The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.

– Albert Einstein, in a letter to philosopher Erik Gutkind, March 1, 1954

Sounds rather unequivocal to me.

No really. Let’s just say that Mother Teresa was no saint! You do your own research and your own thinking on this one, but if you actually do take a few minutes to learn more about her, you’ll no doubt reach the same conclusion–it’s fucking unavoidable.

By the way, if you don’t already support the Freedom from Religion Foundation, this should make it clear that you should.

Judging by the frequency that the “atheist blogosphere” writes about this topic, I’ll go ahead and venture a guess that I’m not alone in my frustration; there have been some very good articles posted on this topic, including some posted recently.

You know, in a former life (so to speak), yours truly was an “attorney and counselor at law”. The thing that used to “get my goat” more than anything else back then was when someone just felt completely fucking compelled to tell me what “the law says”. And believe me, you’d be surprised just how often people feel compelled to tell a lawyer just what “the law says”. “The law says I can do that!” (The other biggie was the “Can a man?” questions, but I won’t elaborate…)

Today, I get the same “old feeling” when someone tells me “what an atheist believes”.

Here’s the typical scenario: it all starts with me meeting someone. Maybe it’s the parent of one of my kids’ friends, maybe someone standing in a line somewhere, maybe someone somewhere else… That person starts talking all crazy Christian* and–probably about the time they notice I’m not shaking my head in agreement–they ask me point-blank if I agree! My reply is usually along the lines of, “Uh, No. I’m an atheist.” Then there’s the long moment of puzzled disbelief as they, with casual nonchalance, look me over real good to see if they can recognize any of the “telltale” signs of atheism, whatever those are. Not finding any, they usually offer up a fairly standard expression along the lines of, “but wait, I’ve been told repeatedly–by good people that I really trust–that atheists are horrible people, but you seem like an alright fella.” To which I tend to reply along the lines of “well, I think you’ll find that I’m more-or-less representative of the average atheist” followed by the “you do the math” argument. It’s usually about at this point that the person remembers that I am, after all, a self-admitted atheist, so of course whatever I say must be wrong and whatever nonsensical, ill-fitting assertions were made by those “good people” must nonetheless be true. And that’s when the person invariably launches into the long and arduous task of telling me all the various and sundry horrible, horrible things I believe and all the horrible, horrible things I want to see happen.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but I just can’t fucking stand it when it gets to this point, which is not good because my typical response at this point is a polite and dignified, “well then, why don’t you go fuck yourself?” And, of course, that really does no one any good.

So, please GET THIS: an atheist is simply a person who rejects the theist’s claims. It’s really no more complicated than that. I’m not out to destroy you or your church or your family; I’m not out to corrupt your kids**. I just require something more than YOUR BELIEF to convince me that YOUR BELIEF is in fact reality! (And no, it doesn’t help that lots of people believe what you believe. Need I remind you that at one time every living person believed–in fact, it was beyond question–that the Earth was flat?)

If it helps, think of it in terms of our language: what does it mean when a word starts with the prefix “a”? Well, it means “without” or “lacking” or “not”. Ok? It doesn’t mean “against” (“contra”, as in contraceptive) and it also doesn’t mean “opposite of” (“anti” as in antiseptic).

So you see, “atheist” works like “apolitical” or “asocial”. Someone who’s “apolitical” isn’t trying to destroy the two party system or overthrow the government–they just don’t care who’s running in the next election! Likewise, a person who is “asocial” isn’t trying to close down all the bars and restaurants and movie theaters and bowling alleys! They just don’t go to those places themselves…

Get it? I goddamned well hope so. And if not, well, then, why don’t you go fuck yourself?

