Two churches in South Carolina were recently vandalized with pro-atheist graffiti. The vandals painted messages like “God = Delusion,” “There is no God,” and “Athiesm” (yes, they misspelled it). Whether this was actually done by atheists or not, it’s absolutely wrong. And I like Hemant Mehta’s idea of how we should address it:
I’m setting up a fundraiser. The plan is that the pastor and I will figure out a good (secular, non-proselytizing) charity group in his area that could use the donations. Together, we will give that charity whatever we raise.
It’s a gesture to show that, while we have very serious disagreements about the nature of God, we all want to help our communities and make this world a better place. It’s possible to work together toward that cause. It’s also a slap in the face to the vandals — if they wanted to prove anything, they failed. I hope they’re caught and penalized. And I hope the stories about the vandalism talk about how atheists came together with the church to support a local charity, and not how some evil atheist(s) did this awful damage.
Great idea. I just donated $25 to the cause. I hope you’ll consider doing so as well, if you can afford it.
