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 The group American Atheists has placed this billboard in New York City's Times Square.
December 21st, 2013
10:22 AM ET
Why atheists should quit the 'War on Christmas’Opinion by Chris Stedman, special to CNN
In recent years, one organization, American Atheists, has claimed the mantle of prime atheist promoter of the tired “War on Christmas” narrative. This year, they ushered in the season with an electronic billboard in New York City’s Times Square carrying the message: “Who needs Christ during Christmas? Nobody.” The word "Christ" is crossed out, just in case their message wasn't clear enough. The American Atheists maintain that their latest entry in the annual “War on Christmas” saga is a message to other atheists that they are not alone. In a recent Fox News appearance, American Atheists President Dave Silverman said, “The point that we’re trying to make is that there’s a whole bunch of people out there for whom religion is the worst part of Christmas, but they go to church anyways, and we’re here to tell them they don’t have to.” While that intention is important and admirable, very few people—atheist or theist—seem to interpret the message as welcoming to anyone. Many of the responses I’ve seen have been vitriolic and disturbingly anti-atheist. Which raises the question: If the goal truly is to reach isolated atheists, why does the advertisement read as a dig at Christians? A better billboard for American Atheists’s stated aim might read: “Don’t celebrate Christmas? You’re not alone.” As atheists become more visible in our society, the entire “War on Christmas” back-and-forth feels ugly and unnecessary. Worse still, it seems to do little more than offer ammunition to those claiming atheists are just mean-spirited grinches. Bill O’Reilly—one of the major “War on Christmas” soldiers—made that clear when he and I discussed the “War on Christmas” a couple of weeks ago. Let’s not kid ourselves: There is no war on Christmas. We live in a culture that privileges stories of conflict, so it’s understandable that this narrative would gain traction—with or without billboards. Much of this narrative is a manifestation of religious fears about our increasingly secular society, and it reflects widespread anxieties about atheists and religious differences. But it doesn’t reflect reality. Rather, as religious diversity in the U.S. has become more recognizable, Americans have largely broadened their approach to this time of year. According to new data from the Public Religion Research Institute, the percentage of Americans who prefer the inclusive “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” has now exceeded the percentage that prefers “Merry Christmas.” It’s not that Christmas is under attack; instead, our society is becoming better at embracing its religious diversity and challenging the notion that a single majority religion should dominate public expressions of belief. So why does the “War on Christmas” narrative persist? Based on how much play they give it each December, the “War on Christmas” narrative seems to be good for Fox News ratings. And American Atheists has openly admitted that it is good for their pocketbooks, as their talk show appearances bring in a swell of donations. Consider this from a recent profile of Silverman: “Silverman’s notorious anti-Christmas billboards and subsequent TV appearances have breathed new life into American Atheists and are often followed by an uptick in subscribers and donations. ... According to Silverman, the primary objective of the billboards is to get invitations to talk shows.” In other words: American Atheists and Fox News - alongside conservatives like Sarah Palin - seem to have discovered a mutually beneficial relationship. But does this relationship benefit atheists more broadly? Does it accurately represent the sentiments of nontheists in this country? Does it improve atheist-theist relations? Does it lessen the widespread stigma and distrust that exists between atheists and theists, which enables atheist marginalization across the U.S.? Does it invite Christians to think critically about religious privilege? Many atheists, myself included, suspect that there are more effective approaches to tackling these important issues. To start, atheists can build positive relationships with believers to humanize our communities and educate one another about our differences. That’s something that billboards, for all of their flash and fundraising capabilities, likely won’t accomplish. Atheists face real marginalization in the U.S., and it should be robustly challenged. But we also have good tidings and great joy to offer—important contributions to the public square that are currently being drowned out by attention-grabbing billboards claiming “nobody” needs Christ in Christmas. In the spirit of generosity, compassion, and kindness so often associated with this time of year, let’s ditch the billboards and build relationships of goodwill. Chris Stedman is the Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University, Coordinator of Humanist Life for the Yale Humanist Community, and author of "Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious." You can follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDStedman. The views expressed in this column belong to Stedman. soundoff (5,210 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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(CNN) - The “War on Christmas:” what — or who—is it good for?
Christmas is a christian holiday, that is why christs name is right in there. Too bad so many people who werent christian got jealous because they or their kids wanted to participate but were not chrisitan, but that will never change the fact that it is a christian holiday.
You useless parrot.
Loser.
