Are Atheists engaged in a war against Christmas?
In the Dec. 21st Macomb Daily I read an article by William Rusher
bemoaning how Atheists and the ACLU trod upon Christians habit of
putting religious holiday decorations in public view. The article hit
deeply enough for me to write this response to the Editor. Sadly,
I cannot find the article online to provide a link, but the Editor did
reply to me and included the text of the article which can be read
HERE.
He also indicated he would find a way to publish my reply.
Great news, on Dec. 31st my article appeared with nominal editing in
the Macomb Daily. A scan of the article can be seen
HERE. However, the text below is my original submission and
easier to read (by nature of being text rather than a scanned image).
I have just finished reading William Rusher’s article Atheists, ACLU
step up war against Christmas. Overall I get the feeling that Mr. Rusher
is thoughtful of Atheists if not sympathetic. However, there are several
conclusions he arrives at that I think deserve redress.
First, he somehow gets the idea that Atheists want all references to
Christmas removed from "Public Square." This is simply not true.
Atheists, by nature of their minority are very tolerant of public
display of religion. It is government (all extensions) that is best
served by a lack of religious endorsement. An Atheist doesn’t care if a
department store displays a nativity scene, a Christmas tree, or a
menorah. A department store operates in the "private" sector and has the
freedom to express their ideas and spend their money just like we as
individuals have. But an Atheist does care if those items are on display
at City Hall or a police station. If any branch of government displays
any religious icon, everyone subscribing to a different belief feels
like second class citizen. Furthermore, tax money is collected from all
people (Jews, Hindus and Atheists included) and should not be spent on
Christian holiday decorations, or the electricity operating them.
Second, Mr Rusher alleges that the American Civil Liberties Union
endorses an interpretation of the First Amendment that forbids the
slightest taint of religion in our public life. Again, this is
misstated. The ACLU wants only to remove the slightest taint of religion
from our government.
Third, while giving an alternative interpretation of the First
Amendment, he reasons that it only forbids the Federal government from
establishing an official state church, and follows up by saying "as
several of the original states had done." This is grossly misleading. He
presents it as if the Founding Fathers intended an official church and
it was somehow taken away. What he fails to point out is the problems
that caused by state churches and why this became the first sentence of
the First Amendment. Any student of history knows that the more
entangled religion and government become, the bloodier it is for the
people.
Fourth, he says that in the 20th Century the Courts adopted a stricter
view of the First Amendment and have been enforcing it with increasing
vigor. The facts, however, are contrary to this position. It was 1938
the motto "In God We Trust" was emblazoned across every piece of coin
the U.S. minted. In 1957 the motto replaced E Pluribus Unum as the
national motto and started appearing on paper money and it appeared on
all money by 1964. It was 1956 when "under God" was added to the Pledge
of Allegiance. Likewise in 1956 the phrase "so help me God" was added to
the end of oaths taken for public office.
Fifth, he concludes only Atheists benefit from the First Amendment. It
sounds like he feels since Christians are an overwhelming majority, they
have the right to dictate to the will of others. An Atheist responds "Of
course Christians want less religious tolerance, they are the ones doing
the imposing."
Number six is not really an objection to what he says, rather an
observation of what he says. He estimates that 10% of the population may
be Atheist..."heavily represented in various intellectual elites." So he
is saying the smartest people are Atheists. I did some research on this
subject and found Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Abe Lincoln,
and Thomas Jefferson (actually most of the Founding Fathers) to be
Atheist (by contemporary standards). Let me repeat what he concludes:
all the smartest people are Atheists....hmm...I wonder why that is?
Lastly, he suggests that since a certain amount of public religious
behavior is tolerated, that we disregard the wishes of the Atheist. What
if we had applied that same logic in regards to black Americans in the
1950s and 60s?
At the end, however, he summarizes that it is a token of goodwill when
someone wishes someone else "Merry Christmas." Indeed, an Atheist enjoys
when someone chooses to bestow goodwill on them in a way that has
personal significance, just as Mr. Rusher would welcome someone wishing
him "Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even Happy Winter Solstice."
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