The Holiday Season is here and Christmas is right around the corner. This is the season of gift giving and religious believers often love to give atheists the gift of some apologist’s book that would totally convince us that God is real and Jesus was his only begotten son… if we would just read it and forget everything we know about reality.
Category Atheist Activism
Yesterday was Election Day and atheists had a rare opportunity to send a powerful message to the political system in the United States of America. There was a candidate in Arizona’s 5th congressional district who was an open atheist. This was our chance and atheists did not deliver.
When I think of what kinds of things atheists should be doing to change the way the general public perceives us, I will now be thinking of people like Jaclyn Glenn. In a recent YouTube video she and her friends went out on the streets of LA for two days to raise money for Children’s Hospital. The catch is that on the first day they had a sign saying they were doing it on behalf of the United Methodists and on the second day, they had a sign saying they were doing it on behalf of the United Atheists. Check it out:
The other day, I was picking up some fast food. When I returned to my car, I noticed that the car next to mine had the window open and there was a woman sitting inside. I smiled politely at her and might have even said hello as I unlocked my car door. It was at that moment when she extended her hand to give me a pamphlet.
One hundred years from now we will be dead but it is entirely probable that our children may still be alive. I say “probable” and “may” because it really depends in large part to who wins the culture war. For simplicity sake, let’s look at the two opposing worldviews and see which one offers the best hope for our future.
Over the weekend, while I was out at lunch with the family, some nice Christian put a postcard on my car windshield titled, “Why Die and Go to Hell? When Jesus Made a Bridge to Heaven!”
Atheism is on the rise in America and yet we are constantly discriminated against and marginalized because of our lack of belief in imaginary friends. For atheists who value reason, logic, and the scientific method, it sometimes seems like the inmates have taken over the asylum. But it shouldn’t have to be like this. Atheists make up a larger percentage of the American population than Jews, Muslims, and every other non-Christian religion in America combines. If we want to be less marginalized, there are things we can and should be doing.
On Saturday, I got to have a conversation with Sanderson Jones. He is the co-founder of Sunday Assembly. That’s the group that the media has labeled, “The Atheist Church.” And on Sunday, I attended the Sunday Assembly and got to see first-hand what it is all about.
In today’s political climate, it is not surprising that politicians only seem to come out of the atheist closet after leaving office. The reason for this is that being an open atheist is toxic to a politician’s political career. Not only that, but associating with atheists is even considered toxic. However there are a few politicians who are willing to risk at least that and they deserve our support.
Religious believers send missionaries all over the world, they go door-to-door, they have pamphlets, t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. They are out there trying to “save” non-believers and make us believers. But then they get offended when atheists start to spread the facts about reality and try to de-convert religious believers.