The New Moral Entrepreneurs: Atheist Activism as Scripted and Performed Political Deviance
Document Type
Book Section
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Publication Title
The Death and Resurrection of Deviance
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
First page number:
168
Last page number:
191
Abstract
Social media have become an arena for religious discussion, debate and downright vitriol (see Lovheim, 2007; Borer and Schafer, 2011). Anonymous comments can be made and left for others to find without the demands or accountability of face-to-face interaction. Imagine, for a moment, stumbling upon a Facebook page or Twitter feed filled with hateful and threatening comments such as “I’m gonna drop an anchor on your face!” or “#thatbitchisgoingtohell, and Satan is gonna rape her!!!”1 How might a person react if those comments were written about a complete stranger? About one’s friend? About one’s family? Mark Ahlquist, a firefighter and engaged community member in Cranson, Rhode Island, did not have to imagine how he might react. These comments, and a slew of other equally damning ones, were directed at his teenage daughter, Jessica.
Keywords
Moral panic; Civil religion; Political performance; American Civil Liberties Union; Moral entre
Disciplines
Social and Behavioral Sciences | Sociology | Sociology of Religion
Language
English
Repository Citation
Fazzino, L.,
Borer, M. I.,
Haq, M. A.
(2014).
The New Moral Entrepreneurs: Atheist Activism as Scripted and Performed Political Deviance.
The Death and Resurrection of Deviance
168-191.
Palgrave Macmillan.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781137303806_10