It seems that at least one prominent Christian pastor in Fort Worth, Texas doesn't believe the First Amendment applies to atheists. It came to light because Fort Worth banned all ads with religious or atheist content.
We've all been having fun watching the back-and-forth "battle of the ads" on Fort Worth buses. For years, various Christian organizations bought ad space with no controversy. Then those darned atheists messed it all up. They decided to show their "Good Without God" and similar atheist ads, sponsored by the Coalition of Reason, on those same buses.
Well, those ads upset the deeply religious people of Texas – we're talkin' about Baptist country! So they started chasing the buses around with their own god-mobile. It was a truck with a big billboard on it saying "I still love you – God," and "2.1 Billion People are Good With God." A couple of bus drivers even refused to drive the atheist-ad buses and took sick days.
Up to that point, it was all good fun. There's nothing that says "America" better than a wild controversy that's aired with vigor and passion in public. That is what our First Amendment is all about.
Sadly, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority voted unanimously on Wednesday night to ban all religious ads. A vibrant American debate is squelched because the FWTA can't stand the heat. What a shame.
But here's the real kicker. The social activist Rev. Kyev Tatum thinks that only the atheist ads should have been banned. Why? Because "religion is not about divisiveness but about love," whereas the atheist ads fall into the "offensive" category.
Got that? We're a Christian nation, so anyone who isn't Christian is "divisive." Well, duh. That's the whole point of the First Amendment! Minorities are always divisive when they assert their rights, because the majority is always the oppressor. That is the very reason why those bus ads are so necessary! That's why we have a First Amendment.
It's time for bigots like Rev. Tatum, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any religion, to get over the idea that they have a monopoly on their American citizenship and American society. The last time I checked, I was an American too.
And what is Rev. Tatum afraid of anyway? If his flock's faith is as strong as he claims, he should laugh off a few silly atheist ads on the side of a bus. His fear says a lot more about his own faith than it does about atheism.
Monday, December 20, 2010
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Dear readers -- I am no longer blogging and after leaving these blogs open for two years have finally stopped accepting comments due to spammers. Thanks for your interest. If you'd like to write to me, click on the "Contact" link at the top. Thanks! -- CJ.
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This pastor is a tool. The law of biblical man is to everyone, including heathens.
ReplyDeleteI think he is mad about something...
ReplyDeleteThis is NOT a christian nation, and will never be. This is the land of the free AND the brave, which are two things Christianity do not want us to be. To this Pastor I sincerely hope he starts taking the Atheist message to heart, we aren't just "good without god" we are "better off without god".
ReplyDeleteThe title of this article is sensationalist. All he said was that offensive things should be banned.
ReplyDeleteThat for the most part is fine. We do not want ads with dead babies.
The religious simply find atheist ads offensive. Thats fine.
I've grown up in Ft Worth and lived here for 33 years. Many of those as a Christian, but have since deconverted. These pastors are over churches that MIGHT have 100 followers. I'm amazed at the amount of press this got over probably 3-4 pastors whining about us simply making a statement to each other. I'm glad we got international press for it, especially for the amount the Coalition put into it. But holy crap, the damn Fox news affiliate here made it sound like the billboards had pictures of us eating babies and peeing on grandmas.
ReplyDeletemmmmmmm, tasty babies. :-)
ReplyDeletebahahah!! they actually have adverts for religion on buses? can you say "idolatry" ? LOL!
ReplyDelete"Minorities are always divisive when they assert their rights, because the majority is always the oppressor." This statement by the author is imprecise; apartheid was perpetrated by the minority whites over the majority blacks. Other than that I agree, the sanctimonious idignation by some Christians on this issue is completely unwarranted and baseless.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing on our side(athiest) are the wacky preachers,priests and rabbis speaking publicly .They are like a Judge that personally doesn't believe in evidence,yet presides over,and comments,on case after case....
ReplyDeleteI'm perfectly okay with not having any sort of religious ads on city buses. I view this as a success rather than a failure.
ReplyDeleteThe Treaty of Tripoli in 1797 states: "The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Mussulmen [Moslems]." This statement was expressing its view also on other religions (did you know that Thomas Jefferson hosted a Ramadan IN the White House? Furthermore, he taught himself Arabic so he could read the Qur'an... And he was an Atheist.), but it clearly states that this was never intended to be a religious nation.
ReplyDeleteI'm on that bus ad, and I'm outraged.