It's an obvious photoshop, but the person who posted it loved it and so did his friends. It really rankled me because:
1) The obvious misunderstanding of the country's history & values
2) The bigotry of it
3) Posting it on Memorial Day sends the message that Memorial Day is about saving the Country for GAWD.
4) I've encountered the message far too often, usually from people whose religion wouldn't have been approved of in the 1780s. If we had adopted Christianity as our national religion, it would be Episcopalianism / Anglicanism, which has its crazies but they are few and far between. They would have to believe what the bishop tells them to believe, instead of making shit up like evangelicals do.
...but I digress.
This bigotry reminds me of the line I heard many times in the 1960s as the adults around me (not my family) debated the civil rights movement. "If the blacks (not always their choice of word) don't like it here, they can go back to Africa." Or they skipped the first part and just said the blacks should go back where they came from.
Atheists being "in the closet," and drawing parallels to the civil rights movement isn't too far off the mark. My friend who posted the cartoon is an otherwise rather enlightened person. In the 1960s some of the nicest people (otherwise) were rabidly racist under the surface.
So, somber Memorial Day everyone. I hope you exercised your right not to believe in God even though some of your neighbors don't think you should have that right.
...but I digress.
This bigotry reminds me of the line I heard many times in the 1960s as the adults around me (not my family) debated the civil rights movement. "If the blacks (not always their choice of word) don't like it here, they can go back to Africa." Or they skipped the first part and just said the blacks should go back where they came from.
Atheists being "in the closet," and drawing parallels to the civil rights movement isn't too far off the mark. My friend who posted the cartoon is an otherwise rather enlightened person. In the 1960s some of the nicest people (otherwise) were rabidly racist under the surface.
So, somber Memorial Day everyone. I hope you exercised your right not to believe in God even though some of your neighbors don't think you should have that right.
6 comments:
I served my country as a United States Marine in 87' and I have as much right to be in this country as any theists! These clowns have been making these silly ass statements for years. This reminds me about the 'no atheist in fox holes' comments.
Contrary to what some of these nuts think, I have had my life in danger more than once and have never once called on the imaginary guy in the sky for help!
Believers need to keep living their lives in their own imaginary world and leave the rest of us the hell alone!
This is the real sludge at the bottom of the gene pool talking, the kind of people who don't even realize that "under God" wasn't in the original pledge, and wouldn't believe it (or even look it up) if you told them.
Infidel beat me to it. But, the post is correct. The current pledge violates the First Amendment--not that these folks care, of course.
Thank you for your service, Chatpilot. I have experienced one scary flight that could have gone very wrong, and I didn't fear for my soul one little bit. We had 30 minutes to cross half of Lake Erie on one engine (of a 2-engine jet) and I spent my 30 minutes making sure the kid next to me wasn't afraid by just chatting with him. Best 30 minutes of my life.
As for the "get god or get out" folks, they should spend some time in Iran if they want to live in a theocracy!
Your welcome LadyA! Theists have this notion that we are only atheist till we find ourselves facing possible death. Where they got this idea from I have no clue. I was stabbed once and when the ambulance was taking me away I didn't even think about God. I simply closed my eyes and said to myself what will be will be.
Fear of death was only an issue with me when I was a theist. I was always worried about dying and not being good enough for heaven.
Once you realize that there is no God, heaven, or hell, and that death is a natural occurrence you lose fear of it. All life forms on this earth live and die and that is just a part of life.
I am much more disturbed by my loved ones' demise than thoughts of my own. But they "return" to me in my dreams and that's enough of an afterlife to satisfy me. They are part of me for the rest of my life, and that's what I was going to miss. Notice how people don't think about their loved ones' relationships with anyone else when they imagine them in heaven looking down on them? Earthly concerns are supposed to end when you go to heaven and you're supposed to be praising god and having an eternal orgasmic sense of joy. Why would they tinker in the affairs of the living, even if they could?
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