve as a more polished outlet for my stuff. I even spelled it how most people think this site should be spelled--Deity Schmeity. Where Deity Shmeity will continue to have new, amaturely written, short-form posts; Deity Schmeity will have old, professionally edited, long-form articles. Confusing, yes? Perfect!

Google Plus Activity

I’ve been getting more involved in Google+ Communities lately. I’m a moderator for the big Atheism Community (the one with 17931 members); I take part in lively debates in the Religious Discussion Community; and I’ve been involved in a new Anti-Apologetic League, which is a private group of atheists who call upon each other when debates with apologists call for it. For example, I was having an argument with a Catholic defending his opposition to gay marriage when a few of his friends jumped in with gay agenda conspiracy theories--at that point I posted the link to the debate to the League and suddenly five other atheists overpowered the conversation. While I feel quality over quantity is preferred, the AAL argued well. It isn’t something I’d use often, but it’s a resource that works both on Google+ and externally to other blogs and social networks.

It’s also worth noting that I was kicked out of the community for the Christian Apologetics Alliance after a month of low-key membership. I was open in my disbelief, saying that I wanted to learn more about apologetics. I was careful to only ask questions and never statements because I could see that the community was set up under a dishonest premise. Even though posts occasionally asked for atheist opinions and had a section called “Christian to Non-Christian Chat,” pointing to holes in their arguments or offering arguments against God got one removed almost immediately. Insulating their belief in an echo chamber of yes-men is apparently more important than the apologetic mantra of “defending the faith.” After all, there’s no need to defend something when you don’t allow any challengers. It’s still unclear why I was removed. I asked the community owner and head-mod, but he declined to answer.

The Christian Apologetics Alliance is just one of many religious communities on Google+. I found that there was no Atheist Blogger community to match the Christian Blogger community, despite the network’s large atheist population, so I made one. Google+ has given me many post ideas over the past few months, and I’d like to share further thoughts with fellow bloggers in the future. If you write for an atheist/agnostic/humanist/reality-based site, feel free to join.