You know, I grew up in a religious family, in a religious community, and it just doesn’t make sense to me–it just doesn’t work for me in the long run. You know, I never wanted to step on anyone else’s  religion, though, in their beliefs, that’s what’s great about our country. Until, I started seeing a defining policy, as your documentary so astutely showed … you have a group of people telling other people how to live their lives, and you can’t–you can’t do that … you really have to check what country you’re living in, because the freedom that allows you to practice your religion is the same freedom you’re stepping on–that’s not right … and I want to add that, you know, if this was a nation of gay married couples who were telling you you couldn’t practice your religion, I’d be speaking out for you too, so let’s stop the nonsense. [clip #2, around the 2:00 mark]

Needless to say, Pitt’s themes certainly resonate with me.  It seems so patently obvious, why is this so hard for so many others to grasp?

[via The Perplexed Observer]

For those of you who just can’t get your head wrapped around this issue, here’s the skinny:

Barker said that atheists regarded the phrase “In God We Trust” as rude, uncivil and un-American.

“Tens of millions of really good Americans don’t believe in God,” he said. “In fact, there’s many more nonbelievers than there are Jews, and we wouldn’t think of offending Jews on our national monuments. . . . Why is it wrong to offend a Jewish minority but it’s not wrong to offend those of us who serve in the military and sit on juries but don’t believe in God?”

Personally, I think “go fuck yourself” would be a more appropriate term to engrave in a prominent position at the Capitol Visitor Center.  After all, it’s also a term with “a long history” and “consistent with the beliefs of America’s founding fathers” (as evidenced by the Revolutionary War), not to mention being a central theme of the Declaration of Independence.

[via Internet Infidels News Wire]

This is a refrain I’m hearing a lot from religious apologists – atheism is a religion. Also its equally fallacious siblings, science is a religion and evolution is a religion. It’s a sign of their desperation that the best argument they have is not that atheism is wrong, or that god does exist (supported by evidence of course), but that atheism is a religion too. A strange argument for a religious person to make on the face of it.  Is it supposed to strengthen the atheist’s [sic] position or weaken the theist’s [sic] one? In reality it’s a sign they have run out of arguments.

Do yourself a favor and read the rest of the article.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two months after the local atheist organization here put up a billboard saying “Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone,” the group’s 13 board members met in Laura and Alex Kasman’s living room to grapple with the fallout.

The problem was not that the group, the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, had attracted an outpouring of hostility. It was the opposite. An overflow audience of more than 100 had showed up for their most recent public symposium, and the board members discussed whether it was time to find a larger place.

And now parents were coming out of the woodwork asking for family-oriented programs where they could meet like-minded nonbelievers.

Ten national organizations that variously identify themselves as atheists, humanists, freethinkers and others who go without God have recently united to form the Secular Coalition for America, of which Mr. Silverman is president. These groups, once rivals, are now pooling resources to lobby in Washington for separation of church and state.

They liken their strategy to that of the gay-rights movement, which lifted off when closeted members of a scorned minority decided to go public.

“It’s not about carrying banners or protesting,” said Herb Silverman, a math professor at the College of Charleston who founded the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, which has about 150 members on the coast of the Carolinas. “The most important thing is coming out of the closet.”

[via Andrew Skegg on Twitter]

From what I’ve read, ‘The TN Atheist’ and I seem to have a good deal in common, so of course I’ll be reading his blog regularly.  You should check it out too!

Nonbelievers’ ranks grow: Seculars find solace with social network:

Schwartz is part of a growing nationwide trend. A recent American Religious Identification Survey asked 54,461 Americans about their faith. The top three answers were Catholic, Baptist and none. In 2001, 6 percent of Tennesseans who were asked the same question were categorized as having no faith. In 2008, that number jumped to 9 percent.

Wow, up 50% since 2001. That’s not bad, especially in a state where atheists are constitutionally denied the right to hold public office–and, as the article points out, even though those provisions of the state constitution would likely be unenforceable, it still sends a strong message to nonbelievers. So you see, I’m not really concerned about the numbers, per se, but rather about the acceptance that increasing numbers will hopefully bring. And I’m not alone:

Secular Life members said they’ve grown accustomed to saying “No, thank you” when invited to church. They understand those invitations are well intentioned.But they sometimes feel like second-class citizens. Some group members work for the state or businesses with religious ties, and feel they have to hide their unbelief or put their jobs at risk.

