Wake Up, Good Morning America
The ongoing bigotry and hatred toward America's reason-based population continues. Despite the fact that secularists (including atheists, agnostics and other non-religious people), not Jews or Muslims, are the second-largest group in America -- after Christians -- Good Morning America's Bill Weir reportedly repeated the classic anti-brain slur that there are no atheists in foxholes.
Not only have American atheists fought, served and died in foxholes, so have some of Weir's own colleagues. Forget for a minute that Pat Tillman, the single most famous fatality in Bush's wars, didn't believe in god. Forget for a minute that Bush is using the sacred shroud of theocracy to help his buddies exploit America's pain. Forget for a minute that the slur about atheists in foxholes actually acknowledges the fact that belief in god stems from fear, panic and lack of rationality.
But Weir has managed to cast an evil, negating, de-humanizing slur against Americans who lost their lives to Katrina and the flood of New Orleans, against Americans who risked their lives helping other Americans (regardless of creed) and even against some of his own colleagues who have risked their lives (which have a unique value to atheists, if you think about it for half a second) in war zones, in disaster zones and in hurricane zones.
Atheists are just as American as Bill Weir is. Let his bosses at ABC know that you, whether you believe in dieties or not, won't stand silent while he slurs the sacrifices and dedication of Americans who don't share his belief system.
UPDATE: Weir is expected to retract his statement. Congrats to him for showing good character, and to American Atheists for drawing attention to his error.
4 comments:
What strikes me about the common thread running through this post, "U.S. Only Targets SOME Extremists" and "Christian GOP: Katrina Was God's Work" is the amazing hypocracy of the self-appointed defenders of the xtian faith. They urge hatred against those who don't subscribe to their odd vision of xtianity, claiming the unbelievers threaten the religion and at the same time violate the basic principles of xtianity.
I can speak about xtianity from a position of some authority... from the age of six to eighteen, I was a good and dutiful son and accompanied my mother to the local Methodist church every Sunday. I learned the requisite history and principles to earn the Boy Scout "God and Country" medal and become a full fledged member of the Church. And so, with that background I feel I've got the bona fides to assess the xtian-ness of these demagogues.
So to start; let's hold their hyberbole up against the light of a few verses from the Bible (King James version of course) and see how they hold up.
Matthew 5:44-46 (King James Version)
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
[publican? sounds like republicans... a coincidence? I DO THINK SO.]
Matthew 7:1-3 (King James Version)
1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
But perhaps, even though they proclaim themselves protectors of the faith, the likes of Rick Scarborough and Bill Weir have never read all the way through the Bible to the New Testiment and the teachings of Jesus. If not, maybe a prophet from the Old Testiment could draw their attention to the error of their ways.
Matthew 15:7-11 (King James Version)
7Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
10And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Hi Steve, nice to see you here!
Hey there Jonathan,
Nice blog, great name :-)
Hear, hear! I just read that Bill Weir has contacted American Atheists President Ellen Johnson and said that he regretted his boneheaded statement. Thanks for Waking Up, Good Morning America!
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