Greta Christina's Blog How Dare You Atheists Exist?

[HarveyDarkey]

This piece was originally published on AlterNet.

Religious believers commonly attack atheists simply for existing.
Do out- of- the- closet atheists -- even polite ones -- challenge attempts at theocracy?

What, exactly, do religious believers want from atheists?

If you follow the atheism debates in op-ed pieces and whatnot, you'll see that critiques of the so-called New Atheist movement are often aimed at our tone. Among the pundits and opinion-makers, atheist writers and activists are typically called out for being offensive, intolerant, disrespectful, extremist, hostile, confrontational, and just generally asshats. The question of whether atheists are, you know, right, typically gets sidestepped in favor of what is apparently the much more compelling question of whether atheists are jerks. And if these op-ed pieces and whatnot were all you knew about the atheist movement and the critiques of it, you might think that atheists were simply being asked to be reasonable, civil, and polite.

But if you follow atheism in the news, you begin to see a very different story.

You begin to see that atheists are regularly criticized -- vilified, even -- simply for existing.

Or, to be more accurate, for existing in the open. For declining to hide our atheism. For coming out.

Case in point: In Bryan/ College Station, Texas, the Brazos Valley Vuvuzela Atheist Marching Band recently marched in the annual Christmas parade. Now, let's be very clear about this: The 18-person marching band didn't march with signs saying "Fuck Your Religion," or "You Know It's A Myth," or even "There's Probably No God -- Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life." They wished people a merry Christmas, and a happy Hanukkah, and a merry Kwanzaa. They played "Jingle Bells" on vuvuzelas. And they carried a banner saying that they were atheists.

Which was enough, apparently, to send many Christians into fits. The atheist presence in the Christmas parade created a substantial controversy in the area. One resident interviewed by the local news, Tina Corgey, said, quote, "I spent many years teaching my children to love and respect other people and to love the fact that they were children of God and I don't feel that they should be influenced in any other way especially not at a Christmas parade." She added, "If you have younger children they weren't going to understand but I have older children, a teenager, 8-year-old and they were curious and they asked questions and it was hard for them to believe and understand that there are actually people out there that don't believe in God."

http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2010/12/how-dare-you-atheists-exist.html

[DavidDvorkin]

1. They asked questions!

No wonder Tina is so upset.

[frogmarch]

2. How about some petaphiles?

Another snip from your link:

"If atheist are allowed to march in the parade, then maybe next year we can add some strippers advertising the silk stocking or how about some petafiles advertising their love for the kiddos! Those wouldn't be wrong, since we are wanting to be welcoming of everyone!"

:rofl:

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Would those be vegetarians?

[awoke_in_2003]

4. wielding vuvuzelas...

is no way to make people like you :)

[Warpy]

5. OH MY GAWD! WHAT WILL WE TELL THE CHILDREN?

If that isn't the last refuge of the person who knows he's a flaming hypocrite, I don't know what is.

As I've pointed out before, belief requires consensus. It's the only way it can possibly be supported, "everybody believes thus and so." Anything and anyone outside that consensus is extremely threatening to the status quo and believers get defensive to a ridiculous extreme, trying to isolate unbelievers as quickly as possible, to eject them from all polite society.

It's why coming out to friends and family is often dangerous. They erect a wall between us and them in order to protect that part of their psyches labeled "FAITH! Do not question!"

It doesn't matter how polite we are or how carefully we avoid stepping on their toes. Once they realize we don't believe a word of it, they freak out.

[toddaa]

6. Notice that her biggest fear is her children asking questions

As a parent, it must really suck to know that your precious little ones have minds of their own.

[awoke_in_2003]

7. And the original "sin"...

was eating an apple from the "Tree of Knowledge". I have an ultra-religious guy here at work who, like me, likes Apple computers (desktop, laptop, and numerous iPods). I once asked him what he thought of the Apple logo. "What do you mean?" says he. I said "look at it, an apple with a bite taken out of it". His eyes glossed over, and I walked away laughing.