True ‘dat.

Schwartz said that he and other members of Secular Life are not anti-religious. They just want a little respect. That’s a message he wants to get across to believers.

“I don’t hate you or your God,” he said. “I just want to live my life.”

[via vjack on Twitter (saw his tweet before making my usual pass through the press)]

If some of what you encounter here seems a bit harsh at times, please understand that this is largely a reaction to being the most hated minority group in the United States and struggling against a culture which sometimes fails to acknowledge our worth as humans.

I might have substituted the phrase “quite often” (if not “most often”) for “sometimes”, but what a quote! Typical of vjack: concise and apt–very, very apt. As I’ve said before, I read Atheist Revolution regularly, and you should too.

OK Folks one more time: Christmas is secularizing BECAUSE it was made a national holiday. This is ONLY happening to Christmas because it is the ONLY religious holiday that has been nationalized — e.g, made mandatory for all Americans. I cannot get my mail, or do my business on Christmas, but I certainly can on Passover or Ramadan. When you make unbelievers comply by force, they will comply the way they can without changing their views, and that’s why Santa is more important than Jesus this time of year. The only solution is to deal with it. It’s too late to change.
[emphasis added]

This is precisely the point I was trying to make last night when I posted this on Twitter:

I love Xmas, but you gotta admit: saying Xmas is “about” Christ is like saying the Super Bowl is “about” the Halftime show…

Why do so many people have so much trouble understanding this?

[via NoGodBlog]

In fact, it turns out that the only combatant in this bitter dispute, a handful of dimwitted Christians, have finally achieved victory over themselves. They have made a thorough mockery of the very holiday they were allegedly defending from imagined threats.

I’ll just bet Bill O’Reilly is thrilled by the Festivus Pole… [/sarcasm]

A federal judge today ruled that the state of South Carolina may not issue a special “Christian” license plate featuring a cross, a stained-glass window and the words “I Believe.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which sponsored the litigation to stop issuance of the plate, hailed the decision.

“The ‘I Believe’ license plate is a clear example of government favoritism toward one religion,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “The court drove home an important point: South Carolina officials have no business meddling in religious matters.”

Here’s an image of the license plate at msnbc.com.

I just don’t see why some people–legislators at that–have such a hard time understanding the plain language of the United States Constitution.

It gets better, though:

Americans United also pointed out that some legislators openly admitted that they would not vote for similar plates for minority faiths.

Asked by a reporter if he would support a license plate for Islam, Rep. Bill Sandifer replied, “Absolutely and positively no…. I would not because of my personal belief, and because I believe that wouldn’t be the wish of the majority of the constituency in this house district.”

There’s the rub. Rep. Sandifer doesn’t understand that just because a majority of his constituency wants to do something, that doesn’t mean it’s ok, or right, or legal. That would be mob-rule, and that is exactly why we have a constitution–to protect us from the mob. Rep. Sandifer just doesn’t get it (where by “it”, I mean, of course, “America”).

It’s amazing how few people understand that the Constitution is there to protect us from democracy—you don’t want the majority to rule. If the majority rules then it’s illegal to be [in any way different]… What you want is a democracy that has safety measures for nuts—that’s all they were doing. The Constitution is essentially saying “we’re going to let the mob rule, but we’re going to protect these particular whack-jobs. And that’s why your whack-jobs always love the Constitution and your mob always loves democracy.

— Penn Jillette, Penn Radio Podcast of November 6, 2006

Me? I love the Constitution.

For those of you who, like South Carolina state representative Bill Sandifer, don’t see what the big deal is, just imagine your state government endorsing a religion that isn’t yours.  Imagine if, instead of the Christian license plate, the state had announced only a license plate depicting a jet airliner crashing into a skyscraper above the phrase “Death to Christian infidels”. Now is it a little easier to see?

At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.