Christmas was made into a Christian holiday. The days surrounding December 23rd have been celebrated by many religions for several reasons for quite a long time. The early Catholic church understood that people are more willing to convert if you allow them to keep their holidays. Thus we have Christmas. So if some atheists want to rebrand or rather advertise the lack of need of Christ for the holiday then they are in good company.
You really should broaden your understanding of the genesis of Christmas. Christianity, in it's formative years did many things to co-opt the so called pagans into the fold. They were not shy in hijacking pagan holidays and re-branding them as Christian. This in no way diminishes the purpose or the implied meaning behind the holiday. It does remind us all of all the other cultural holidays that occur near or on the same day that should have our respect, even if we do not believe in theirs. Put yourself in their shoes and you may find your thoughts evolving.
You don't hijack customs and traditions. Germanic pagans became Germanic Christians who held onto some of their customs and traditions. Other people liked them, and embraced them. They didn't steal them as some kind of marketing ploy.
Kinda like how American baseball teams adopt names like the "Braves", or "Redskins"?
No, more like my grandparents were Germanic and those traditions were important to my family.
We didn't steal them. We kept them. We embrace them.
And Thursday is a Viking day, so but on your horned helmet, grab your battle axe and pillage!
All the combatants on the Western Front in 1917 were Christians. British, French, German. Why don't you read a book on the Western Front in 1917 and then tell me how Christianity 'civilizes' humanity? I'd really love to hear it.
There is two ways to say it:
The christian way a) "we fought for you"
or
The truth b) "we fought for ourselves"
Where b is the real truth because they want their religion on top. Converting by force. Kill them if they don't believe the same crock that you do.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWOqHHE4upY&w=560&h=315]
" Nobody kills like the Christian."
Mark Twain.
"Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God." - Heywood Broun
You realize of course how totally absurd that comment was, right?
Christ will be in my Christmas.
Why did you post that?
~Because – you felt it necessary to yourself to say it. No ones gives a crap that you do.
Nope. I posted it because the sign says nobody needs Christ in Christmas.
Maybe because there is no more hostile place to be in modern society than still believing the truth of the Gospel? Makes perfect sense.
Aw, poor persecuted Christian. You get your delusion put on money, on the Capitol building, in the Pledge, all in violation of the First Amendment, and yet you cry about it anytime someone doesn't agree with your fantasies.
You can always tell how fucked a religious freak is by the way that they have to cross promote their freak religion into any given statement.
As opposed to an atheist who feels necessary to chime in on a conversation about a "God" that they "absolutely" don't believe in??? Well, if someone tells me that the tooth fairy is coming back, and I better get my 'teeth' ready or else, I would simply say, OK thanks bro. Because I truly don't believe in that, it simply doesn't offend me whatsoever. I think that atheist have to chime in on the truth because it is so offensive and they know in their heart that it is true. That also agrees with what Christ said about the atheist. The Gospel is offensive. Not believing in it will not excuse you whatsoever.
My message to all the non-believers: If I am wrong about the existence of God and Jesus Christ, then all I have done is spent my life believing in something that has given me comfort and eased my mind during difficult times. But if the non-believer is wrong about the existence of God and Jesus Christ, then he/she is in for a world of hurt. Just a word of advice to you. Start now getting used to very warm weather. Because you will be in for an eternity of it. Bring lots of sun block.
Ummm. Nope.
The likelihood you picked the right one is very small. The non-believer isn't making a choice at all but is reacting to insufficient evidence for God. Many like myself, were believers but used reason to determine that, like a belief in Santa, a belief in God is irrational. The belief in a specific God becaqse of specific admonitions about a hell, is delusional
Actually, his odds are astronomically better than yours. Do a little bit of homework on Biblical prophecy that has been fulfilled in the last 70 years (out of 5000 years of Biblical prophecy). You'll be amazed if you can set aside your prejudice for a brief moment.
Oh do share. Are they prophesies like "wars and rumors of war" that have been constantly true since before Jesus? Earthquakes? Other things that constantly happen?
Or are they vague prophecies that you have chosen to interpret as fulfilled?
But if you have credible ones, do share.
Oh c'mon. Pascal's Wager?
Bill,
This is another tired repeti.tion of Pascal's Wager - thoroughly refuted since the 17th century (where have you been?)
