{"id":11213,"date":"2012-03-26T05:00:36","date_gmt":"2012-03-26T09:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.geneveith.com\/?p=11213"},"modified":"2012-03-26T05:00:36","modified_gmt":"2012-03-26T09:00:36","slug":"d-c-s-atheist-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2012\/03\/d-c-s-atheist-rally\/","title":{"rendered":"D.C.’s atheist rally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In our nation\u2019s capital on Saturday, some 20,000 atheists demonstrated on the national mall for the\u00a0 \u201cReason Rally\u201d protesting religion.\u00a0 Here is an account:<\/p>\n

A full pantheon of demigods of unbelief \u2014 British scientists and full-time atheism rabble-rouser Richard Dawkins was the headliner \u2014 kept a crowd of all ages on their feet for more than six hours (and counting \u2014 I left before the band Bad Religion was set to play).<\/p>\n

Dawkins didn\u2019t appear until five hours into the event, but few seemed discouraged by the near-constant rain or drizzle. They whistled and cheered for his familiar lines such as:<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t despise religious people. I despise what they stand for \u2026<\/p>\n

Evolution is not just true, it\u2019s beautiful \u2026<\/p>\n

Then Dawkins got to the part where he calls on the crowd not only to challenge religious people but to \u201cridicule and show contempt\u201d for their doctrines and sacraments, including the Eucharist, which Catholics believe becomes the body of Christ during Mass. . . .<\/p>\n

\nOutrage was the parlance of the day. . .for many speakers, including Reason Rally organizer and American Atheists president David Silverman.\n

He reveled in their reputation as the marines of atheism, as the people who storm the faith barricades and bring \u201cunpopular but necessary\u201d lawsuits.<\/p>\n

Silverman may have gone a bit further in his rhetoric than he intended. In a thundering call for \u201czero tolerance\u201d for anyone who disagrees with or insults atheism, Silverman proclaimed, \u201cStand your ground!\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, of course, the phrase \u201cstand your ground,\u201d is in the news this week as the legal cover for the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., last week. Under Florida\u2019s so-called Stand Your Ground law, George Zimmerman could claim he feared Martin, a teen armed with iced tea and Skittles, would harm him.<\/p>\n

Silverman meant a verbal, not a literal, call to arms here. Still, the line didn\u2019t draw applause as his other take-no-insults charges did.<\/p>\n

Several of the featured names were famous folks who sent in videos: Penn Jillette, Bill Maher and U.S. Rep. Pete Stark. Others, popular in the Internet niche of skeptics, free-thinkers and atheists, came to the microphone to address the soggy crowds in person. A sampling:<\/p>\n

Friendly Atheist blogger Hement Mehta urged people to run for office, any post from school board to Congress to dogcatcher.<\/p>\n

Greta Christina, author of \u201cWhy are you atheists so angry\u201d attacked every major faith, even the teachings of the dalai lama. In a long litany of what makes her angry, she got all the way back to Galileo (overlooking the modern Catholic Church\u2019s restoration of his reputation.)<\/p>\n

Adam Savage, co-host of Mythbusters, said there really is someone who loves and protects him and watches over his actions \u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s me!\u201d<\/p>\n

via Richard Dawkins to atheist rally: \u2018Show contempt\u2019 for faith<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our nation\u2019s capital on Saturday, some 20,000 atheists demonstrated on the national mall for the\u00a0 \u201cReason Rally\u201d protesting religion.\u00a0 Here is an account: A full pantheon of demigods of unbelief \u2014 British scientists and full-time atheism rabble-rouser Richard Dawkins was the headliner \u2014 kept a crowd of all ages on their feet for more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[230],"class_list":["post-11213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religions","tag-atheists"],"yoast_head":"\nD.C.'s atheist rally<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In our nation's capital on Saturday, some 20,000 atheists demonstrated on the national mall for the\u00a0 "Reason Rally" protesting religion.\u00a0 Here is an\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2012\/03\/d-c-s-atheist-rally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"D.C.'s atheist rally\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In our nation's capital on Saturday, some 20,000 atheists demonstrated on the national mall for the\u00a0 "Reason Rally" protesting religion.\u00a0 Here is an\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2012\/03\/d-c-s-atheist-rally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-26T09:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2012\/03\/d-c-s-atheist-rally\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2012\/03\/d-c-s-atheist-rally\/\",\"name\":\"D.C.'s atheist rally\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-26T09:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-03-26T09:00:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"In our nation's capital on Saturday, some 20,000 atheists demonstrated on the national mall for the\u00a0 \\\"Reason Rally\\\" protesting religion.\u00a0 Here is an\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2012\/03\/d-c-s-atheist-rally\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2012\/03\/d-c-s-atheist-rally\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2012\/03\/d-c-s-atheist-rally\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"D.C.’s atheist rally\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. 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