In Monday’s Wall Street Journal, reporter Stephanie Simon writes that atheists are reaching out in new and far-reaching ways to declare to America: We’re here, and we’re just like you.
Keep in mind, I don’t read the Wall Street Journal. I can’t. I won’t. But a good friend forwarded the article to me and I was immediately struck by the subtle and brilliant ways Satan is stepping up his efforts to discredit the faith.
Membership is growing in local and national associations of athiests and the Secular Coalition of America has finally raised enough money now to hire its first full-time congressional lobbyist, Lori Lipman Brown. She says their aim is to raise comfort levels in this country about atheism by making the point that non-believers are “just as ethical and moral as anyone else.”
Doug Krueger, a philosophy professor in northwest Arkansas, says, “Step one is for people to know we’re not crazy, we’re just regular people who have perfectly satisfactory lives without believing in God.”
Simon writes:
Rather than renew old battles, such as the symbolic fight to remove “In God We Trust” from currency, members are mobilizing to repair what they view as breaches of the wall between church and state—such as federal funding for faith-based charities…They believe many others sympathize with their views but are too timid to commit. So the American Humanist Association is spending $42,000 to plaster buses in Washington, D.C., with ads asking: “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” FreeThoughtAction and its local affiliates have put up billboards all over the country asking: “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.” Eight billboards are going up this month in Denver. At the same time, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wisconsin, has hit at least nine states in the past year with billboards that look like they’re made of stained glass but say “Beware of Dogma,” “Imagine No Religion,” and—coming soon—“Reason’s Greetings.”
According to this article, local groups of athiests are also making a point of getting out in public to show they’re part of every community. The Pennsylvania Nonbelievers rehabbed a women’s shelter this fall. Kansas City FreeThinkers hold monthly walks in a dog park and advertise weekly coffee-house meetings online. Secularists in Sacramento stage a family friendly FreeThought Day each fall, complete with balloons and magicians.
They say they’re not trying to evangelize. Their goal is to make the public more comfortable with the concept of athiesm.
This strategy, embraced and waged by this country’s news and entertainment media, public education systems, and government, has certainly succeeded in making us immune to almost every other anti-Christian message and practice. We don’t even notice anymore the sex and violence and greed that surrounds us. We invite it into our homes. We buy bigger screens and faster systems and louder speakers to bring it in quicker and brighter. We go see it. We push our kids into it. We incorporate its messages into our business practices. It sneaks into our churches and we don’t make a move.
Satan isn’t trying to obliterate Christians. He is only attempting to blur the lines. And, brother, they’re blurred.
Tap the brakes Brutha. There is nothing wrong with the WSJ.
Pretty smart approach by these groups. Not too worried if it took them until 2008 to hire 1 lobbyist. She probably won’t have much money to spend for PAC’s or junkets.
“Beware of Dogma” – doesn’t sound like such a bad thing.
Maybe their membership is growing not so much because of what they are doing but rather what people in church are doing. Check back on some past posts around clapping or amens or women leading prayers or classes. Perhaps dear Brutus, the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves.
I just don’t understand the need. What about being atheistic makes you want to spread that ‘gospel’ to others. I understand not wanting to march to your own drummer, but still, what compels them to want to convice others of their beliefs?
Hopefully this will be a great way to start conversations as people start asking questions about the billboards. We need to be seen not as the place with all the answers, but as the place where questions and doubts are ok. Thanks for pointing out this article, unlike my father I don’t frequent the WSJ. 😉
I remember well a conversation my Father had with a friend concerning faith and belief in God. His friend stated, “I can be be good as you without God.” My Father response was, “That is true, but can you be saved eternally?” As is the case with many types of propoganda, the wrong questions are being asked. I agree with Rob’s dad. We do not make being a Christian very appealing with our eternal internal fussing and squabbling. Actually we do more than fuss and squabble, we bite and gouge and hold grudges.