11.28.2008

Offended By "Merry Christmas?"

merry christmas
merry christmas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Austin Cline posted a question he received on his forums asking why some atheists seemed to be offended by someone saying "merry Christmas." At least for me, "offended" seems a bit strong. I'd prefer to use the term "annoyed" to describe how I feel upon hearing it. I only feel that way some of the time, depending on the circumstances. I do not take offense at hearing those words, and I haven't encountered an atheist who does.

What could be annoying about hearing someone wish me a merry Christmas? I sometimes find it annoying because it seems insensitive. The person making the statement is incorrectly assuming that I am Christian (a reflection of Christian privilege) or celebrate Christmas. I'm not, and I don't. They have not bothered to consider the potential impact of their words on persons with different beliefs. But since I encounter this sort of thing regularly here in Mississippi, I can't say I'm offended or surprised by it.

11.17.2008

Rethinking the War on Christmas

war on christmas

The month of November brings both Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving, but it also heralds something even more special - the war on Christmas. It is almost unfortunate that this "war" is nothing more than a marketing campaign by conservative Christians to solicit donations from their deluded supporters. If the war was real, it could bring atheists together to denounce Christian privilege as a potent cultural factor for maintaining extremism. But sadly, the war on Christmas is nothing more than an exercise in atheist-bashing where we become the boogeyman long enough to fill right-wing coffers. For this season, I have but one simple question: is there any way we could use this imagined war to benefit ourselves and our compatriots in reality?

I realize that this may seem like a strange question, and to be honest, I'm writing this post without much idea of where it will end up. That is, I'm not sure how we could turn this "war" to our advantage. It only occurs to me that it might be a question worth asking.

The Christian right has a platform (i.e., Fox News) from which to loudly blather about our fictional attacks on their religion. Each year, representatives from atheist groups set the record straight, pointing out that there is no such war. It makes no difference, and the dance is repeated next year.

11.12.2008

Atheists, What Did You Put Under "Religious Views" On Facebook?

Facebook logo
Facebook logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I believe I mentioned that I had been playing around with Facebook. Since I am using my real name and not planning to promote my blog there, I was not sure what to make of the "religious views" line on my profile. Coincidentally, a reader e-mailed me and asked my opinion about this very issue as I was confronting it myself. She did not want to put "atheist" under religion because she recognized that atheism is not a religion and did not want to pretend it was. This led her to think of putting "none" in the space. However, she wasn't sure she liked this idea much better. Given my goals in using Facebook, I ended up just leaving the religion line blank for now. For those of you using Facebook, what was your solution?

11.06.2008

Religion's Toxic Effects in the Abortion Controversy

Photo from the 2004 March for Women's Lives, t...
Photo from the 2004 March for Women's Lives (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Intelligent, open-minded people can disagree about a woman's legal right to abort a pregnancy. Why do I get the feeling that I probably pissed off nearly every reader with that first sentence? I recognize that I may be wrong about this, but I believe that rational and respectful debate over abortion can happen, at least up to a point. Moreover, I believe that this point is the precise moment that religion enters the arena. The entry of religion seems to render productive discussion or debate over abortion virtually impossible.

Let me begin by saying that I am a firm believer in protecting female reproductive freedom. Among the various freedoms which I seem to preserve is a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy, at least under certain circumstances. Yes, I think that the limitations already in place regarding the length of gestation are warranted. However, the termination of a pregnancy can indeed be a moral choice.