The Freedom from Religion folks' message is, well, counterproductive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So, unlike many towns, our little suburb had escaped nativity scene battles for many years because the main Christmas light display was in a downtown park\" \/>\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\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Freedom from Religion folks' message is, well, counterproductive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So, unlike many towns, our little suburb had escaped nativity scene battles for many years because the main Christmas light display was in a downtown park\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-26T21:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\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\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html\",\"name\":\"The Freedom from Religion folks' message is, well, counterproductive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-26T21:16:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-12-26T21:16:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"So, unlike many towns, our little suburb had escaped nativity scene battles for many years because the main Christmas light display was in a downtown park\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Freedom from Religion folks’ message is, well, counterproductive\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Freedom from Religion folks' message is, well, counterproductive","description":"So, unlike many towns, our little suburb had escaped nativity scene battles for many years because the main Christmas light display was in a downtown park","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Freedom from Religion folks' message is, well, counterproductive","og_description":"So, unlike many towns, our little suburb had escaped nativity scene battles for many years because the main Christmas light display was in a downtown park","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2013-12-26T21:16:00+00:00","author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html","name":"The Freedom from Religion folks' message is, well, counterproductive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-12-26T21:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-12-26T21:16:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"So, unlike many towns, our little suburb had escaped nativity scene battles for many years because the main Christmas light display was in a downtown park","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Freedom from Religion folks’ message is, well, counterproductive"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":689,"date":"2013-12-26T21:16:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-26T21:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html"},"modified":"2013-12-26T21:16:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-26T21:16:00","slug":"the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/12\/the-freedom-from-religion-folks-message-is-well-counterproductive.html","title":{"rendered":"The Freedom from Religion folks’ message is, well, counterproductive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Until last year, when a group, not even from our town, sought permission, and the village created a \u201cfree speech zone.\u201d\u00a0 This year, the atheists responded.\u00a0 Their banner says this:\u00a0 \u201cThere are no gods, no angels, no devils, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.\u201d\u00a0 (I didn\u2019t write this down at the time, or remember it, but apparently, from a search for \u201censlaves minds,\u201d a phrase I did remember, I found out that this is the favored text<\/a> for atheist Christmastime \u201cfree speech\u201d banners \u2014 and I\u2019m a bit at a loss for what they want to accomplish.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The banner is sponsored by the Freedom From Religion Foundation<\/a>, and, according to their website, they claim that \u201cthe history of Western civilization shows us that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons free from religion\u201d \u2014 a claim that is more than a little questionable when they claim for themselves\u00a0being \u201cthe first to speak out for prison reform, for humane treatment of the mentally ill, for abolition of capital punishment, for women\u2019s right to vote, for death with dignity for the terminally ill, and for the right to choose contraception, sterilization and abortion have been freethinkers, just as they were the first to call for an end to slavery.\u201d\u00a0 Now I have to admit that I don\u2019t know much about the history of atheism\/humanism, but so far as I do know, the abolitionist movement was a decidedly Christian movement, and the \u201cdeath with dignity\u201d and pro-abortion rights movements I would hardly label as \u201cmoral progress\u201d (especially since Margaret Sanger and others like her did not just advocate for availability of contraception, but were decidedly pro-eugenics).\u00a0 <\/p>\n

But \u2014 do they really want to change anyone\u2019s mind with their \u201chardening hearts\u201d accusation?\u00a0 Or are they indifferent to public opinion and just want to say their piece, with an attitude of resentment at the majority religion?\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"