Dec

6

Here’s A Bulletin

December 6, 2009 by Brandon 3 Comments

Once again I’m here apologizing for a lack of posts, but life has been keeping me a little busy, and work often doesn’t allow me much time to write. But today is dead, and a co-worker has informed me of an article that I just can’t pass up.

It seems Bill O’Reilly is at it again, as if anyone thought he’d put the War on Christmas on hold this season, with a scathing article that attacks atheists for being “jealous” of the Christmas season.

Mr. O’Reilly, when he isn’t sexually harassing women, seems to enjoy taking issue with innocuous bus signs, stating things like, “No God? No Problem! Be Good for Goodness’ Sake.” What a horrible message to send this time of year. Be good for the sake of being good, not because you’re afraid of eternal punishment.

I will let him pass on one sign, being displayed in Las Vegas, which states, “Yes, Virginia, there is no God.” I can understand that this sign does seem to be more of just an attack, rather than a sign that reaches out to other atheists and lets them know that they are not alone.

Bill O’Reilly doesn’t seem to care that there are millions of people in the United States who do not believe in any gods, and feel very secluded, especially this time of year. It can be a very depressing season for a person who may not celebrate any religious holidays, and seeing something that lets them know that they aren’t the only one out there does help.

So no, Bill O’Reilly, the issue isn’t that atheists are jealous of the season. As a matter of fact, Christmas is, in my opinion, a purely secular holiday. The United States government recognizes it as an official holiday, and therefore it cannot be religious, otherwise it’d be unconstitutional. Christmas as it is today is also a relatively new thing, created by commercialism. I celebrate Christmas, insomuch as I put up a Christmas tree, I will decorate, and I give and receive gifts. There is nothing religious about this. I do not need a baby Jesus, I do not need a God. I don’t care if that’s what you want to make your holiday about, either, just don’t expect me not to make comments about religious displays on government property; it has nothing to do with the season, or Christmas, and everything to do with something I see as being unconstitutional.

O’Reilly also rails against the use of “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” throwing out some poll suggesting 72% of Americans favor “Merry Christmas.” Good for them. Can’t imagine why. Certainly this number doesn’t correlate at all with the percentage of people who are Christian, and specifically celebrate this holiday, while the 22% who favor “Happy Holidays” may celebrate the other holidays which fall in or around this season, or may not celebrate any at all and are just being nice to people who do.

Bill, who permanently has his panties in a bunch, says that the efforts of secular organizations and atheists to stop the vilification of the non-religious have backfired:

Here’s a bulletin: Many parents don’t want their children to see bus signs proclaiming that God is a big hoax. That message may be constitutionally protected, but it is not going to engender much good will among believers.

An interesting thought. Well, Bill, here’s a bulletin: many parents don’t want their children to see road signs that tell them they’re going to hell if they don’t believe in God. That message may be constitutionally protected, but it isn’t going to engender much good will among non-believers.

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3 Comments so far:

  1. dromedary humpNo Gravatar on December 7, 2009 11:08 am

    \"… some poll suggesting 72% of Americans favor “Merry Christmas.”

    Who gives a fuck what 72% of Americans favor? If 72% of Americans favored \"Heil Hitler\" as a greeting in 1942 what then?

    If you say \"Merry Xmas\" to everyone during this time of year, 1 out of 4 times you\’d be making an error. By saying \"Happy Holidays\" you offend no one but the 25% of the population that are evangelical fundie morons who are too stupid to understand not everyone is Xtian, or too intolerant to care. But those are the same morons who disavow Evolutionary Theory, so who cares.

    To play it safe from now on I\’m going to say \"Happy Winter Solstice\" to everyone. If it bothers them…good.

  2. Mr.ONo Gravatar on December 9, 2009 5:03 am

    I never understood this ‘War on X-Mas’ crap. If anything the war is being waged by the social pressure to get the biggest and coolest gifts for everyone, or it means you don’t love them. Why doesn’t the united atheist alliance(sorry that South Park was on last night)come out with billboards proclaiming the commercialization of the season. Instead of saying Christmahanaqhanza is wrong, say how commercialization is great.

  3. BrandonNo Gravatar on December 9, 2009 7:20 pm

    There is no war, it’s just a bunch of whargarble and manufactured outrage from the rightwing talking-heads like Bill O’Reilly to support their Us vs Them tactics.

    Atheists aren’t attacking Christmas with these billboards anymore than homosexuals are attacking heterosexuality when they have their parades. It’s about letting others like us know that they aren’t alone out there. If Christians feel attacked by that, and I assure you they do, it’s because they have persecution complexes and think any kind of criticism of their magic cloud man is a personal attack.

    And let’s face it, “Don’t Believe In God? You’re Not Alone” and other messages like that aren’t even criticisms of Christianity.

What is Fractal Wrongness?

The state of being wrong at every conceivable scale of resolution. That is, from a distance, a fractally wrong person's worldview is incorrect; and furthermore, if you zoom in on any small part of that person's worldview, that part is just as wrong as the whole worldview.

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