As the Christmas season approaches (or, some might say, lumbers through its three month marathon), a rising level of tension between atheists and Christians has worked its way onto the public stage. A variety of atheist organizations have launched public campaigns that either encourage free thought or viciously attack religion—which is all dependent on your point of view.
In Washington D.C. the American Humanist Association paid for ads to run on local buses that read, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” Two offended Christian groups are independently paying to have their own ads run on local buses. The Pennsylvania Friends of Christ have ads that read, “Believe in God. Christ is Christmas for goodness’ sake,” while the Center for Family Development is running ads that read, “Why Believe? Because I created you and I love you, for goodness’ sake—GOD.”
Although there have been hundreds of complaints, Candace Smith, a spokesperson for the D.C. Metro, was quoted as saying:
“As a public agency, Metro must observe the First Amendment with respect to the acceptance of commercial advertising…Although we understand that feelings and perceptions will vary among individuals within the community, we cannot reject advertising because an individual, or group, finds it inappropriate or offensive.”
The city of Rancho Cucamongo in California did not have similar scruples when they had a billboard taken down in late November. It was scheduled to run from November until January—right through the Christmas season. The sign, which read “Imagine no religion,” was inspired by John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Ironically, Lennon just made his way back into the good graces of at least one organized religion, with the Vatican forgiving him this past November for a Jesus joke he made in 1966. A Wisconsin group is suing Rancho Cucamongo, saying that removing the billboard is a violation of the First Amendment.
In Washington state a brouhaha has erupted over the inclusion of a sign at the capitol building in Olympia, put up by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), next to a nativity scene. The sign reads:
At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
This is our only natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.
Since the group assumed that the sign would be turned around by those who disagree with it, a message was printed on the back that reads, “State/Church: Keep Them Separate.”
This story hit the national news waves when the ever-charming Bill O’Reilly invited Dan Barker, co-president of the FFRF, and Father Jonathan Morris, a Fox News columnist and frequent contributor, to discuss this issue on his show. Watch the video below:
In a column discussing this issue, Father Morris writes:
Wake up America! If we allow these activists to re-write history, they will. They will deny the faith of our fathers and offer blasphemous interpretations of our Constitution. They will start with their own version of the separation of church and state, then move on to whitewashing the public square to rid it of all religious expression, and finally arrive at an atheistic indoctrination of our children.
O’Reilly later called Washington Governor Christine Gregoire “Pontius Pilate” and a “pinhead.”
Speaking to hundreds at a rally against the sign (and within earshot of three counter-protesters with a sign that read, “Get Over It”), Reverend Ken Hutchinson of the Antioch Bible Church said that this issue had led Washington to be “the armpit of America.” New Jersey—the home of Jersey tomatoes, the Pine Barrens, Atlantic City, most of the country’s pharmaceutical companies and, formerly, me—will reluctantly cede this much sought out honor.
Monica Guzman at The Big Blog makes a very cogent point, in response to the last line of the sign in Olympia: “It’s difficult not to read that last statement as an attack on both religion and its followers. If Freedom From Religion had not written those last 12 words on its Olympia placard, would we still have a controversy?”
Perhaps most interesting is the history leading up to the atheist sign. A tree had been displayed inside the capitol building for years when a local Jewish group paid for a menorah to be shown as well. This led a local man to sue for the right to have a nativity in the capitol, which in turn led to a ruling that allowed the inclusion of the atheist sign. Because no one requested a menorah this year, one has not been included, sparing the Jews any involvement in this debacle.
On the Media, an NPR program, discusses the rise of a new, more visible and active atheism while managing to quote both South Park and Dr. Gregory House, thus winning over the hearts of every male in his teens or twenties. Read the transcript here, or listen to the segment below:
Although ending a discussion of religion and atheism with a quotation from Richard Dawkins might be considered poor form, in this particular case he may hold the key to a season full of Christian-Atheist peace:
So divorced has Christmas become from religion that I find no necessity to bother with euphemisms such as happy holiday season. In the same way as many of my friends call themselves Jewish atheists, I acknowledge that I come from Christian cultural roots. I am a post-Christian atheist. So, understanding full well that the phrase retains zero religious significance, I unhesitatingly wish everyone a Merry Christmas.