“Why do Atheists Hate America”.
The RW Christians are engaging in yet another round of outrage against atheists with a new billboard campaign. It seems they didn’t like the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s billboards that read, simply, Imagine No Religion, a reference to Imagine by John Lennon. In response, InGodWeTrustUSA.org asks: Why Do Atheists Hate America?
The nation’s largest atheist group wants you to imagine a world without the Pledge of Allegiance, without faith, without patriotism, and without America as we know it.
Right off they hit us with the big lies that atheists are not and cannot be patriots, and that without faith/Christianity patriotism would not exist. Also without faith and Christianity “America as we know it” would cease to exist. Of course to an extent that second part is true. Just imagine how much bigotry and oppression we could dispense with by eradicating Christianity alone.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation has begun posting their “Imagine No Religion” billboards all across the country. So, In God We Trust has created our own billboard campaign asking “Why Do Atheists Hate America?”
Hmmmm, I wonder what would happen if we were to erect billboards asking Why do Christians Hate America? . I imagine the furor would set the country on fire from coast to coast. But it’s still acceptable for Christians to put up inflammatory billboards like Why do Atheists Hate America? . Maybe we should be discussing why that is rather than this phony “Christian persecution”.
Why does this particular atheist group seem to want to banish people of faith? Our sign doesn’t say, ‘Imagine No Atheists.’ All we want is a public debate. We want the atheists to defend some of the Anti-American statements they’ve made.
I’m not a member of the group myself and cannot, therefore, speak for them. However speaking as an independent atheist, I don’t want to banish people of faith and I know most atheists don’t. We just disapprove of the stranglehold faith/religion has on our nation and the way it is crammed down our throats constantly. We dislike the notion many people of faith have that they have the inherent right to impose their religion on everybody, whether those people like it or not. We want people of faith to use faith to guide their own lives, not use it as a weapon against others. We’re also quite willing to defend our statements so feel free to ask us, in a rational manner, about them.
Not only that, but we would like to know how ‘Imagine No Religion’ is different than ‘Imagine No Christians’ or ‘Imagine No Jews’?
Religion is a belief system, an ideology. It is not a person, animal or other living being. Therefore if it ceased to exist no harm would have been done to anybody. Saying Imagine no Religion is not the same as saying Imagine no Christians or Imagine no Jews because the latter two statements involve living beings who could come to harm.
Think about what these atheists are really saying. ‘Imagine No Mother Theresa?’ ‘Imagine No Martin Luther King, Jr.?’ I guess that’s the kind of world in which these atheists think we would all be better off living.
Christians are very fond of citing MLK and Mother Theresa as evidence of the good religion can bring to the world. However people such as Hitler, Jack Hyles, Earl Paulk, Angel Maturino Resendiz, and countless others commit heinous acts in the name of religion/God. Religion also causes a great deal of divisiveness, bigotry, war and even genocide. Accordingly it’s easy to claim that religion is a force of evil as well as good.
They then continue with a page titled The Atheists’ Opinion of America. It includes various quotes from FFRF, no doubt cherry-picked to get the best reactions from their RRRW audience.
Finally, Christianity is harmful. More people have been killed in the name of a god than for any other reason. The Church has a shameful, bloody history of Crusades, Inquisitions, witch-burnings, heresy trials, American colonial intolerance, disrespect of indigenous traditions (such as American Indians), support of slavery, and oppression of women.
– Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President in Losing Faith in Faith Page 217In any event, the Colonists of the 1630s did not establish our country. The United States of America was founded a century and a half later. If we are going back one hundred and fifty years before our founding, why stop there? Native Americans were on this continent at least twelve thousand years before the American Revolution. These were the true discoverers of our land, and if we must return to the tradition of our founders, then all “true Americans” should adopt the pantheistic, polytheistic, natural system of Native American religions. The “Christian nation” argument is racist. (So is Columbus Day, for that matter.)
– Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President in Losing Faith in Faith Page 307The Declaration of Independence had nothing to do with religious freedom . . .
– Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President in Losing Faith in Faith Page 307
All of those statements are true. They are not in any way hateful towards religion, Christians or America. Why should atheists or the FFRF apologize for stating the truth, even if it hurts the feelings of those who might find it uncomfortable?
The current climate in the United States, which is in the throes of a theo-patriotic kneejerk response to 9/11, has had a very depressing and muzzling effect on the campaign for human rights. Progressive organizations have actually all grown a bit in membership, but the economic toll is going to be bad in the long run.
– Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President - Keynote speech to the International Humanist and Ethical Union, meeting at Conway Hall in London, England, Fall 2003Bush’s proclamation of Friday, September 14, as a “National Day of Prayer and Remembrance” shows the pitfalls of the “God is on our side” mentality, and the dangers of religious patriotism. While it may be natural for religious persons to turn to religion or prayer for solace, it is not the role of the President of the United States, or his spokespersons, to urge citizens to pray, to go to church, to turn to faith, or to observe a National Day of Prayer with worship. Prayer had its chance on September 11, and it failed. Imagine the unanswered prayers of hundreds or thousands of the victims of these terrorists. Official prayer will not solve any problems. The “God is on our side” mentality was responsible for these tragic acts of terrorism. We must not compound the dangers by a “One Nation Under God” response.
– Freedom From Religion Foundation Press Release 9/13/07
Therein lies more of the “If you’re not with us you’re against us–and that’s bad” mentality that the RRRW harbors. Conformity at all costs, diversity is to be drummed out, naysayers are hunted down and denounced. What is wrong with somebody having a different opinion? Why does everybody have to believe exactly what you do? Why is your belief the only acceptable one? There are three colors on the American flag, not one. So why do you demand that every American fit into your narrow mold?
How does coercing my sixth-grader to endorse concepts that run counter to our family’s values promote unity? Whether my child remains seated for the Pledge or feels compelled to stand with the believers (the real Americans), a precious integrity has been sacrificed…
– Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President in Freethought Today November 2001
How would Christians feel if their children were compelled to state every day that God did not exist? How would they feel if their children were forced to say the Pledge every day, but instead of “under God” the phrase was “under Allah” or “under Thor”? It seems Christians never have a problem forcing others to comply with their beliefs, but have a very real issue when they’re forced to comply with others beliefs (or lack thereof).
Although I feel that churches should be directly taxed, the climate might not yet be ripe for such reform…Since only a tiny portion of church donations truly goes to charity, we should allow only a percentage of religious contributions to be deductible from personal income.
– Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President in Losing Faith in Faith Page 259Religion also poses a danger to mental health, damaging self-respect, personal responsibility, and clarity of thought.
– Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President in Losing Faith in Faith Page 217Christians have an unhealthy view of human nature, and they seem hell-bent on proving it. If they had a more natural view of self and sex, and if they were allowed to grow to a level of self confidence, they could become mature adults able to handle their own sexuality in a responsible and positive manner.
– Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President in Losing Faith in Faith Page 285
Once again, these are all true statements. Anybody who wishes to do so is free to dispute them but the fact that they make people experience cognitive dissonance doesn’t make atheists haters of America.
If Christianity were simply untrue I would not be too concerned. Santa is untrue, but it is a harmless myth which people outgrow. But Christianity, besides being false, is also abhorrent.
– Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President in Losing Faith in Faith Page 215The vote by the House of Representatives on Dec. 11, 2007, to approve H. Res. 847, “Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith,” was both a meaningless exercise in pandering, and a meaningful gauge of how quickly politicians still roll over and play dead when confronted with a religious “gotcha” issue.
– Freedom From Religion Foundation Press Release 12/14/07In our religion-drenched society, it is just assumed that if it’s religious, it’s good. We question whether basing decisions on faith, which basically means with no evidence, rather than on reality, can ever be good for people or for society. Since there is no proof for various religious claims, it creates divisiveness.
– Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President press release 12/5/07
See my comments above.
Maybe the question we should be asking is not Why do Atheists Hate America but Why do RRRW Christians Hate America and Everybody in it? Why do they feel compelled to shove their narrow minded views down the throats of everybody regardless of what anybody else wants or feels? Why do they think they are the moral authority of the nation and feel they have the right to speak for everybody? Why do they have the right to selectively interpret the Bible and use it as a weapon against others? I could go on and on but I’m sure I’ve made my point.
Atheists do not hate America. Atheists just want to be free to enjoy it along with everybody else, free from the iron fist of busybodies who think they have the right to impose their beliefs on others. Nothing more.
Addendum. A comment has been received (and I anticipate more as this post is on the Carnival of the Godless #86). Mike H. says:
Very well done, I am glad I found this post through the Carnival of the Godless.
Thank you, Mike. I’ve been a fan of COTG for a long while, and am thrilled to now be featured on it from time to time. I’m glad you enjoyed my post.
Tags: Freedom From Religion Foundation