- What if the real "God" is Allah, or Vishnu, or Zeus, or Quetzalcoatl, or any of the other of thousands which have been dreamed up over the centuries? Some of them are very jealous and vengeful and will relegate you to nasty places for not worshiping them. You'd better cover your butt by believing in ALL of them and fulfill their wishes and demands.
- What if the real "God" prefers those who use logic and reason and punishes you as a silly sycophant?
- What if the real "God" detests those who believe something just to cover their butts in eternity?
"Allah" called the world flat. Read the quran for yourself. God called the world round, thousands of years before man even asked the question. Read it for yourself. If you want to disprove the Bible, you have to start at its biggest prophecy of the end times. You have to disprove the re-emergence of Israel as a nation. This happened on May 14, 1948. There are DOZENS of Biblical prophecies about the last generation of humanity (OUR GENERATION) that began with Israels rebirth. Iran. China. The EU. Islam. The whole world turning against Israel, calling for her destruction. The decline (or, hopefully not, destruction, of the US). The moral state of humanity that drops almost straight down on a graph since the 60's. The list goes on and on and on and on. It takes an AMAZING amount of faith to be an atheist. At least, a well-informed one.
"Round" and "flat" are not exclusive. If they really knew, they could have used "ball" and at least been mostly accurate.
Pascal's Wager, yet again. . . Blah, blah, blah. . .
Careful, Bill. There's a bit of pride in your comment, a bit of hubris, a bit of spite. Time for a self-diagnostic.
Ah, there it is–predictable. For Christians to supposedly not be allowed to judge, all too many of them take delight in brandishing that old threat of Hell. You really seem to take some glee in that, don't you? "get used to warm weather". Oh so clever. Aren't you privileged to be one of the lucky "saved" ones?
But think about this. You will be spending an eternity with a being who is so malevolent and capricious, that he is prepared to burn people forever and ever, just for the horrid crime of doubting his invisible existence.
Have you ever burned yourself? Even for a brief second? Try to remember how painful that was. Then extrapolate this and imagine how it would feel over your entire body–not just for a second, or a minute, or even an hour–but forever and ever and ever–unceasing, no relief, no appeal, no respite.
This is monstrous beyond human capacity to imagine or describe. Any being who would do this is sick and malevolent on a scale far exceeding humanity's worst criminals and tyrants. And any being who would do this to anyone–just for not believing!!!–is NOT good! He is evil, and capricious! And it would only be a matter of time–after all–you're around him for all eternity–only a matter of time before you did something that went against his capricious temper, and then you will be in the same boat.
If this is the God you believe in, then you are DOOMED anyway. Every second of your existence would necessarily be fraught with terror. Think of being around a monster like Stalin all the time–knowing he could execute you with a whim. This is far, far worse. Killing you is the worst Stalin could do, and being around him is only for a life time.
Think. God supposedly created us, and apparently engineered some of us to be skeptical. He knows what would persuade us (being all-knowing), but does not do so. He's all-powerful, so he could easily persuade all skeptics, but does not do so. Yet he stands ready to convict us of thought crimes–non-belief, and burn us forever for that.
What kind of father tortures his children forever in the most painful way possible–for all eternity, when he could easily forgive them? I would never torture my children for any reason whatsoever, let alone not believing in me.
Yet Christians like to call this good "infinitely just" and "merciful". Any God who fits this description would reward us for being skeptical rather than gullible, and using our heads and thinking for ourselves. Maybe you are the one who will be punished for your gullibility?
This is one sick, scary god and religion you worship. Please think on this.
American Atheists is obnoxious. Loud and obnoxious. They pick the most idiotic, cliche fights and make atheists all look angry and crazy.
AHA is much more representative of atheism, in my experience.
So what nationality of atheism are you?
Christians & other believers look to history past and present for example the former Soviet Union and present day China for cases to see what an atheist state means to freedom to believe or not. I've never heard of gulags for atheists in modern or past times. No stories of atheists willing to die for their atheism, they usually bend with the wind to survive.
This "war" brings to mind the bible quote of Christ preferring people to be hot or cold. Being "cold" atheists for instance are much more aware of God and think about him more often, thus more likely to convert.
These types of articles on religion bring out a flood of atheist comments most times. I used to think atheists would just skip over these stories, maybe they are the ones who read them most?
Nobody is trying to make the US an atheist nation.
Please dial back your hyperbole a but, mmkay?
Actually, it's already official. Since our 'elected' president publically, and internationally declared on television, that America is not (no longer) a Christian nation. He should have read more of our founding history.
