The article itself is funny<\/a>, in a sort of warped early 20th century central European propaganda leaflet sort of way.\u00a0 But the comments, that\u2019s where the gems are.\u00a0 The premise of this, like so many modern atheist organizations, is that religion is entirely evil, stupid, against learning, and the primary cause of suffering in the world.\u00a0 If we take good old commenter Ulrich at his word, it\u2019s those Bible thumpers who routinely resort to violence.\u00a0 Just what violence I\u2019m not sure, but it must happen daily since it\u2019s a common response on atheist blogs. <\/p>\nNow, it\u2019s tempting to try to point to the Communist regimes of the 20th century, those\u00a0which suppressed and oppressed religion and sought a culture devoid of religious influence, for proof that such a viewpoint is devoid of reality at best.\u00a0 But like most things, atheists \u2013 shockingly \u2013 have answers for that: the Communists treated their Communism like religion; the leaders wanted to be worshipped as gods (making it a religion I guess); the Communist states, despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary, were actually quite friendly toward religion; the various leaders like Mao, Stalin, and Pol Pot were actually devout worshippers of their respective cultural religions and that\u2019s why they were so evil.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
This is the post-modern age after all.\u00a0 We don\u2019t go look for facts, we go looking for ammunition.\u00a0 Any pre-post-modern take on the recent history of the world would show that religion has had little impact over the last 100 years.\u00a0 The last century was really one in which modern, non-religious philosophies and movements vied for the loyalty and submission of the people in various nations who might otherwise have been led to resist, sometimes because of traditional religious values.\u00a0 In some cases, such as the concept of nationalism, the forces had absolutely nothing to do with religion and were often seen as alternatives to a religiously structured culture. <\/p>\n
But, again, this would require objectivity, real scholarship, and a desire for truth, rather than winning.\u00a0 As with any propaganda, the FFRF does not seek to enlightened, but it seeks to empower.\u00a0 It uses the basic building blocks of propaganda for this purpose: You are the true master race, while at the same time being the hapless victim, and it is those people \u2013 THOSE PEOPLE \u2013 who are the villains, their culture, race, religion, philosophy, whatever.\u00a0 Such an approach doesn\u2019t seek to sit down and say, \u2018let us reason together.\u2019\u00a0 It seeks to paint the opposition in the starkest contrasts possible. <\/p>\n
Not that people of religious faith are immune to this type of thinking.\u00a0 When watching your cherished liberties and freedoms being assaulted with overwhelming glee, and seeing that many of the major institutions of your society are aligned against you, it\u2019s easy to begin firing back with the same broad brushstrokes.\u00a0 I know I\u2019ve caught myself falling into that \u2018all atheists are\u2026\u2019 trap.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Fact is, most atheists probably aren\u2019t.\u00a0 Most probably just want a nation where they can be atheists without being put upon with the government\u2019s consent.\u00a0 That\u2019s fair enough.\u00a0 Most atheists are probably like most religious people \u2013 good folks just trying to pay bills, raise kids, and keep the lawn mowed.\u00a0 The problem is, while people of faith have been so conditioned to see the terrors of their own faith\u2019s history, and therefore are often quick to jump on others of the same faith who we feel are acting in ways inconsistent with the Gospel (there is an entire branch of ministry, I think, that deals with attacking fellow Christians who aren\u2019t as good as I am in defending the faith), far too many atheists seem unwilling to call such farcical groups as FFRF on the carpet.<\/p>\n
That leads me to one of two conclusions.\u00a0 Either they simply can\u2019t see what\u2019s obvious, which means they are no help in defending my liberties against those who would threaten them.\u00a0 Or secretly, way down inside, they are, in fact, hoping\u00a0that the FFRF and other such organizations actually accomplish what they clearly wish to achieve.\u00a0 And neither option does any good, at least IMHO.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The article itself is funny, in a sort of warped early 20th century central European propaganda leaflet sort of way.\u00a0 But the comments, that\u2019s where the gems are.\u00a0 The premise of this, like so many modern atheist organizations, is that religion is entirely evil, stupid, against learning, and the primary cause of suffering in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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