In 2006, a Jewish group sponsored a menorah in the Capitol, to accompany the long-standing tradition of the Christmas tree. This was answered the following year by a nativity scene.

Problem? Not for the people of Washington–at least not initially–and not for the sponsor of the nativity scene:

Asked whether he was bothered by the atheist display next to his Nativity scene, Wesselius said, “I think the Nativity scene will speak for itself.” But he added, “I appreciate freedom of speech and freedom of access. That’s why they’re in there, and hey – you know, that’s great.”

Well-reasoned response. So what is the problem? Well, apparently, freedom of speech is quite offensive to conservative TV personality Bill O’Reilly. Personally, I’ve always been of the opinion that Constitutionally protected rights were among the most traditional of American values. Mr. O’Reilly must be of a different opinion, for he urged his viewers to call the Governor’s office and complain (“Yeah, my name is Joe the Blowhole, and I’m calling to protest this exercise of the Freedom of Speech. I don’t like it when people who don’t believe what I believe actually exercise their rights…”). Whatever.

America truly is “advanced citizenship“. Mr. O’Reilly just doesn’t “get it”. Ironically, this Freedom of Speech that pisses off Mr. O’Reilly is the very Constitutional right that allows him to make such an ass of himself by displaying his remarkable ignorance of basic Constitutional law.

[via EvolutionBlog]

We are at an important crossroads. Do we keep our heads down and hope nobody finds out what we really think, or are we willing to take what will surely be a risky stand? As much as I have struggled with my own misgivings around this, I am becoming increasingly convinced that our failure to speak out, organize, and flex our political power makes us responsible for continued anti-atheist bigotry.

Well said.

On a personal note, this is exactly why I never patronize Chik-fil-A. I tried to go to Chik-fil-A once on a Sunday after church and AH-HAH! — Oh OK, just making sure you were paying attention…

But seriously, I know I’m not hurting their bottom line, and this isn’t the most offensive thing along these lines that I’ve ever seen, but I have no interest in supporting a restaurant that closes it’s doors on Sunday.

To be fair, it’s not like they’re beating anyone over the head with the message that you shouldn’t go to a restaurant on Sunday or any such nonsense (in fact, even though it’s extremely doubtful that this corporate policy, which was started in 1948, is anything other than a “god’s day” policy, their website does offer a non-offensive explanation with secular as well as religious justifications for the policy — meaning that someone who “needed” to see it as non-religious would, if she were willing to strain a little, be able to do so).

And, of course, I’ll go ever further and tell you that I completely support their right to make bad business decisions like closing on Sundays. It’s just that it rubs me the wrong way, so I don’t spend my money there.

My mother was admitted to the neurological intensive care unit, where she remained in a coma for eight days. Test upon test was run: stroke, meningitis, even West-Nile virus.  The results were all negative, save for a urinary tract infection, which in the elderly–especially those with reduced kidney function–can have rather severe effects. As the infection was treated with antibiotics and the week passed, there was really very few signs of improvement.  The doctors (and she had several: a neurologist, nephrologist, infectious disease, internal medicine, and her primary care physician) were simply unable to explain why she was not ‘waking up’ from the coma.  On the eighth day of her coma, she was moved out of the NICU to a regular hospital room, with the intention of beginning ‘hospice care’, which–at least in my mother’s case–is patient-friendly doctor speak meaning “we’ll keep her comfortable while we wait for her to die.”  That’s tough to hear, for anyone.

My brother and I had, that week, discussed at some length with each other and with her doctors the fact that my mother, has a living will and DNR order.  We explained that our mother, a retired Registered Nurse, had long-held beliefs about being kept alive artificially, but that she had no religious or philosophical objections to medical treatment–her position is one that I personally share, essentially that anything goes so long as she is being diagnosed or treated, but that she doesn’t want to be “maintained” on any kind of life support, including respiration, nutrition, dialysis, etc.

