Nag of Four
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The Nag of Four Three represent the more theistic side of RationalWiki; they function as both an impediment to and a brake on RationalWiki's supposed anti-religion bias. In any discussion involving religion, you can usually count on at least two of them appearing on the page. The Nag are opposed on the wiki by the Gang of Four.
The original Nag was composed of a group of people whose views were, more or less, semi-sensible. With the departure of several members of the old Nag, we are obliged to include at least one member who seems perhaps a little flaky and another who may be playing devil's advocate.
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[edit] Current members
- ListenerX is included because we were short of candidates. He seems to claim to be both an Odinist and a rationalist. Nevertheless, he seems to be prepared to stand up for religion from time to time and wrote a
memorablepedestrian essay making thesurprisingasinine claim that atheism is a religion.[1] - Radioactive afikomen appears in discussion over religion quite frequently. His goals are perhaps the least clear of the Nag of Four, as his own philosophy on the matter is not entirely apparent. He has variously claimed to be a Jew, an atheist, and an apatheist. Given the eagerness with which he leaps into such discussions, and his palpable disappointment when others fail to respond to his arguments, it is possible he simply enjoys arguing or that he sees it as another way to gain prominence and status on the wiki.
- Tolerance has to be included as the most outspoken (albeit intermittent) religious voice on RW. She maintains that "respect" for religion is a fundamental requirement and that NOMA is a way of showing this respect. Her stance sometimes means that she runs into logical corners, a problem which she deals with by simply ignoring it.
It is difficult to believe that her presence is actually welcomed by other members of the Nag, as it is possible that the only effect of her interventions is to give religion a bad name.
(Users should note that nominations to bring the Nag up to full complement are are requested on the talk page.)
[edit] Ex-members
Unlike the Gang of four the Nag seems to suffer from a high turnover of members. All the following have been members of the Nag but are now no longer active.
- Armondikov is an intelligent and articulate editor who does her best to put a rational face on religion - despite being quite a strong atheist.
- AKjeldsen was the most active opposition figure on RationalWiki. Although Roman Catholic, he seldom came off as explicitly religious, and, like most other members of the Nag (old and new), held to the idea of Non-Overlapping Magisteria. He usually (and probably wisely) confined himself to questioning the assumptions of others, rather than outright arguing in favor of God.
- Editor at CP typically popped onto a talk page to express his objections over whatever he perceived to the the "anti-religion rant of the moment" was, or simply to back up whatever AKjeldsen happened to be saying. While clearly interested in moderating the explicitly atheistic stance of RationalWiki, he was less of a presence in the discussions than AKjeldsen and Radioactive Afikomen.
- Pink was, like AKjeldsen, a moderate, and was more intent on questioning others' prejudices than proving that God existed; given the low likelihood that RationalWiki's secular users would accept such "proof", this was probably another wise decision.
[edit] Wannabes
Unlike the Gang of Four, the Nag of Four don't enjoy enough support to have many groupies.
- At one time PFoster (now TOP) would have been a shoe-in, but his recent conversion to antitheism on the road to
Damascusthe USA seems to have ruled him out. He has even been proposed as a member of the Gang of Four. - In late March 2009 CUR posted a pro-religion piece in RW and suggested that he be made a member of the group. This was unilaterally rejected by Phantom Hoover who is apparently the new God King of RWW.
