But since the topic of CNN came up, I found a clip from CNN on YouTube about the atheist billboard that went up in New Jersey. The interviewer talked to the president of the American Atheists and to the head of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue. Donohue complained, "Are we just pinatas? Are we going to accept this kind of thing as a doormat?" The implication being that you can throw up any piece of trash on a billboard (and we've all seen some pretty racy billboards) or any religious message we want or any charitable group's message, or virtually anything, but no way can we allow atheists to express themselves. There it is in a nutshell. Religion wants complete and unquestioned acceptance by everyone in society while non-believers are forced to defend themselves and their public rights from an onslaught of religious hysteria.
Yes, there is nothing original in christianism. It is only the latest christ myth out of many. Sure, it feels good to believe it. It's kind of satisfying in a puerile way, but the human mind cannot be fooled for long unless we deliberately choose to do so. Christ is a myth, but that doesn't mean we can't have a load of good cheer and fun during midwinter! I don't care whether you call the virgin-born god Attis, Dionysus, Osiris, Jesus, or Mithra, or whether you call the day Victory of the Sun, Birthday of Sol Invictus, Christmas, or Haloea. I don't care what you believe or the names they go by. No, really, I don't. So, I won't say your billboards are offensive if you won't say mine are just because the message is different. It's only fair to want the same consideration in return. Can you do that for me?
2 comments:
Your comment about how the mind refuses to be fooled by these stories which overwhelm us as children is spot on. Let's call it indoctrination and let's admit that belief of this kind is what it is: Mass Hysteria. I am of the opinion that most humans do quietly, internally come to Tue realization that a God does not exist. Saddened that life will cease at some point, yes. And still aware of that amazing evolutionary mechanism in us to SURVIVE. The feeble minds entertain the MYTH. But truly if a belief in God existed would any of the world exist as it does? Not only would we never Dream of picking our nose, we could not conceive of committing the innumerable "sins" of every day life. We would all rush ourselves to a monastery. Religion offers more than a mild existential comfort. It offers a societal approval of whom we are. Intellectuals who claim belief are merely creative or simply liars defining God broadly to excuse the concrete ridiculousness of it all. Culturally in the U.S. atheists will rise, but as with all things inevitable, it takes time. I grew up in a U.S. where a black president was inconceivable. Some laughed when Mondale chose his running mate. My God. If he died there would be a vagina in the oval office. Gay Rights have moved further than I could have conceived as well. I mean this comment is coming from a smart phone. So. Do not despair. Just speak out again and again to the fools whom still wait for 2000 years for the latest virgin birth/son-sun God to return. And enjoy your Xmas tree and gift giving like the next man.
I don't despair. Just like George Bush and the reasons behind the Iraq war, the reasons for religion will change over time. Now they search for the savior to come a second time who never came even the first time. When their sky god doesn't return within the next few hundred years, they'll change their religion to fit the new circumstances. Religion evolves, too, and it will eventually evolve itself into nothing.
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