{"id":19368,"date":"2010-12-01T22:56:11","date_gmt":"2010-12-02T05:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=19368"},"modified":"2010-12-01T22:56:11","modified_gmt":"2010-12-02T05:56:11","slug":"discarding-reason-for-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/12\/01\/discarding-reason-for-the-season.html","title":{"rendered":"Discarding Reason for the Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

So after discussing the Evils of Atheistic Billboards yesterday<\/a> (or, more properly, the hypocrisy of Christians condemning Atheists for proselytization efforts), a few more items bobbed up on the subject. \u00a0Like this billboard:<\/p>\n

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It came up at this page<\/a> at Pharyngula in conjunction with PZ Myers objecting to an atheist with Christian family \u00a0members who objected to the billboard as simply being provocative. \u00a0Les shared the article in Google Reader, and I commented:<\/p>\n

Isn’t there a difference, though, between at least sometimes “letting people go about their daily lives in peace” and “bowing and scraping and saying ‘Yassuh’ to the religious”?<\/p>\n

My main problem with this particular ad is that, I don’t like anyone telling me what I “KNOW”. In some ways, this strikes me as the flip side to “Even atheists know in their hearts that God is real” crap.<\/p>\n

Reminding theists that atheists are real, that they are good people, even that they disagree, is in fact a good thing. It’s also good (as noted yesterday) to let people who aren’t believers know that there are kindred spirits out there. Telling people, at Christmas, that their beliefs about Christmas are a myth (and that, arguably, they KNOW it to be true) strikes me as being unnecessarily rude.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That said, I then ran across today this even more pathetically maddening article<\/a> on the subject, from the “Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.” \u00a0And this one deserves (sigh) a lengthy screed.<\/p>\n

Now, if the CADC was focused on pointing out places where Christians were, in fact, unfairly defamed, pointing out how that was the case, and asking that people of goodwill join in stopping such\u00a0occurrences, I’d be all over that.<\/p>\n

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Double poopy-heads!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Instead, the CADC’s MO is basically to screech, “Hey! They called us poopy-heads! \u00a0But they’re double <\/em>poopy-heads!<\/strong>” Which is, of course, just what Jesus indicated one should do and feel when being persecuted for His sake<\/a>, right?<\/p>\n

As we enter the Christmas season, atheist groups are lining up again to bash Christianity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some <\/em>atheist groups are interested in “bashing” Christianity, for a variety of reasons. \u00a0They don’t usually restrict themselves to the Christmas season.<\/p>\n

A group called\u00a0American Atheists<\/em> purchased a billboard in New Jersey that shows a silhouette of the Three Wise Men approaching the Nativity. Underneath is written, \u201cYou KNOW it\u2019s a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, that much is accurate.<\/p>\n

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It's not a myth, it's just Cliff's Notes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Biblically speaking<\/a>, of course, the Wise Men men did not arrive while the newborn Jesus lay in the manger. \u00a0Nor were there canonically three of them. Nor do they even appear in more than just one of the Gospels. \u00a0So, even from a Biblical standpoint, the whole “We Three Kings of Orient Are” is <\/em>a myth within Christianity. \u00a0But that’s not quite the intent of the billboard, I suspect, and, mysteriously, the CADC would probably handwave away that aspect of it, so I suppose I digress.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting that this same hostility isn\u2019t displayed against Muslims during Ramadan or towards Jews during their Holy Days.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, despite fear of Muslims taking over America, or fear of the overwhelming power of Jews in the media, both groups remain tiny percentages of the population and of the culture. \u00a0If one is out to object to religious myths, it makes sense to take on the big dog in the yard.<\/p>\n

That said, atheists do, as appropriate, criticize Muslims and Jews. \u00a0It’s hardly surprising that the CADC doesn’t actually notice this.\u00a0Especially as \u00a0the CADC probably sees this as some huge crypto-Atheist-Muslim-Jewish conspiracy against Jesus. \u00a0So it goes.<\/p>\n

Apparently the American Atheists are ignorant of the fact that history proves Christ\u2019s birth is not a myth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Plus, Jesus is pearly-white and rosy-cheeked and CERTAINLY not swarthy or Semetic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite fervent assertions to the contrary, the historical basis for Jesus<\/a> is hardly as settled as that, let alone the specific events surrounding his birth. The last time I looked, there was at least some basis for Jesus’ historicity, but not not so much as to assert “ignorance” of the “fact” of the “proof.”<\/p>\n

But, then<\/a>, “blessed are you who have not seen, but have believed.”<\/p>\n

Jesus is not only the promised Messiah, God born of human flesh, he is the crucified and risen Savior of the World.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which isn’t exactly arguing from history<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Over three hundred fulfilled biblical prophecies, corroborated by non-Christian sources and eyewitness testimony are stubborn facts atheists simply pretend aren\u2019t there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wow. \u00a0Really? \u00a0I mean, sure, the Bible (esp. Matthew) is full of “fulfilled biblical prophecies,” but that’s kind of to be expected.<\/p>\n

I looked around at the CADC site for the basis for this assertion, but their “Resources<\/a>” page is simply an introduction to “Seven Reasons Barack Obama Is Not A Christian.” \u00a0Um … right …<\/p>\n

Atheists seem to hold a deep-seated, irrational resentment against Christmas and the joyous message of salvation that it declares. They are apparently too proud to admit their sin and need of a Savior, so they flee to \u201cREASON.\u201d Yet, their atheistic reasoning is so inconsistent and depressing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh, those Atheists — so “deep-seated irrational,” so “proud” and “inconsistent” and “depressing.” \u00a0It’s a good thing the CADC can try to defend against the defamation of Christianity without defaming others, because otherwise those Atheists sure would be easy targets!<\/p>\n

Ahem. So we trot out the standard anti-Atheist memes here:<\/p>\n