Am an African atheist and who is a hidden ex-Muslim. Even now when I am a high school junior in USA I still hide my perspective from my family and close Friends. I ghost all the time online and hide my identity and thoughts from those who I know. But even under this situation I still do my best to stop homophobia and all forms of hate that are very common among the so and so called African pages. The best way for me to get to combat African christian and Muslim bigots is by joining groups like free thoughts Uganda. I observed that there is not any sort of ideological support among-st each other. Even now am involved in free thoughts Uganda and still involved with other causes that are with in america. so my question is do you think they will ever be a global atheist solidarity
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Personally I think the only thing you can hope to find a consensus on is that we all agree "there is/are no god/gods"...
We all utilise different debating tactics ,,, we all consider religions as "bad" for differing reasons and to differing degrees.
Also don't forget differing regions/areas will have differing problems to be resolved .... In the UK we have differing challenges to those in the US ,who in turn face different problems to those in South America ...etc, etc.
My understanding ,(limited though it may be ) is that in Sub -Saharan Africa ,atheists are part of a four cornered fight..... against christianity ,islam and the aboriginal tribal beliefs (animists & fetishists & the like).
So ,at present I'm afraid I can only see an Atheist Global Solidarity on the very broadest of fronts ...
...and perhaps that is exactly the way it should be.....
its going to take African Atheists to defeat African Theists...because they have the knowledge and tools to do the job properly.... (it would be pointless exposing ,say ,tribal "Bushmen" to someone like Dawkins and his ideas..... wrong tools for the job ... if you take my point)
As much as i agree with you, Linda one of the famous gay rights and atheist activists said that the main stream libertarian atheists including her follow the philosophies of Richard Dawkin and other famous modern day atheists. For the most part aboriginal tribal beliefs are replaced by Islam and Christianity. Islam and Christianity make 90% of Uganda`s population because all schools have to teach either Islam or Christianity as part of their educational program.
'Atheism' in it self, will almost by definition be a scattered group of individual thinkers. Since the only thing they have in common is a lack of belief.
I think that 'Secular Humanism' is the best bet for organised non-religious movements.
You are brave. Remeber to be careful. When the time is right and you are sure you are safe (even in America) you can come out if you wish. The important this is to be sure the time is right. I started out hiding and when the time was right I came out publicly. Sometimes just speaking out even when your idenityis hidden is very helpful to others.
Atheism is not an ideology, there is nothing to support. Atheists have a wide variety of political and ideological views. Some atheists may even be religious to a degree - some Buddhist sects for example do not believe in gods though they believe in a lot other religious bullshit.
Uganda is at about 1% atheist and my guess would be that this is the most educated among Ugandan society. That means you are on the right track. Stick to your education. It is through your education that you will eventually meet other people who have the intelligence and courage to question the social norm.
2015 BiZoHa, the world’s first ‘free-thinker’ orphanage, was launched in the town of Mukhoy, Kasese district in western Uganda. (What if you reached out and contacted some like minded people who are actually in Uganda. Perhaps they have some advice?)
https://twitter.com/atheistsug
Finally: Atheists all over the world are isolated, even in America. There are atheists in the closet in America's bible belt who are afraid to come out to family and friends for fear of what will happen to them. There are stories of atheist families being forced out of small town America for their lack of belief in a god. Students have been kicked out of schools, and the problems go on. You are not alone. The Internet is the greatest thing that ever happened to Atheism. It is because of the internet and access to information that atheism is spreading the way it is. No matter where you are in the world, there are always like minded people you can share your views with on the internet. For now.... that is the best we are able to do.
Theism seems to be more prominent amongst people who are poor financially, lack power in running of their localities and countries, and/or are poorly educated. On top of that, where religion is rife in most places, a few people are at the top of a hierarchy, and wield status and power, being the so-called "informed", and who have a line of communication with their god(s). It's in the interest of priests and shamans etc. to keep their religion going, and to keep their power, their control, their authority, and privileges. Where people are poor, feel powerless, are not well educated, they look to some outside source for hope, and their god can provide that, via the intermediaries, the priests shamans etc. The other side of the belief-in-god-coin is that not only does "god" provide hope, but "god" also gives punishment - it's carrot AND stick.
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“With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion.” ― Steven Weinberg
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So in the crudest of terms, in answer to: "Do you think they will ever be a global atheist solidarity?", it'll be like pushing shit uphill ! ! !
But we must try. In some countries atheism is on the rise, (per-centage of population wise). But as long as religious extremism exists around the globe, it'll be tough for atheists in some regions. Solidarity will be pretty damned hard for the atheist population in its entirety.
So if peoples around the world can get out of poverty, have access to political power in the secular running of their localities and countries, (by voting or holding political posts), plus get quality secular education, then atheism may rise more globally. So in my view, for atheism and global solidarity of atheists to improve, it's unfortunately a generational solution. In other words, we need to look to the future generations of humanity, for broad improvements in the conditions and status for atheists individually and atheism, as a global entity.
In the mean time, we must do what we can for ourselves, and for the more isolated atheists around the world. There are organisations that try to provide help to persecuted atheists in places with extreme religious governments and belief systems. Living in the USA is better for you as an atheist, Trignigshit, than in Uganda. I'd imagine it's not so good, and not safe for you to communicate with Ugandans in Uganda, for fear THEIR atheism may become general knowledge in their communities. How sad, (not to mention completely wrong), that it is thus.
Or at the very least, have aid organizations that do not make people bow down to and pray to a God before giving them a bowl of rice. (THAT WOULD BE A MAJOR STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!)