Funny you should mention our founding history, for if you yourself had read it, you would realize our founders explicitly said we are not a Christian nation.
He's obviously more educated on the subject than you are.
@doobzz:
Well, let me just make one quote from our first president. There are many, many more to contrast with the atheist voice.:
"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." George Washington. The 1st U.S. President.
That old fraud of an argument has been debunked many times.
It goes like this: Those were all communist atrocities. The victims were 99% political. Only about 1% were for any religious reasons. So the horrors are due to the political aspects of communism. And of course, atheism has no record of being murderous or oppressive outside of Communism, so the true cause was . . . yep, communism.
Do secular countries have more crime? Nope, they have less. Do the religious parts of America have less crime? Nope, they have more. Is a secular country more likely to be democratic and free? You bet.
And of course, if you want to say that the religious choice of a regime is responsible for any atrocities committed, then Christianity will still have a way-larger body count.
Has there been any wars started by atheism for anti-religious purposes? Nope. Have there been any wars started by Christians for religious purposes? Yep, lots. One, the Taiping Rebellion, resulted in about 20,000,000 dead.
So your assertion is pure fraud and slander.
I have a lot of east Europeon friends and in-laws who would disagree with you big time. Something tells you would say these folks are full of "hooey"! This is recent and present history, you have to do better than ancient history,
That would be why anecdotal evidence is so unreliable. The reality is what I stated. Your relatives would be in that 1%.
So, I'm sure you'd rather live in China or North Korea than the ole' U.S. of A. Oh wait, IRAN! That would be even better. I'm sorry, but that is a terrible argument.
And it was mostly Christians who made it so
Christmas has become a celebration of business, business now has it's own holiday and even calls it such, doing everything to erase any mention of the Christ child. I heard a an ad on the radio last week stating that the real spirit of "Holiday" can be found shopping at its stores! Ha, ha, mad dogs, nobody took offence to the ad! Churches of all stripes have preached against the materialization of Christmas for a long time.
I think it is beyond stupid. Its Christmas, its a national holiday. Should we change the way we celebrate July 4th because we might offend some people from England?
Not the same and you should know that.
It's exactly the same.
How is a religious holiday the same as the founding of our secular republic?
Well have you considered on how much change has gone into this holiday?
You haven't have you? All you know is what you have so far experienced in your own little corner of life. You're used to all the traditions that your parents have brought you up on. And that is all.
What about what your parents were taught to them by their parents? They were brought up on those changes and new traditions; that are now are part of your set of traditions.
You are an idiot who just doesn't take the time to think. This "christmas" tradition was a stolen concept from the pagans.
I can still remember the days of "carolers" in the streets.. that was a tradition.
Now they're gone ~ mostly. So are some of the dreadful tunes ~ you can thank your god for me that they've become obsolete.
Christianity is literally a cult a of human sacrifice, that also practices cannibalism.
The 'witches' who were burned or hanged were Human Sacrifices. Xtians just don't get it.
I am not a witch!
No Christine and neither is anybody else.
Yeah, but I was the first person in history to feel the need to say it during a political campaign.
Your assertion that X-tianity practices human sacrifice is inaccurate at best since X-tians don't sacrifice other human beings during their ceremonies. They consider Jesus to be the only sacrifice, and that happened nearly 2,000 years ago. As for practicing cannibalism, only those who celebrate the Eucharist AND believe in Transubstantiation can be said to practice that. It's obvious that you're down on X-tianity, but you really should get your facts straight before condemning it publicly in writing. HTH.
Quid–that's exactly what they are referring to, the human sacrifice of Jesus, and the ritual of transubstantiation.
Christianity IS a cult of human sacrifice–but just of one sacrifice only.
Please read the Bible for your information on Christianity, instead of 'atheist weekly', or "have you earned your 12 virgins today?". Seriously. Embarrassing.
Saturn is the Reason for the Season.
KEEP THE SATURN IN SATURNALIA!
Keep the goddess Easter in Easter too while you're at it.
And keep Thor in Thursday!
It's probably easier just to keep the SOL in SOLSTICE! At least SOL (the Sun) is real.
Dude driving a fiery chariot across the sky. Glad to meet some of the fellow faithful.
It isn't war. War is hell. Christmas is just an over-commercialized month of guilt-ridden predator capitalism. By equating this and that to war it lessens the meaning of the word, "war". This makes it easier to fight wars with no end. Ask a Syrian if they're concerned about the "War on Christmas", I'll bet they have more pressing and dire matters to worry about.
