Is “atheist activism” simply proselytizing in disguise?

Proselytizing is often equated with religious organizations, however, I submit to you that one does not have to be in a religious organization to proselytize. The dictionary offers this definition of proselytizing: “To convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another.” (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company).

Although atheism is not technically a religion, we believe that it does exhibit religion type qualities and the activism shown by people such as Michael Newdow, Madelyn Murray O’Hair, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and other prominent, out spoken advocates of atheism exhibits proselytizing behavior. There is plenty of evidence to support the proselytizing efforts of prominent atheists in our world. One simply has to watch the evening news and it won’t take long to hear of some atheist activist terrorizing teachers at a local school for allowing a child to bring a Bible to class, or petitioning the US government to discontinue the phrase “under God” in the Flag’s Pledge of Allegiance.

Someone once told me that if it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and looks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. I say that we stop dancing around semantics and call a spade a spade. Atheism should be considered a religion for the proselytizing efforts of atheists.

In addition, I feel that atheism often hides under the guise of humanism and secularism in an attempt to circumvent the scrutiny that comes with other religions. They call themselves humanists and secularists and meet as such in “humanists churches” and then deny that they are meeting as atheists. If you don’t believe me click here to read more about “The Church of Atheism” here: http://atheismsfallacies.com/blog/2008/01/25/the-church-of-atheism-npr-transcript/. This is how atheism is being “sold” to people. Humanism tries very hard to get away with a religious tone, but we aren’t fooled. Humanism is nothing more that religious atheism in disguise. The same can be said of secularism.

So combine atheist “churches” with the proselytizing efforts of “atheist activists” and you have the making of a religion. Remember, a definition of religion is simply ”a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe…” (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006).   Atheism sets itself apart from other organized groups because it is a world view specifically about the supernatural.   It has beliefs about god and “preaches” (for lack of a better term) those beliefs to others.

Atheism Evangelism, Atheism as a Religion atheist activists

Wake Up America! Don’t Let Activist Atheists Rewrite History

Article found at www.foxnews.com

Get pumped up. Kill a pine tree. Paste paper snow flakes on your picture window. Take time off from work. Shop ’till you drop. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people; in the Northern Hemisphere we are about to celebrate the Winter Solstice—the moment the sun’s position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance from the observer.

This is the very boring message professed by a group of modern-day Scrooges, dressed in the cloak of militant atheism. Indeed, they love December, but their tidings of joy have nothing to do with nature’s seasons or the position of the sun.

Their secret reference point is the same as ours, December 25th, the day on which Christians worldwide celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Prince of Peace.

Last night, a representative from the “Freedom From Religion Foundation”—sour representatives of the many honest seekers in our country who call themselves agnostics and atheists—had the chutzpah to play the Winter Solstice card with me during a joint appearance on FOX News’ “America’s News HQ.” To read the transcript, click here.

He did it to defend his group’s placement of an anti-religion sign next to the Nativity Scene at Washington State’s Capitol building. Their sign reads:

“There is only one natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

Thanks to the wisdom of our God-fearing founding fathers and their respect for the sacred dignity of every human being in this great country of ours, we will continue to defend the right of non-believers to express their opinion, as reasonable and considerate, or silly and disrespectful, as the case may be.

And we will prolong their wisdom by speaking out every time this right is abuse.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is today’s example. Their stated goal is to “promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church.” How do they do this? By freeing us from all religion—as the Constitution obviously intended, but forgot to mention. Besides the posting of anti-Christmas signs in honor of the Winter Solstice, their most recent efforts include campaigns to:

A) stop people from voting in churches

B) force the Boy Scouts of America (a private, religious organization) to accept non-religious members (as unconstitutional as that would be) and…

C) pressure cable channels to cut off religious programming

Wake up America! If we allow these activists to re-write history, they will. They will deny the faith of our fathers and offer blasphemous interpretations of our Constitution. They will start with their own version of the separation of church and state, then move on to whitewashing the public square to rid it of all religious expression, and finally arrive at an atheistic indoctrination of our children.

When this happens, we will not be a more tolerant, pluralistic, or diverse country. We will, in fact, be much like the atheist regimes of past and present that must empty culture of its richest forms only to fill it with self-protecting ideologies of one kind or another.

If these are difficult times, it is not because there is too much religion. It is because there is not enough of it — the real kind — the kind that makes us free.

God bless,

Father Jonathan

Father Jonathan Morris is author of the new book, “The Promise: God’s Purpose and Plan for when Life Hurts.” For information go to www.fatherjonathan.com

Atheism Evangelism, In The News

Notice the strong Religious “flavor” of this article…

Dawkins to preach atheism to US

Maurice Chittenden and Roger Waite
The Times Online

RICHARD DAWKINS, the British scientist who has become the high priest of atheism, is launching a crusade in America to win new recruits to the church of nonbelievers.

He is to embark on a lecture tour of 2,000-seater halls in the Bible Belt and the Midwest in the wake of the presidential primary season, which reaches its climax in early February.

Dawkins, whose book The God Delusion has sold 1.5m copies in the English language, has teamed up with Robin Wight, the man behind some of Britain’s most memorable advertising campaigns, to make it respectable to admit to being an atheist.

No presidential candidate could hope to survive in the polls in America if he or she admitted to doubts about the existence of God.

Wight, who was behind the slogan “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange”, is helping to rebrand atheists in a less negative light.