My brother and I also had cause to discuss mother’s “last wishes” (funeral vs. cremation, memorial service, etc.), which she has made well known to us over the years.  Not only were we being told by the doctors that she most likely had very little time remaining, but I had a more personal fear.  I confided in my brother that I was personally afraid that our mother would die the following day: my birthday.  It is not uncommon for elderly people to die on dates that hold some significance for them, and there is a history in our family of parents dying on children’s birthdays. So I was somewhat dreading that next day.

The following morning, while I was expecting the worst, our mother ‘woke up’ and began speaking intelligently (meaning her mental state appeared sound), though not at all intelligibly (that would come after the first couple days).  It would be an understatement to say that this took us by surprise.  And, I would be less than completely honest if I didn’t admit that I thought for a brief moment about hitting my knees and thanking god–you know, just in case (“God, if you do exist, I want to thank you…”, etc.).  But I didn’t.  A part of me wanted to, but I just couldn’t.

I often try to explain to my Christian and otherwise religious friends that “nobody wants there to be a god more than me.”  And no, this is not exactly mainstream conversation in atheist circles.  But, what I try to explain is that I’d give almost anything to have even one more day with my deceased father and would give damn near anything for one more day with my deceased daughter.  I think that’s probably one of the most basic and fundamental human emotions or desires.  But, that doesn’t mean that I can make the leap from “wanting” it to be so, to “believing”–much less “knowing”–that it is so.

As easy–and let’s be frank here, comforting–as it may have been to hit my knees and thank a benevolent and merciful god for the incredible gift of hearing my mother strain to wish me a happy birthday after spending a week in a coma, I kept coming back to the idea that if there’s a god who is to be thanked for making my mom better, then isn’t this the same god that let her get so sick in the first place?

This conundrum puts me in mind of the following quote by Epicurus^*:

Is god willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?

Of course, some will say that there’s good that came out of my mother being so sick.  Well, I spent the better part of two weeks smoking like a chimney, eating everything in sight, sick–literally–with worry and stress, missing work, and worst of all, away from my wife and children.  I could go on and on, but really, where’s the good?  Well, some say that we’re not meant or even able to understand, but how does that help?

The true believer will believe in the face of anything.  As has been pointed out before, the true believer needs to believe, and so can’t be inconvenienced by something as meaningless as a lack of evidence or even clear evidence to the contrary.  I understand this–I really do, but that doesn’t mean that I’m able to check my reason or common-sense at the door.

No, I prefer to accept the truth.  Medical science is not perfect and there’s still an awful lot that we don’t understand about the brain.  Unsurprisingly, the organs of the human body are highly inter-related and dependent upon each other.  And, the elderly, difficult as it is for those of us who love them, get sick and sometimes die.  That’s life.  We, as a species, have evolved an amazing ability for self-healing, but this too is not perfect.  

There’s nothing ‘miraculous’ here, but it would be very easy to see it in those terms. When my mother ‘woke’ from her coma, I experienced a surge of emotion that was simply overwhelming. Coupled with the immediate release of stress and tension and worry it was, I dare say, nearly euphoric. But it seems to me that this is exactly the time to take deep breath and not “let your emotions run away with you”, as we’ve all been told by our parents since we were kids. In the end, amazing as it was that my mother ‘woke’ from her coma, she’s still in a very critical and precarious condition. She’s not ‘out of the woods’ by any measure.

I know I’m sort of rambling here–maybe I’m not yet exactly clear on what it is that I’m trying to say, or maybe it’s just really late.  The past two weeks have been a very emotional time for me.  Maybe what I’m trying to say is that while I understand the desire for there to be a loving ‘greater power” watching over us, perhaps anecdotal personal experience isn’t the best thing upon which to base such a belief.  Maybe I’m trying to say that life is goddamned hard sometimes, and maybe it’s ok to get through it any way you can.  Or, maybe I’m just trying to say that I truly love my mother and wish like hell that she didn’t have to be sick.

