Posted by
Bob K. on Saturday, December 06, 2008 12:33:23 PM
Before I offer my thoughts on this topic I should, to be fair, disclose my own religious background and beliefs. Loosely raised a Christian, I was baptized as an infant, and growing up I attended Sunday School on a fairly regular basis. Occasionally, I would attend church services with my mother; my father, however, never went to church. At age 13, I attended Confirmation Classes, culminating in Confirmation into the Lutheran Church. Practicing religion ceased at that point until some eight years later when I attended non-denominational services every Sunday that I spent on Parris Island. Once again, however, practicing my religious beliefs ended upon graduating Boot Camp. To this day I maintain a moderate religious belief system, whether it is merely a backdrop for my morality or an acceptable explanation for things unexplained, I am not so sure. I don't dwell on the subject, and I’m not actively committed. I find some religions hypocritical, some cartoonish, and some down-right wacky, but I neither disparage nor belittle anyone's choice on what to believe, or even to believe at all. My thought is, “Whatever gets you through the day.” Whatever you need to do to be an upstanding citizen is fine with me. We have freedom of religion and freedom from religion in this country- but there seems to be vast differences in acceptable expression from one group to another.
There are more than 40 major religions in the world today. Some as old as written history; some forming much more recent. I suspect that anyone who chooses to believe in something as yet unproven falls into the category of “believer”. It is faith in the unknown or unexplained that forms the foundation of all theology. Faith in what is incomprehensible to us humans is known by a being or beings that are larger than we; superhuman, if you will. An all-powerful, all-knowing, supreme life form that provides the guidelines we follow in the hope of life-everlasting.
And what about those who don’t believe? There are those in the scientific community, “intellectuals” (as though, somehow if you’re not part of academia, you’re not an intellectual- so what does that make us? Stupid? That’s another blog topic… I’ll come back to that at another time...) who seem to be the loudest voice for non-believers. Can anyone doubt that even science is derived upon faith? Scientific discovery is founded in the belief in something (theory) followed by an attempt to prove it. I guess what separates the scientific community from the religious community (and in most cases- they are two distinctly separate groups) is that the scientific community will sometimes move on to another theory (religion?) when the former is disproved.
It is during this time of year that we see the traditional Judeo-Christian symbols displayed about- and every year seemingly more intense opposition from Atheists. A nativity scene is a depiction created from descriptive pages of the Christian Bible detailing the birthplace of Jesus. A Menorah is a Jewish symbol used in retelling of the struggle for independence from the Seleucid monarchy- it replicates eight days of candlelight from a one-day supply of olive oil. An Atheist placard inscribed in part: “There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds” is what, however?
I believe that’s the fundamental difference between Atheists and Believers. Aside from the indoctrination attempts by certain religious sects (which is not the prevalent anti-religion argument made by Atheists) this time of year is generally about giving; kindness toward fellow human beings, happiness and hope. And this is why this type of display should not be allowed in any public forum- no more than signs saying “Whites Only” or pamphlets entitled “Der Jude als Weltparasit.” If Atheists want to espouse their beliefs they should do just that; but the fact that they choose this time of year reflects only on their desire to attack organized religion, more correctly Judaism and Christianity (you can bet there are none of these signs anywhere near the Middle East or China) as something adhered to by a lesser people. It is a cowardly attempt to bully the public- and whenever their message disparages another group of people they should be treated with as much disdain as any other hate group. While these groups may not have yet carried out violent protests or attacks against those with whom they disagree, their increasing numbers and voice in the international arena reminds me of similar groups that rose to some semblance of power though coercion. Much like the Anti-Prop 8 mobs in California who’s previously peaceful opposition was fueled by the their own fires of hate into committing unruly acts with threats and in some cases violent destruction of property, this mindset could very well ingest itself into groups such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Secular Coalition for America. Law enforcement should pay very close attention to these increasingly vocal groups that base their views largely on the dislike and contempt of those different from themselves and whose message is chiefly delivered through intimidation. Welcome to the age of anti-religious zealots.