On this Memorial Day, when we honor the sacrifice made for our First Amendment rights (among others), I encountered this lovely graphic on Facebook.
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.