Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well I've never done any of those three, so I guess I'm in the clear.
Do you try to tell them that they are wrong, or misguided?
It's not your job to tell them anything. I don't care what the topic was, I don't like to hear anyone opining on anything in my presence. I simply don't want to hear it. I have my own thoughts, and I don't need yours.
Trying to disrupt their meetings, and trying to keep them from exercising their religion. Holding protests.
You mean counter-protests like those against the Westboro Baptist Church or against the pro-life protestors at Planned Parenthood?
I have never yet seen an *atheist* protest, btw. I have seen counter-demonstrations when religious believers insist on disrupting others. In fact, atheists often protect families who are having religious rituals when the Westboro Baptists want to disrupt them.
I don't care if you exercise your religion as long as you are not disrupting others.
So, imagine this...you're a happy kid, and you're playing in the park, minding your own business. There's a group of other kids there playing ball. You're not in the mood to play ball, so you're enjoying the swingset and the beautiful day.
The ball-playing kids want you to play ball with them, but you say no thank you and keep swinging. They call you a few names, say you're a sissy or chicken or a nerd. You don't really care, you ignore them and swing higher.
So the ballplayers start throwing the ball at you, trying to hit you. Again and again they throw the ball at you. You don't like this, and rightfully so. You tell them to stop. They insist it's their right to throw the ball at you, and say that if you don't want the ball thrown at you anymore, you should be a team player and play ball, even though you don't like playing ball.
Finally, after having the ball thrown at you many times, you catch it as it comes at you, and you throw it down the storm drain. Then you keep swinging. The kids get another ball, throw it at you, and you catch it and toss it down the drain again.
At this point the ballplayers call you hostile, angry, bitter, resentful, jealous, and a horrible person, and threaten your life. So, is that child a hostile, angry, bitter, resentful, jealous, horrible person who deserves to die...or is that child justified in defending themselves against repeated attack?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TKramar
It's actually more like you run across the field in the middle of the game.
Who is running across the field? The atheist child or the believers?
I approve of Michael Newdow. "under god" has got to go. So does "In God We Trust".
I don't know much about O'Hair. I remember reading about her as a kid, and my memories are that she was a nutjob. But I was also a good catholic kid, so I am sure that skewed my thinking.
I approve of Michael Newdow. "under god" has got to go. So does "In God We Trust".
I don't know much about O'Hair. I remember reading about her as a kid, and my memories are that she was a nutjob. But I was also a good catholic kid, so I am sure that skewed my thinking.
Madalyn Murray O'Hair was a very prickly woman that grew up and tried to exist in a time where it was very very hard to be an atheist.
As a MOTHER, she chose to shield her sons from religion. That was her choice, and she had as much right to it as any mother has, just like those mothers that choose to raise their children with religion.
Unfortunately, she was raising her children in a time where it was impossible to make that choice for her children. That is what sparked her years of tireless activism on the behalf of atheists. She knew her stuff and made many salient points. It's not many "activists" who can say they got to speak to the Supreme Court and have her case agreed upon by 8 out of 9 justices.
She was overly combatant at times, and like PETA, she sometimes went about things the wrong way. Often times, while your message can be correct, the way you deliver it can be ....bad. She was like that. I forgive her that prickliness though, because of the vitriol and hate that were poured on her thru out her life for daring to be an out and open atheist. The only way she could survive was by getting mean.
Unfortunately, in 1995 she, her son, and her granddaughter were kidnapped. They were brutally tortured and forced to remove money from her organization, American Atheists. After the kidnappers had taken all the money, they killed all three O'Hairs. Later, when authorities discovered the bodies, the remains were so badly mutilated and decomposed, that they had to identify Madalyn thru the serial number on her prosthetic hip. She was 76 at the time of her murder.
At the time of her dissappearance, many groups, including the Catholic church, speculated that she had embezzled and ran off with the money from her organization. I remember, being a member of the Catholic Church at the time, how gleeful catholics were. Look at this mean old lady, this horrible godless atheist. She went and stole all their money and ran off with it. Well, what did you expect from an Atheist?
O'hair was ahead of her time. She decided to fight for seperation of church of state long before anyone had the guts too. She was like a woman in a crowded room, who stood up and said "Hey, this is what I think, and I can't be the only one. We may be surrounded on all sides by Christers (her word), but we don't have to be alone!"
She was a hero, and a villian. Most good rabble rousers are.
In O'Hair's time, one had to be almost insanely brave to be open about atheism. JayBrown80 has it right.
It's pretty much still is the same way now... at least where I live. I can't just point blank come out and say I don't believe in God. I would be completely ostracised.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