In the end, what I think I’m trying to say is that we, as a species, have a need to understand things. When we don’t understand something, it’s easy (and often comforting) to attribute this ignorance to god(s)–our species has been doing just that for thousands of years. But ultimately, that approach brings us no closer to the truth or to a real understanding. I prefer to accept reality. And, of course, what we refer to as reality is merely ‘mankind’s collective best understanding of reality’, which ultimately means that sometimes we just don’t know the ‘how’ or ‘why’. Which brings me back to where I started. Fuck, it is late…

I love you Ma.

­

^* Epicurus was a Greek Philosopher (gee, who wasn’t a philosopher in ancient Greece?), who lived from 341-270 B.C.E. He was one of the primary figures in the development of science and the scientific method, and insisted that nothing should be believed if it had not been tested through direct observation and logical deduction.

Gods Don’t Kill People,
People With Gods Kill People.

I think I am going to use my recent post, “Be an Atheist Activist in 30 Minutes a Week,” to inspire a new series of posts on atheist activism. I am calling the series “The 30 Minute Activist” to emphasize the point that one can make a significant difference by devoting a mere 30 minutes a week to atheist activism. While our Christian neighbors are wasting time in church, we can do something worthwhile to benefit our fellow atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, and freethinkers. After all, effective activism does not have to be complicated or difficult.

This is a truly excellent idea and promises to be an extremely helpful and informative series.

Real freedom and genuine equality benefits every American. vjack’s original post “Be an Atheist Activist in 30 Minutes a Week” really resonated with me and does an excellent job of illustrating the fact that you don’t have to lead a march on Washington in order to contribute something of value and make a tangible difference.

In any event, vjack over at Atheist Revolution has written a truly excellent post, Be an Atheist Activist in 30 Minutes a Week. The article is presented from the perspective of how people with time constraints can still make a difference:

How can one person with limited time and resources hope to make a meaningful difference? Fortunately, one can be an effective atheist activist by investing merely 30 minutes a week.

but it’s just as applicable to those who may be, like myself, somewhat reluctant or apprehensive about “engaging in activism”.

Many people know the drill: I live in a highly religulous ‘bedroom community’ that, in addition to very good public schools, has more churches than, well, nearly anything else (including gas stations and convenience stores), and I work for a very conservative company. To say that I am familiar with the “chilling effect” of pervasive anti-atheist fear, discrimination and hatred would be an understatement of gargantuan proportion. Not that any of that really matters–it doesn’t, and we all know why.

But, vjack’s suggestions provide a means by which people like myself can take several steps (or further steps) towards activism–constructive steps at that. And, of course, as your personal “level of comfort” increases with time, you can take further steps as you deem appropriate.

Hey, not everyone is cut out to be another Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens! But, there are things we all can do to help the cause–sitting quietly on the sidelines doesn’t help anything. I’m starting to understand that a little better myself.

I support the Pledge Project, and the fact of the matter is that every American should support the removal of “under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” from our currency. These slogans, while accurately reflecting the position of the majority of our fellow citizens, are discriminatory, and there can really be little argument about that.

The issue with the Pledge is not about whether or not certain people have to say or refrain from saying a pair of words. It has to do with attitudes that say that the government may legitimately teach children to view people who do not believe are to be thought of the same way as those who do not support liberty and justice for all. What is at issue is a principle that, if accepted, would make it permissible for [the government] to have children pledge allegiance to ‘one white nation’ or ‘one arian nation’.

And, even if discriminating against your fellow citizens doesn’t bother you, the slogans should be abandoned from our Pledge and currency if for no other reason than that these slogans are the remnants of the “red scare” of the 1950s¹, a period about which most Americans look back on with disbelief if not outright shame. Need I point out that this distasteful episode in American history was merely the result of ethnocentrism? Being scared or frightened of something (or someone) simply because it is “different” is perhaps the most universal human emotion, but that doesn’t mean it is well-founded (or even supportable).

