Godless Haven will soon be shutting its doors after more than a decade online.

When I started this site back in 2008, inspired by conversations in an Ethics class I was enrolled in, there was little plan for it other than to serve as a personal blog of sorts where I might communicate my thoughts on religion, science, philosophy, and the like. I’d like to think that since that time, GH has evolved substantially in its design, the quality of its content, and the audience. I have always tried to keep this place relatively free of advertisements, branding-obsessed atheist organizations, and political interest groups, among other things, so as to remain focused on the discourse, the arguments, and the ideas featured here. Unfortunately, that has also meant that for the better part of its lifetime, GH has been unprofitable, to say the least, and has grown at a snail’s pace without having made use of next to any online marketing strategies.

For a long time, this has truly been a labor of love, but this enthusiasm has admittedly trickled out over the past few years. New Atheism stopped being new quite a while ago, yet much of the atheist movement seems practically stuck in the shadow of that time, wanting to revisit the same old arguments and debates while excluding other issues and endeavors that might stand some chance of elevating a movement that has been gradually sinking into the dust bin of history along with some of the teachings and religions it’s been happy to criticize. One of the more formidable challenges for us as atheists has been to stay relevant and show that atheism can be meaningful to people, but no movement persists for long when it has little to offer outside of intellectual curiosities and conversations.

Sadly, many of the prominent voices within the atheist community have shown they are more willing to side with religious conservatives than they are to rethink their own biases, prejudices, or even bigotries. Not only does this pose a problem for demonstrating what relevance and meaningfulness the movement might have, this behavior makes it ring extraordinarily hollow when the specter of rationality is raised by these same voices to critique all positions but their own. Another significant factor in this change of attitude for me has come from the time spent pursuing a degree myself, interacting with believers and unbelievers alike, recognizing the multitudes of different ways of thinking, and understanding more about what it means to commit oneself to the ideals of honest, constructive dialogue. Such things are too important, in my humble opinion, to be treated as carelessly as they often are in this day and age.

Even so, this demands mental resources, time, and other things in short supply of late. I’m sure I’m not alone in this expression of exhaustion. Whatever comes next, though, has to be chosen. It’s a tad bittersweet to say, but I think GH has just outlived its purpose by now.

To all of you that have read, liked, shared, tweeted, and corresponded with me on the work that I’ve put into the site, I can’t say thank you enough. It has certainly helped make this a more rewarding experience maintaining the site over the years. The content I’ve created here won’t be disappearing, either, it will just be moving to my blog. New writings are popping up there still on a semi-frequent basis, too, so I’d be delighted if you decided to subscribe or follow the blog. As always, your support is much appreciated. Thanks for sticking around during this wild ride.