DEAR SANTA

American Atheists

The above billboard will appear in Memphis, Nashville, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Fort Smith, Arkansas — right in the middle of a handful of red states. The campaign, according to an American Atheists news release, is “aimed at in-the-closet atheists who are pressured to observe religious traditions during the holidays” and who might want to attend the group’s Memphis conference next year.      MSN

The Oxford English Dictionary defines an Atheist as a "Person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods" and defines an Antitheist as "One opposed to belief in the existence of a god".  I'll leave it up to you to categorize this organization into what you believe to be the appropriate category.

American Atheists said it is bringing the campaign to the South not because of the quantity of atheists there, but because “discrimination and mistrust of atheists is especially pronounced” in the region.

Perhaps that question about atheists and antitheists is one atheists ought to ask about themselves when they question why people feel the way they do about them. In a PEW Survey that asked how Americans feel about different groups on a scale of 0 (Coldest) to 100 (Warmest), Jews, Catholics, and Evangelical Christians ranked 63,62,61 respectively.  Buddhists, Hindus, and Mormons ranked in the middle (53,50,48) while Atheists (41) barely squeaked out ahead of Muslims (40).

I have absolutely no problem with atheists, yet the public face of atheism isn't atheistic, it's antitheist.  I can't shake the feeling that the most vocal antitheists base their actions more on personal animosity than rational thought.  The notion that religion is and has been the root of all evil is misguided and runs contrary to the historical record, one need look no further than to the history of secular states to observe that their track record is no better and often worse than that of religion.  There is no doubt that man has committed great evils and atrocities, often in the name of religion but just as often in the name of the king, state, or party.  More often than not religion is an excuse and not the cause.  As The Shadow used to ask "What evil lurks in the hearts of men?"