In any event, this is America, and America often requires us support–or endure–the views of others, uncomfortable though it may be. This too is how we defend liberty and ensure freedom to all Americans. It’s not about forcing those in the minority to agree with those in the majority–it’s about protecting the very right of the minority to disagree. And why? Because you never know when one of your views will become the minority position, duh! One of my favorite fellow nutjobs makes an excellent point on this topic:

It’s amazing how few people understand that the Constitution is there to protect us from democracy—you don’t want the majority to rule. If the majority rules then it’s illegal to be [in any way different]… What you want is a democracy that has safety measures for nuts—that’s all they were doing. The Constitution is essentially saying “we’re going to let the mob rule, but we’re going to protect these particular whack-jobs. And that’s why your whack-jobs always love the Constitution and your mob always loves democracy.

– Penn Jillette in his ‘Penn Radio’ podcast of November 6, 2006

AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
Office of the National Affiliate Outreach Director &
Alabama State Director

http://www.atheists.org

http://www.atheists.org/al/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUG 11, 2008

For more information, please contact:
Blair Scott, National Affiliate Outreach Director and Alabama State Director, (256) 701-6265, bscott@atheists.org

ATHEISTS HAIL DECISION BY WILSON COUNTY TN FAIR TO OFFER “CHURCH BULLETIN” DISCOUNT TO RELIGIOUS AND NON-RELIGIOUS CITIZENS

Hale Moss, the President of Wilson County Promotions advised reporters at the Lebanon Democrat that printouts from Web Pages of non-religious groups would be honored at all ticketing booths to receive the “church bulletin” discount at the Wilson County Fair’s “God and Country Day” on August 17th 2008.

Blair Scott, the National Affiliate Outreach Director for American Atheists said, “I am exceptionally glad to hear about Mr. Moss’ decision. I am pleased to hear that Wilson County had made the decision to honor all groups regardless of their religious or non-religious affiliation. I was excited to pass this information on to non-religious groups in Lebanon, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Huntsville, Birmingham, and even nationally.”

Atheists around the region are ecstatic about the news that they will not be discriminated against and will receive equal discount and treatment as religious citizens.

Mr. Scott, along with atheists from across the region, including Secular Life Nashville, North Alabama Freethought Association, and Florence United Non-Theists will continue their plan to gather at the Wilson County Fair on August 17th to support Foxhole Atheists. Area Atheists will be wearing t-shirts supporting Foxhole Atheists proudly serving in our nation’s military branches.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers, works for the total separation of church and state, and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.

American Atheists, Inc.
PO BOX 158
Cranford, NJ 07016
Tel: (908) 276-7300
Fax: (908) 276-7402

I mean, personally, I just LOVE having my property taxes increased–not to improved education, mind you, but because of the rising cost of defending lawsuits based on actions that any tenth grader should be able to see are patently unconstitutional… I mean, Jesus fucking Christ, if Gawd wants people who run schools to be promoting a religion (anyone want to meet me at the flagpole for some good old-fashioned blasphemy?) why can’t he tell those stupid motherfuckers to go to work for a fucking private school? But, I digress…

AMERICAN ATHEISTS
Office of Blair Scott, National Affiliate Outreach Director &
Alabama State Director, AMERICAN ATHEISTS
PO Box 41, Ryland, AL. 35767-2000
(256)-701-6265

Support Foxhole Atheists at the Wilson County Fair,
Lebanon, TN. Sunday, August 17, 2008

The Wilson County, TN. Fair — a department of the county government — is holding an official “God and Country Day” on August 17, 2008. The GCD will include a parade honoring America’s servicemen and servicewomen. The theme of the event, though, excludes the many Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists and other nonbelievers who have worn the uniform and served their country with dignity and pride! AMERICAN ATHEISTS asks that supporters of Foxhole Atheists meet at 12:00 noon (Sunday, August 17, 2008) at the ticketing area. We’ll have lunch inside the fairgrounds before heading over to the “God and Country Day” parade, wearing appropriate t-shirts to support our troops and, specifically, Foxhole Atheists!

