To tell you the truth, it’s getting harder to deal with the horrible things said about us, though.  This is especially true as the attacks against us have been growing steadily in the past few years.  It’s frankly infuriating, but I will do my best to continue to monitor religious bigotry, especially against the nonreligious, and present it to you.  There is a bright side: the bigots are more vocal against us because we are being more vocal.  That is bound to happen.  Many nonreligious are no longer scared to speak out, nor are we scared to simply acknowledge that we exist.  In that sense, we are continuing to gain ground.

To those of you who have written to me during this absence, I have not ignored you.  Expect responses soon.

Now on to the promised links:

Christian Bus Ads Fire Back (KCCI.com)

Christian ministry “Covenant of Love” is has their own pro-Christian ads on buses on Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority buses this month.  It is reportedly in response to the recent atheist ads that have been on buses throughout the country.  From what I have seen, the article title seems misleading.  The ads don’t appear confrontational in any way; I would hardly say that they “fire back.”  They simply express their own positive view of Christianity, and that’s a great thing.  This is what we need, dialogue, which we have been essentially excluded from for too long.  We get our say and the religious get theirs.  Religious ads have existed since long before the atheist ads, though.  One could argue the religious already more than had their chance, and in fact dominated the discussion.  This is more confirmation that we are making headway.  We are a threat.  Despite the long history of unopposed religiosity, they feel that they need to respond to us.

Atheist group takes message to Lakeland via billboard (Tampa Bay Online – TBO.com)

Talking about ads, another atheist group has put up a billboard, this time by the Atheists of Florida.  As with the rest, there is nothing offensive unless one chooses to be offended.  It’s a message to other like-minded people that they are not alone, just as with other billboards that have gone up: “Don’t Believe in God?  You are not alone.”

Of course, the website’s comments display the same bigotry and irrational thought we have come to expect from bigots whenever atheists dare even display that we exist.  For example:

Posted by ( zgolf1 ) on 11/02/2009 at 01:53 pm.

I think that the people behind this billboard should stand on a street corner in Polk county and spread their word directly to the people. I am fairly certain that before the day was out that their beliefs would change once that were loaded onto bayflight.

Threatening members of the Atheists of Florida with physical violence because they state that atheists exist?  That’s not very Christian.

As for the actual content, the article is based around the same basic tired old attack bigots always levy against the nonreligious: there is no other basis for morality than religious belief, and therefore those without religion are immoral, being able to do whatever they like without any conscience.  That’s news to me and the many others like me who have no religious faith, yet have quite a strong sense of right and wrong.

From the article:

If you only go around once, then the main thing is to have fun. If you start by admitting that from cradle to tomb it isn’t that long of a stay, then life is a cabaret, old chum, and so, by the way, is Wall Street. There is a bumper sticker favored by some of the recently rich that proclaims “he who dies with the most toys wins.” This is indeed the moral philosophy of those who believe that death is the final closing bell. Materialism, hedonism and Stairmasters are what people do until the clock stops ticking.

I’m not going to go through a whole debunking of this claim.  The entire history of the fields of ethical studies, philosophy, and reality show this claim to be untrue on its face – morality is not the exclusive domain of religion by any means.  To then take this argument and use it to claim we are therefore responsible for the economic collapse – without one shred of evidence to show that a large percentage of those in economic fields who are responsible are actually atheist – is ignorant, hateful, ridiculous, but also quite sad.

It’s sad that Mr. Lebedoff is so desperate to find a scapegoat for our situation that he attacks an easy target – a minority already vilified throughout history by the religious majority.  Every time I reread his column I can’t make myself angry, only slightly amused at how ridiculous his claims are yet sadder about the hate he has for an entire group of people that have never done anything to him, no matter how much he would like to believe we have.

This is not to say that atheists shouldn’t get angry when they are attacked like this.  To an extent anger is healthy; it pushes atheists to fight against such bigotry and demand the same respect as anyone else, religious or not.  I will end with a great reader comment on the article, from someone (peterbb59) who did get angry, and articulated it very well.  It was originally one long paragraph, so I split it up for legibility.  It can be read in its original form at the article linked above.

Mr Lebedoff, In this article you have done nothing but engaged in a mischievous orgy of ignorant, self-indulgent bigotry. You clearly know nothing whatever, and probably care even less, about the realities of the lives of most atheists. You have attributed without reference, the worlds economic problems squarely on the shoulders of atheists in exactly the same fashion NAZI Germany blamed the Jews. You might remember the outcome of that folly. Where is your evidence for this assertion Mr Lebedoff?

In my OPINION, the global financial crisis is more likely to be caused by greedy conservatives of deeply fundamentalist religious conviction than by atheists, but unlike you I don’t have the resources to prove it. With the resources at your disposal, and given your mandate to deliver news and opinion based on truth, you should be able to back your claim with some researched facts, so where are they?

Let me now tell you briefly about my mother. She will be eighty in two months, yet she still has the energy to spend most of her time doing voluntary community service. A self funded retiree, she uses her own car to deliver “Meals on Wheels” to the elderly and infirm who are unable to prepare food for themselves. She is a committee member of the local historical society, and performs “museum duty” twice a week. Formerly an English and History teacher of the highest regard, she adjudicates student debates at least twice a month, and uses her own car for travel to nearby towns for this purpose. Being highly literate and intelligent, she proof-reads journal submissions and book manuscripts by all manner of scholarly folk who seek out her help in this regard. She attends the local Uniting Church so parents and friends have access to her for advice with their childrens’ education. Caring deeply about humanity and the environment equally, she donates whatever she can afford to worthy causes.

Ever since I can remember, my mother has always lived a frugal life on principle, and advocates others also do so. Now Mr Lebedoff, I want you to know that my mother is among those whom you accuse in your ignorant tirade against your imagined evils of atheism. She also happens to be very much representative of many other atheists I know personally. By attacking atheists out of such gross ignorance Mr Lebedoff, you directly insult a great many good people like my mother, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for committing such a disgracefully immoral act.