My Zen Arcade

If a Christian group bought some ad space on some busses advocating accepting Christ, the Jews of DC would not blink an eye.  If the Jews did something similar, there’d be no outcry from Christians.  But when atheists do it, there’s no end of venom.

Why is that?

At the core of virtually any theistic religion is the belief that ALL other religions are simply wrong.  However, in the U.S., that doesn’t get bandied about much in public.  There’s sort of a wink and a nod agreement that one group doesn’t put up a sign saying another group is wrong.  Further, there’s a bit of rationalization that goes on.  Oh, sure, those guys are wrong, but it is just because they misunderstand, or are naive.

In other words, when someone says “My God is great” the subtext, that everyone else is wrong, stays subtext and everyone is OK with that.

The thing is, with atheism, that subtext is, in fact, the text.  There is no real way to say that there’s no god or, at least, no reason to believe god exists without saying that everyone else is wrong.  There is no way around it, and no way for people to ignore the statement with any kind of respect.  Theists can work around each other, but the nature of the atheist/theist relationship is conflict.

Does that mean that the two can’t communicate reasonably?  No, it does not.  But it does require honesty along with civility.  I am an atheist.  I do not in any way respect the beliefs of theists.  However, I do respect the fact that many people hold those beliefs strongly.  My brother is Christian and when I want to talk religion with him, I go about it with the understanding that, if I insult him for his beliefs, the discussion goes no where.  Its just a fight.

The bus signs in DC were respectful of the fact that many people believe, and still sent a clear message that those beliefs were not shared.  The Olympia sign was not.  The sign could not be seen as anything but a smack across the face (though I believe the sign to be accurate).  Maybe that was the goal.  I’m OK with that.  I think these myths are a disease rotting the U.S. from within.  But it isn’t very productive for me to open a conversation that way.