In addition to the GCD event, the Wilson County Fair is offering $2.00 off the cost of general admission to anyone showing a church bulletin. You can let Wilson County officials know about the discriminatory nature of this unconstitutional promotion of sectarian religion by calling 615-443-2626. Print out a copy of your local freethinkers’ group web page, or the American Atheists web site home page (http://www.atheists.org) and bring it with you. Demand the $2.00 off your general admission as well.

If possible, please wear a T-shirt supporting Foxhole Atheists. http://www.zazzle.com/support_foxhole_atheists_shirt-235432947356878587 and http://www.zazzle.com/foxhole_atheist_t_shirt-235282694991467011
Show your support of Foxhole Atheists with this T-shirt. If you are active duty or retired military, you can let the world know that you are a Foxhole Atheist! The 10% commission on all sales of these two T-shirt designs will be donated to the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers (MAAF), an official Affiliate of American Atheists.

For updates and further information, contact Blair Scott, the Alabama State Director for American Atheists at scott@atheists.org”>bscott@atheists.org, or 256-701-6265.

WHAT: Show support for Foxhole Atheists at the Wilson County (TN) Fair “God and Country Day” event

WHEN: Sunday, August 17, 2008 — 12:00 Noon

WHERE: Wilson County Fairgrounds — James F. Ward Agricultural Center, 945 Baddour Parkway, Lebanon, TN. 615-443-2626.

MORE INFO: Blair Scott, Alabama State Director for AMERICAN ATHEISTS (bscott@atheists.org, http://www.atheists.org/al)

AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends the civil rights of nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS PO BOX 158 CRANFORD, NJ 07016

Have a nice day.

To be fair, I can understand wanting to make this argument. It’s both powerful and persuasive: “you can’t possibly have a problem with ‘X’ for you yourself do/believe ‘X’.” Problem is, it simply doesn’t apply in this case.

Unless they know something about this “God” – how he created everything; why he created it; what he’s likely to do next – it’s a lack of an explanation. It’s just a placeholder until a real explanation comes along. [...] The placeholder prevents investigation into the real explanation. The theist is the one with the faith – faith that “God” is the explanation and that no other is possible. The atheist is content to say “we don’t know”. For now, anyway. And it’s obvious that saying “we don’t know,” requires no faith.

My experience has been that the more I read the Bible the more obvious it is to me that it was written by a small group of men trying to get a religion started that would benefit them. When you read the Bible carefully, does it really appear to be inspired by an all-knowing, all-powerful and loving god? There are just way too many errors, contradictions and horrible teachings for the Bible not to be the work of human beings. [...] If more people would read the Bible carefully, I think there would be a lot more atheists and agnostics in this world.

[emphasis added]

This is a well-reasoned article. You should go read it…

[via Unreasonable Faith]

Many Christians seem so hung up on the idea of worship that they cannot comprehend how anyone could not worship something. We atheists are routinely accused of worshiping Darwin, science, humanity, and even ourselves. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do not worship anything, and it baffles me why this is so difficult for some Christians to understand.

Worshiping makes no sense to me, and I’m not sure it ever has. Even as a Christian, it bothered me that the sort of god who demanded worship could be deserving of it. I dealt with this gnawing doubt the same way many Christians do – by trying not to think about it.

Nailed it! “by trying not to think about it.”

Psychologically, the common tendency of Christians to denigrate atheists by making us seem more like them is fascinating. We see it with the claims that atheists must worship something and that atheism requires faith. There are many ways in which atheists and Christians are similar, but these are not among them.

How true.

[via Atheist Revolution]

So, what is my advice to evangelical Christians on “witnessing” to atheists? Don’t do it. Told you is was simple.

Here is why you should not “witness” to atheists:

[...]

5. We don’t come to your home and evangelize atheism. Maybe we should, but we don’t. Reflect on how you would like an atheist interrupting your family time or attempting to promote atheism with your children. How about treating us how you would like to be treated?

You know, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that last sentence somewhere before… I think maybe it was worded a little differently, but I know I’ve heard that before. [/sarcasm]

[via Atheist Revolution]