Wight, 63, chairman and co-founder of the WCRS advertising agency said: “We need a different name.” Alternatives that have been considered on Dawkins’ internet forum include “brights”, “fact fighters”, “realists” and “the faithless”.

The American tour is being organised by a charitable foundation set up by Dawkins in the United States to push his agenda after a year-long struggle with the tax authorities. The campaign will go global in 2009 to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of his book, On the Origin of Species.

Dawkins, 66, the professor for public understanding of science at Oxford University, will release the paperback version of The God Delusion in the US early next year.

The scientist, who is married to his third wife, Lalla Ward, the actress who once played Dr Who’s sidekick Romana, expects a hostile reception in some places but claims there are as many atheists (20m) as any one religion in the US.

“They are not burning my books yet. It would be rather fun if they did,” he said last week.

Dawkins, who sometimes lectures in T-shirts bearing the slogan “Evolution – the greatest show on earth”, said: “America has a problem with evolution. There is an astonishing level of sheer ignorance fomented by religious prejudices.

“The Bible Belt is a lot less monolithic than it portrays itself. I have a feeling that there is rather a large groundswell of people who agree with me. I may be preaching to the choir but I think the choir is larger than many people realise.

“People thank me for speaking out. They are grateful that I articulate what they wish to say but can’t because they live there.”

He added: “We have the ‘Out’ campaign. We do see an analogy with gay rights. There are a lot of people in the closet in America.”

One convert is Dawkins’s daughter Juliet, who was sent by her mother to be, as Dawkins puts it, “indoctrinated” into the Catholic church. Friends of the family say she too is now an atheist.

Religious leaders in America dismissed Dawkins and his followers. The Rev David Cox, of the First Southern Methodist Church, Charleston, South Carolina said: “I would certainly like to protest. [Dawkins] is a tool of Satan, of the AntiChrist it sounds to me. All God-fearing people will be opposed to an atheist touring.”

Atheism Evangelism, Atheism as a Religion, In The News

Atheist’s bizarre bid to convert a Christian

By Richard Smith of EADT

AN ATHEIST subjected a devout Christian woman to a “relentless” campaign of harassment in which he smeared dog faeces on her car and urinated on her doorstep.

Timothy Brown, of Edwin Avenue, Woodbridge, may seek medical help after a year-long bid to change Helen Watson’s religious beliefs.

Brown, 37, who is married and has a child, pleaded guilty at South East Magistrates’ Court in Ipswich yesterday to racially aggravated harassment between September 1, 2007, and September 10 this year.

His lawyer, Neil Saunders told magistrates: “It is utterly bizarre. He ought to see his doctor.”

The ordeal began in September last year after Mrs Watson had placed a religious fish sticker in her car.

After that point, she would regularly find that another sticker had been put on top of it with words such as “myth”, “deceived”, “sucker” and “fiction”, which she said were derogatory to her religious views.

Mrs Watson, of Barton Road, Woodbridge, decided not to do anything about it and hoped the problem would go away, but in August this year, Brown stepped up his campaign.

On several occasions, Mrs Watson came home to find that Brown had either smeared dog excrement on her car, allowed his dog to excrete on her lawn or had himself urinated on her property.

In a statement read out in court, Mrs Watson said she had been forced to lock her doors while in the house and found the experience upsetting.

She said: “I feel I am being victimised for my religious beliefs. I am concerned because my children have to get in and out of the car.

“I also find it embarrassing that when people come to visit there is a strong smell of urine. This harassment is relentless.”

During the latest spate of attacks, police installed secret CCTV at Mrs Watson’s home which caught Brown visiting the property a number of times.

Naomi Turner, prosecuting, said Brown was arrested on Wednesday and admitted to police that he was an atheist and wanted Mrs Watson to “reconsider her religious beliefs”.

Mrs Turner added: “Brown became frustrated that he got no reaction. The incident with the dog excrement was done in anger and the urinating was meant to be a dirty protest.”

Brown was granted bail on the condition that he does not contact Mrs Watson or go to Woodbridge. He is due to appear for sentencing at Ipswich Crown Court on a date to be set.

Atheism Evangelism, In The News

Atheist group spreads word on billboards

CORRECTION: This story misspelled the name of Focus on the Family Institute President Del Tackett.

Here’s an unusual sign that the holidays are coming: just in time for Christmas, a group of atheists and freethinkers plans to sponsor 11 billboards in Colorado.

Against a blue sky backdrop, the billboards pose the question: “Don’t believe in God? – You are not alone.”

COCORE, an umbrella organization of 11 groups ranging from the Boulder Heretics to the Humanists of Colorado, is spending $5,000 to post its message at 10 sites in Denver and one in Colorado Springs, for four weeks starting around Nov. 17.

The group wanted to put up signs in Fort Collins and Greeley, but a billboard company refused to carry the message.

While similar billboards have gone up in places like Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Kansas City, Mo., these are a first in Colorado, said Marvin Straub, a spokesman for COCORE.

Straub said the one sign in Colorado Springs was not meant to tweak religious groups in that area.

“Absolutely not,” Straub said Tuesday, noting that there is a freethinkers chapter in Colorado Springs.

He said the primary goal of the campaign is to reach the population who say they are not religious.

A spokesman for Focus on the Family Institute in Colorado Springs said his organization has no problem with another group exercising its free speech rights.

“We’re thankful we live in a country where we have that freedom,” said Del Packet, president of the Focus on the Family Institute. But Packet added there has been a rise in hostility in recent years toward religious groups.

Article found in the Rocky Mountain News

Atheism Evangelism, In The News