NDR Media Coverage

Let's Be Reasonable (Opinion)

by Bruce Wilkey

Well, May is approaching, and I see over on the far right side of the Chattanoogan page that the Chattanooga Resource Foundation is once again fronting for the American Taliban and their National Day of Prayer. Now I don't care if the Christian faithful of America want to burn up a few neurons communicating with their great giant head spirit on the affairs of the day - their right to do so is Constitutionally guaranteed right along with my right to regard such activity as a pitiful waste of time and energy, which I do.

Each year at this time, I'm reminded of my two favorite bumperstickers. The first from several years ago which proclaimed "8 Billion Prayers And God Still Hasn't Cured Acne" and the much more direct message from the Freedom From Religion Foundation: "Nothing Fails Like Prayer", undeniable proof of which they ignore on a daily basis - much like alcoholics deny their affliction.

No wonder. Faith, after all, is the active ingredient in the opiate of the people.

There is another, and more significant thing, which makes this annual event particularly repugnant to me. That is the fact that these people are seemingly unsatisfied that they have two thousand churches in the Chattanooga area set aside specifically for their other-worldly supplications. They are apparently not satisfied with these quiet enclaves, which they find adequate to visit throughout the rest of the year for such activity. Curiously, at this particular time, they are hell-bent to invade the halls of our secular government like bulls in a china shop and boldly violate the admonishments of Matthew as stated in their venerated "guide to better living." I won't bother to quote it all here - you can look it up if you like. But the Christian Taliban know what it says and because it doesn't suit their purposes, they ignore it too. And, sad to say, in order to preserve their votes and social standing, too many of our government officials seem eager to violate their oaths of office to accommodate these prayerful "hypocrites who would be seen of men."

Their growing movement pushing America toward Christian theocracy is a far greater threat to its survival than all the terrorists of the world. There is an unfortunate and dangerous ignorance of the fact that there are terrorists among the American Taliban living right here in our midst. One of them who was driven to kill and maim as a result of his religious neurosis is currently on trial. He recently escaped a death sentence by surrendering information about his many hidden explosives caches. His perverted hatred of non-white, non-Christian humans was so all-consuming that he would have been undeterred even if the Ten Commandments had been hanging in every government building in the land. It is this penchant for extremism which is the most troubling aspect of Christian activism. They do not want to work within the system, they want to BE the system - and our secular Constitution be damned! In case you think my concern is overblown, consider that last October Reverend Pat Robertson stated that "maybe we need a very small nuke" to blow up the U.S. Department of State.

Just try saying THAT within earshot of a Washington cop - much less on a satellite television network. Oh, but "that's just Pat," you say?

Well, I say why are Homeland Security agents busting tourists for photographing government buildings when there are crackpots like him around?

I believe our Constitution deserves to be defended from such affronts and the rights of citizens who reject enslavement of their minds to religion should be given their guaranteed "equal protection under the law." Fortunately, there is a national movement sponsored by the American Humanist Association that agrees. On the same day the American Taliban gather to pray for the deconstruction of our democracy, I and other non-theistic Americans will recognize the National Day of Reason as a secular alternative. You may get the facts at www.nationaldayofreason.org where the clear and concise statement of principles for the event are presented.

As Col. Robert G. Ingersoll said: "The heathen prays to a stone and the Christian prays to a spirit, and the prayers of both are equally useful."

Copyright 2005 The Chattanoogan.com

This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of Humanist issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.