There are going to be some Atheist advertisements on the sides of buses in Fort Worth, Texas, and its all causing a lot of fuss because all the local ministers are threatening a bus boycott. From one viewpoint, I suspect quite a few folks will be happy about that, because the buses will be a lot emptier so they will finally be able to get a seat.
OK, so what exactly is this controvertial ad, does it mock belief, or is it in any way intolerant? Lets take a look …
Wow, how shocking … its actually possible for people to be good and not believe in God … gasp. The true shock and horror here is the degree of intolerance and bigoty being demonstrated by the community of believers. The degree of the hypocrisy is quite frankly awe inspiring when you also consider that these same groups will be running their “Jesus is the reason for the season.” ads in a couple of weeks.
Here is the FOX news video that reports on all this …
There is one key observation to be drawn from this.The US was founded as a secular republic, and this case is a fabalous illustration as to why. It quite clearly demonstrates that if let loose, the believing community is quite happy to supress the rights of any who do not align with their specific beliefs. Apparently fundamental rights such as freedom of thought and freedom of speech don’t apply to non-believers.
Whenever you are faced with the claim that believers hold the high moral ground … be skeptical … the factual evidence does not support that position.
The group that sponsored the ad is the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition for Reason, and this is their position …
Those nonbelievers who are not ready, or who are unable, to “come out” can take comfort in knowing that they are not the only ones who accept the reality of a 100% natural world.
For the religious community, we want them to realize that, although nontheists reject the supernatural, we share with them compassionate human values that most religious believers embrace. In most ways, we are like them, hard working, tax paying, moral citizens who care deeply about our families, our communities, our state and our country.
Nontheists are a large minority, larger than many minorities who have much more political and cultural influence than we do. DFWCoR has organized to increase our clout in the marketplace of ideas and to take our rightful place at the table of acceptance and equal rights. We invite all nontheists to support us in our efforts.
If interested in finding out more about this community of non-theists, click here.