What kind of world do we live in where good, god-fearing Christians feel justified in discriminating against and even committing violence against atheists, but atheists are the intolerant ones for simply making public their disdain for Christian doctrine and dogma? What sort of nation is America if blasphemy can be treated as worse than bigotry, discrimination, or violence?

There is nothing inherently political about atheism in the sense that knowing someone is an atheist does not necessarily tell you anything about his or her political leanings. At the same time, it is no secret that the majority of atheists, at least in the United States, describe themselves as left-of-center when it comes to politics.

According to data recently released from the Baylor Religion survey, 73.1% of Americans responded "agree" or "strongly agree" to the statement "God has a plan for me." Of those who agreed with this statement, 96% also said that the government should be smaller.

It used to be illegal for the U.S. government to use propaganda against its own people. That does not mean it never happened, but it used to be illegal. It may still be illegal. But with Fox "News," propaganda and misinformation have become so common that many people no longer recognize them.

Just what is the price of propaganda and misinformation being passed off as legitimate news to the uninformed? I'm not sure how to quantify it, but I fear that it is far greater than many of us realize.

You'll see a particularly relevant example in this video, as Fox "News" deals with separation of church and state by pushing their conservative agenda and ignoring the law. This is a striking example of the damage this sort of media can do.

In a recent post, I wrote about how our ability to empathize with Christians could be an important tool in reaching them. Based on some of the reactions I have received to this post, I want to clarify that this was not a "don't be a dick" plea. I do think that it is important for atheists to understand where Christians are coming from and connect emotionally with the confusion and fear that drives their belief system. However, this does not mean that I'd place the belief system above a good mocking.

This is going to be the laziest Idiot of the Week post of all time. Watch this brief clip and listen to the words of the heckler.



There's your idiot for the week. He's not an idiot for interrupting the president; he's an idiot because he seems to believe in gods of some sort. Can you imagine? In this day and age, people still believe that garbage?

H/T to Atheist Media Blog

Subscribe to Atheist Revolution