Are Atheists on the attack?
by Don Lacey on Dec. 09, 2012, under Arizona Families, Art & Culture, Atheism, Christian Self-Righteous Arrogance, Christianity, Critical Thinking, Faith, History, Logic, Materialism, Reason, Religion, Science, Separation of Church & State, Skepticism, That's Life!
No.
Atheists conduct war on Christmas armed with nothing but credit cards and reason.
Tis the season to be shopping…Christmas season lasts about a month—give or take. It starts with “Black Friday” an ancient holiday tradition dating all the way back to the early 60s. While some say the tradition goes back further than that, it’s a sure bet that it is a product of modern consumerism. This season is marked with a great deal of hope. Store owners hope that they will start operating in the “black” before the end of the year. Shoppers hope that they get the latest Chinese gadget before they sell out and everyone hopes that it won’t take 3 light changes to get through the next intersection. Surveys say that Black Friday this year represents over $59 Billion in sales which is a 13% increase over last year’s sales figures. Not all of these sales are going to “good Christians.” Recent surveys say as many as 1 in 5 in this country are a part of the growing demographic called “nones” meaning no religious affiliation. It is not unreasonable to assume therefore that 20% of the sales figures are going to non-Christians. It is apparent that their participation is appreciated by the stores and recipients of the Atheist’s largess. However, that’s not the “war on Christmas” as described by Fox News and Bill O’Reilly.
The front lines of the war on Christmas this year appears to be in Santa Monica, California where the city council has decided that there will be no more Christmas displays in a public park. Apparently the result, the aftermath, of the bloody battle resulted in Christmas Nativity Scene displays in Santa Monica being moved to private property. Praise secularism! For 60 years the taxpayers of Santa Monica supported scenes celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in Palisades Park. Last year they tried a lottery and the secularist won all but three of the 21 available slots. This year the city council decided to get out of the nativity scene business and didn’t allow any displays at Palisades Park. The separation of church and state supporters were fine with that decision but the folks that owned the lion share of the religious displays filed suit. They lost and now things are as they should be. The religious displays are up but they are on private property and not at the cost of the taxpayer. Reason prevails.
This year as the Atheists conduct their war, some are facing off with an actual army, the Salvation Army. Atheists are saying to ignore the annoying bell ringers and give your donations to more deserving charities such as Doctors without Borders, the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Unicef, Heifer International, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Scripps Research Institute, Child’s Play, the Trevor Project, and local food pantries. These organizations are doing good things without the Salvation Army’s discriminatory hiring practices and position on LGBT issues.
With all the “straw manning” that is going on in this it may be hard to remember that Atheists are no more angry at Christmas than anyone else. It is not an act of aggression to defend the constitutional principle of separation of church and state or to point out that an organization is using religious bias to discriminate against a large portion of society.
Finally, saying “Happy Holidays” is not an act of aggression. In fact it is the more inclusive term. But Bill O’Reilly has an answer for that. He says, “You can’t always include everyone.” Well, Bill, that’s just one more thing you got wrong. It’s the end of the year and the beginning of the next. Everyone can celebrate even if it’s only to acknowledge that the days are getting longer. Happy Holidays!
