{"id":23757,"date":"2013-07-01T01:08:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T04:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=23757"},"modified":"2016-11-26T01:21:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T04:21:31","slug":"atheist-call-their-own-monument-mere-counterpoint-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/01\/atheist-call-their-own-monument-mere-counterpoint-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Atheist Call their own Monument Mere Counterpoint, Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

The group American Atheists recently installed a granite monument<\/a> in front of the Bradford County courthouse in Starke, Florida.\u00a0 The group placed the monument there as the result of a compromise<\/a>, after a local Christian group refused to remove their\u00a0Ten Commandments monument — and then both<\/em> groups filed First Amendment lawsuits.<\/p>\n

David Silverman, the American Atheists president, called his own monument<\/a> a “counterpoint” and an “attack.”<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re not going to let them do it without a counterpoint,” Silverman said. “If we do it without a counterpoint, it\u2019s going to appear very strongly that the government actually endorses one religion over another, or \u2014 I should say \u2014 religion in general over non-religion…”<\/p>\n

“It is an attack, but it\u2019s an attack on Christian privilege, not an attack on Christians themselves, and not so much an attack on Christianity.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It has been said here before that some atheists apparently have no independent ideology; they exist only as a response<\/em> to Christians.\u00a0 That philosophy was on display in the monument itself, as it didn’t contain any quotes or text “celebrating reason” — only those mocking religion, and singling out only Christianity, as Silverman did.\u00a0 It was only a response to the Ten Commandments monument, while the Ten Commandments, perched in front of the County Courthouse, are a recognized foundation of modern law.<\/p>\n

Silverman also fails to say what “privilege” Christians are exercising, given that the atheists were able to do precisely what everyone else could.\u00a0 In fact, the AA monument did more<\/em>, since it actively mocked religion and Christianity, through selective\u00a0quotation and direct affront (including a grossly out of context quotation by Thomas Jefferson from his letter to Peter Carr<\/a>.)\u00a0 By contrast,\u00a0the Ten Commandments monument only listed the commandments — it didn’t mock atheism. (It’s unclear why Silverman only attacked Christianity, when the Ten Commandments are a part of three<\/em> religions.\u00a0 You’d think he was scared of mocking Jews or Muslims.)<\/p>\n

The MRFF celebrated this “atheist privilege” last year, when atheists at Fort Bragg “secured the right” to mock religion<\/a> — while Christians had been told they could not criticize anyone else.<\/p>\n

Other atheists, including the American Atheists military director Paul Loebe, claimed the monument was shown “disrespect”<\/a> by Eric Hovind, who<\/p>\n

jumped atop the peak of the monument and shouted his thanks to the atheists for giving him a platform to declare Jesus is real.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Their offense is immensely ironic, as they ascribe “sacred” value to a block of granite — and one that was intentionally designed to be a functional park bench, no less.<\/p>\n

Of course, the military atheists who spoke of “disrespect” neglected to mention that Silverman jumped up on the (not-functional-as-a-bench) Ten Commandments monument.\u00a0 Apparently, its only “disrespect” when non-atheists do it.<\/p>\n

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Todd Stiefel<\/a> has been the money behind<\/a> much of the recent atheist movement — essentially funding<\/a> many\u00a0recent major atheist events<\/a> (including their press coverage<\/a>).\u00a0 This monument was funded by him.\u00a0 “Fifty more” are planned, thanks to an “anonymous” donor.<\/p>\n

How might the atheists choose where to attack Christianity next?\u00a0 If you believe Hemant Mehta, they’re going to target poor towns that don’t have the financial resources to defend themselves — like Baker, Louisiana<\/a>, for example [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

Randall thinks it\u2019d make a great candidate for American Atheists\u2019 next atheist monument; Baker is suffering financial difficulties<\/strong> right now. They don\u2019t have money<\/strong> to waste on a lawsuit. They would be forced to either take down the monument or accept one from AA<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mehta is the Chair of Foundation Beyond Belief<\/a> — an atheist organization\u00a0also associated with Stiefel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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