Dr. Christopher diCarlo is a fellow, advisor, and board member of the Center for Inquiry Canada. He has been invited to speak at numerous national and international conferences and written many scholarly papers ranging from bioethics to cognitive evolution. His book entitled: How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass: A Practical Guide to Thinking Critically was released as a textbook by McGraw-Hill Ryerson (2007) and is currently being revised to be released more widely for popular interest with Prometheus Press in 2011.
He is a past Visiting Research Scholar at Harvard University in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences: Department of Anthropology and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Here, he conducted research for two books he is currently writing entitled: The Comparative Brain: The Evolution of Human Reasoning and The Evolution of Religion: Why Many Need to Believe in Deities, Demons, and the Unseen.
In April, 2008 he was awarded TVO’s Big Ideas Best Lecturer in Ontario Award. In August, 2008, he was honoured with the Canadian Humanist of the Year Award from the Humanist Association of Canada. In September, 2008, he was awarded the UOIT Complementary Faculty Teaching Award.
Christopher diCarlo at the podium, 2010-10-01
Photograph : R. Thain
There are many instances of religious intolerance throughout history. From the persecution of Jews, to the Christian Crusades, to Islamo-fascism. At its worse, such intolerance leads to hatred, bigotry, pain, suffering, cruelty, and in the very extreme cases, genocide. But these are obvious and overt forms of intolerance.
I believe there is a far more prevalent form of covert intolerance which lies just beneath the surface of those we might never suspect: like your neighbour, your grocer, your kid’s teacher, your boss, your local policeman, your physician, or even a family member. These people are not flying airplanes into buildings or declaring death threats against those who are not of the same faith. Instead, these people are often hidden from our view and act in an ideologically passive-aggressive manner which is in accordance to their true beliefs. Although they may seem to be accepting of freedom of expression, and appear to be advocates of ideological and political tolerance, behind closed doors, their behaviour is quite different. And in some cases, you might never become aware of this type of discrimination.
In this paper, I will examine the ways in which atheists have and continue to be discriminated against beneath the veneer of tolerance. The type of ‘ism’ which is directed at the discrimination of atheists is so covert, it doesn’t even have a name yet. I examine what I believe to be the motivating factors behind such discrimination. And I offer several suggestions for considering how atheists may wish to take action against such forms of discrimination.