20th December 2010
“A truly liberal society guarantees the freedom of all religions, but it accepts the tyranny of none. People must be free to live without threat or fear. To say the things, write the words and live the lives they choose. Does that offend some people? Yes, of course. But the price of freedom is the risk of offence. And, for me, that price is always worth paying.”
December 20th, 2010 at 3:02
“Every thousand years, I test each life system in the Universe. I visit it with mysteries, earthquakes, unpredicted eclipses, strange craters in the wilderness… If these are taken as natural, I judge that system ignorant and harmless – I spare it. But if the Hand of Ming is recognized in these events, I judge that system dangerous to us.” – Ming the Merciless
Sorry – not everyday we have a quote of the day from a Ming.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:55
About criticizing religions – As a life-long atheist, I disagree with atheist organizations putting up billboards challenging the beliefs of people who cling to a ‘security blanket’ in the sky.Our daily survival in this biosphere , viewed objectively, is a ceaseless game of chance even if we are armed with encyclopoedic knowledge of how society and Nature works. Some brains can cope with it, some simply cannot and they NEED their deities. Instead, that billboard money would be better spent urging the gov’t to actually enact SEPARATION of Church and State into LAW, keep voodoo out of the Judicial system, and let the worshippers go about their business in the privately, at home and in designated spaces which should remain tax exempt.
December 20th, 2010 at 12:34
Although that may be a side affect of the billboards I don’t think that is their primary purpose. In America in particular there are many atheists still in the closet becuse it is still such a central pillar of society there. Groups like FFRS are trying to reach these people, not ridicule believers.
December 20th, 2010 at 12:34
Sorry FFRF!
December 20th, 2010 at 15:47
Good response AMC.
Things like the atheist billboards are needed in a world where atheists are vilified to the degree that they are (even in overtly secular nations such as the United States). The billboards aren’t about yanking the security blanket from superstitious minds although they may do that, they’re about standing up for it to be acceptable to say out loud and in public that “gods don’t exist.”