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| Witchvox Chapter: Wren's Nest News | Chapter Page Views: 54,944,948 |
 Atheists Take Message On Road Author: Neil Johnson Source: Tampa Bay Online Title: ATHEISTS TAKE MESSAGE ON ROAD Motorists along one of Lakeland's major thoroughfares are being greeted with a billboard asking a provocative question: "Don't believe in God?" Then there's the answer: "You are not alone." The billboard went up Sunday on eastbound Memorial Boulevard near Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, making Lakeland the second Florida city to have a billboard sponsored by an atheist organization. The bottom of the billboard lists the Web site of Atheists of Florida, which paid for the message, www.atheistsofflorida.org. The organization picked Lakeland for the billboard to mark the opening of a chapter in the Polk County city, said Rob Curry, the group's president. | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 6 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Atheism Is NOT A Religion | Nov 7th. at 5:54:00 pm EST |
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GreaterGood (Fairbanks, Alaska) - Email Me Athiesm is the lack of a belief in a god/gods/supernatural, etc. Many people improperly label themselves Agnostics and claim that a profession of ignorance is significantly different from a "no" answer. The problem with this is that if you say "yes" to the question of whether or not a god, etc., exists, then you are a Theist by definition, because theism is simply a belief in that divinity. Atheism, then, is a lack of that belief. The literal definition of the word atheism is "without theism." Giving any answer other than "yes" to the question of whether or not a god exists, even if the answer is "I dunno", therefore makes you an atheist. There is nothing else to it. Atheists (yes, including those that label themselves as Agnostics) are a vastly diverse group. By far the majority of Atheists are Humanists, and thus believe in people helping each other to increase social justice and help alleviate the suffering of the world. Think Jonas Salk (an Atheist) giving the Polio vaccine to the people of the world for free just because it was the right thing to do. It is true that many Atheists are Ayn Randian materialists, and do reject traditional morality out of a belief that self interest is more important to the survival of the species than cooperation. They tend to gravitate to the Libertarian party, and sneer at everyone around them out of the misguided notion that their economic/social beliefs make them better than others. (Watch Hitchcock's "The Rope" for a great example) . Lots of Atheists belive lots of things, however. For example, the Raelians are Atheists. Remember them? They came out of the woodwork a few years ago claiming to have cloned a human being? They are a pseudo-cult who believe that humans were created by aliens. Intelligent Design without God. Many Buddhists are also technically atheists. The trappings of religious ritual and ceremony do not equal theism. All those gods? Simply illusions. So - I know, long rant. But the point is that Atheism has no tenets. No dogma. it is simply a lack of belief in God/s. These signs make no attempt to convince the religious not to believe. Rather, they serve to let other Athiests know they are not alone. In a way, being an Atheist is like being gay. Religion has such a huge place in this country that in many places professing your Atheism publicly can have serious consequences. Family members will disown you, bosses harass you, etc. A recent poll found that Athiests are the single most hated "religious group" in America. Yes, that's right - in the Deep South they prefer Muslims over Atheists. (Hey, at least they believe in something, right?) |
| Painting Pluralism | Nov 6th. at 9:06:04 am EST |
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karrie9 (Kenosha, Wisconsin) - Email Me - Web Most atheists unwittingly obey God vs. Godless dualism, the dominant (monotheistic orthodoxy) paradigm they're rejecting. I do find that phenomena interesting because... Where the focus goes, the energy flows. That and if you want to really challenge the dominant paradigm and broaden the scope of your fellow human beings, you have to name it and name the alternatives, how they may differ on a functional, theological and/or philosophical basis, and how definitions for worship, Deity, Divine, and religion may vary. There are, of course, other sorts of religion orthopraxic, polytheistic, non-theistic and so on. For instance, as an eclectic Wiccan-Druid, well, eclectic that acknowledges many influences, I practice an orthopraxy (correct practice, including but not limited to ethics, functional virtues, and the arts and disciplines of equality and hospitality) . I define worship as "to recognize the worth of," not to grovel before some cosmic hierarchy, and my definition of Deity includes both anthropomorphized ones as well as ones that are not. It's not faith-based identity but people's demonstrable character, intelligence, and thought/behavioral patterns and **what they mean** and **how they touch the lives of others** that I pay attention to and and value because that type of focus is more functional and it tells me far more about the world around me. These are much more reliable indicators and that type of focus tends to have a very different directional force. If more people succinctly nail what their path is, whatever it is, the political-social landscape becomes an **obvious pluralism** rather than **occult pluralism**, occult meaning "hidden," making the Equality power paradigm more likely than the Power and Control (abuse) paradigm whose dysfunctional axis is about taking power from others at others' expense and suffering. I like equality better because it's about the removal of the institutions of prejudice (creedism, racism, sexism, heterosexism, and so on) and about mutually earned and maintained courtesy and respect. [Web LINK] Spreading the word of atheism just isn't enough. I'm not against all forms of atheism but promoting it isn't quite the win many would hope it would be. It may not move things along in the direction they wanted. Putting up a different road sign while not changing the landscape or direction does what? An example of how little atheism can change if it doesn't challenge the dominant paradigm is how easily atheism and creedism flip flopped yet maintained dysfunction in Russia. [Web LINK] |
| Psh. | Nov 4th. at 11:47:39 pm EST |
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Miho (Birmingham, Alabama) - Email Me That's a lot more friendly and less imposing than the road signs I see that say things like "Heaven or Hell: It's Your Choice," or "Go to Church, or the Devil will get you!" Basically, it's totally cool to force OUR ideas down everyone's throat, but other religions/beliefs shouldn't be allowed. |
| I Wish....... | Nov 4th. at 8:50:14 pm EST |
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huckster (Dunnellon, Florida) - Email Me That they would put a few of those billboards here in Ocala, FL. Just to make people think. I have already been insulted by a couple dozen people here for being Wiccan. I have been told that I am a Satanist or that I am going to hell. There are a few exceptions to this and by some very nice people. But I would still love to see those billboards here and especially to see the reactions of the closed minded. Bright Blessings To All |
| What I Find Funny.... | Nov 4th. at 7:25:53 pm EST |
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me is the complaint that-although they have the right to free speech, it is still wished that the billboard wasn't there. Also too, that it is in an area where there are a lot of churches-and they don't need that. Yet, whenever the RR or some other religious group or church takes out an ad, they don't care who they might offend in their commercials. I say go for it. |
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