Unfortunately, the war has won your heart and mind as evident by your response. Christmas HAS been turned into a commercial venture, full of shopping, black-Friday sales, Santa clause, elves, etc. Everything EXCEPT its actual significance.....by non-Christians! What better way to subjugate the significance of a special holiday than to change it's meaning fundamentally to the uneducated masses (uneducated, as in....haven't bothered to look it up for themselves.) After all, everything on the news is true. If it's on the internet....
Again with the poor persecuted Christian boo hoo sob sob wah wah.
I see that you are stuck on the, "I know you are, but what am I" argument. I will leave you to your devices. Let me know when you want to debate facts.
Poor baby. Doesn't get the answer he wants, wahhhh.
You Christians cry like babies anytime someone disagrees with you. Wahhhhhh! I told you how to think and you don't want to! You're persecuting me! Wahhhhh!
If you had any fact to debate, you wouldn't run away like a coward.
They intentionally wrote the name of Christ, and then crossed over his name. They are like Herod when he found out Jesus was to become the King of the Jews, he didn't like it, and sent soldiers later to kill all the newborns to try to put an end to Jesus early. They are still trying to stop Jesus from saving people. It won't work. Believers will still keep believing God and thanking him for sending Jesus to die for our sins. Jesus is our hero, we love him for what he did for us, and his being at the right hand of God. He is the best.
Delusional tool.
Tool box.
Read more. Non-fiction.
That excludes the bible then.
@doobzz:
The Bible has withstood more scrutiny than the highest 'standards' of literature taught around the world. If Shakespeare were put to the same publishing standards as the Bible, we would have never known that he even existed!
Happy Winter Solstice, the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year, the longest night.
Celebrate with symbols of the season, the evergreen fir tree which as the category implies, stays green year round. Stay warm through the winter with a fire from a log. And keep the darkness at bay by shining many lights.
Religion is a problem. Religion is an especially difficult problem because some people think it's a solution. Nobody thinks we need more crime. Some deluded people think we need more religion.
Amen!!!! Religion is absolutely Evil! People need to get back to the truth of Christ. The only historical, prophetically provable truth! Unfortunately, this isn't going to happen until after His return.
As an atheist, it is clear the U.S. is progressing to a more secularist existence – one need only look back in history 50 years and see the change in the presence of believers. Many who state their religious affiliation as "believer" actually are non-believers, but still carrying that fear of eternal punishment, are afraid to actually verbalize their true non-belief.
In the case of this billboard, as an atheist I have to say it does not do our cause any good to poke someone in the eye over Christmas. Whoever is coming up with this strategy needs to be sat down on the bench.
Atheists are amusing. They always say what isn't but never say what is.
Reason, logic, science, evolution...aren't those things that fit the "is" category?
Life is wonderful. It's even better when believer cults practice their voodoo in the privacy of their own homes and cult clubhouses.
This is what is. Unless your God shows up on the 10 o clock news and says hi, then someone also proves that Big Foot, Loch Ness monster and ghosts are real, then we may bow to Proof. Belief? Not so much.
Besides, the term atheist is merely about one aspect, regarding what "isn't" when there "isn't" any proof. It's not a system of beliefs or particular group, just as others have mentioned that not collecting stamps is not a hobby.
Actually, the proof is overwhelming. But, it doesn't do any good to 'discuss' it with a true atheist. As God himself said, "The fool has said in his heart (truly believes) there is no God."
That's exactly the same con that was used to found the LDS religion. "You won't see the golden plates unless you believe the golden plates are real."
An infantile argument that sometimes still works on people who have been brainwashed to believe in deities.
@doobzz:
Absolutely right about false religions! There are many!! God called Lucifer the great deceiver. There IS NO better deception than to convince the masses that you don't even exist. Yes, LDS is a cult. Yes, islam is a lie (read it for yourself – jeez, just watch the evening news.) But, for crying out loud, don't confuse the atheistic media's portrayal of Christianity with the real thing (or the crusades, or the cults, or or or....) It's really simple.
The war on Christmas as an entirely media driven, made up scandal. Christians don't need the government to push their religion
I ain't gonna climb on rickety, rusty ladder to pull a cross down off some water tower in Mayberry, USA. It shoodint be up there, but who cares? You know why they call it 'Terra Firma;? Because the more firma, the less terra.