The last article in the Attic talked about an editorial in the local paper. It was an editorial that I might have written a rebuttal to, but chose merely to talk about it in this forum. I didn't really feel it was worthy of a carefully crafted, 300-word reply, since it wasn't that important of an issue to me. Theists believe some weird things. The Trinity is definitely weird, but it's not offensive.
That article appeared quite a while ago in the paper. Since that time, there have been letters from readers appearing in the paper's pages that have been far more irritating to me than the editorial on the Trinity.
In this country of ours, and definitely in this particular state, there are a lot of really stupid ideas floating around. In the past month or so, I've seen many of them expressed in the paper. Many of them cause me to frown and shake my head in wonder at how people can be so dumb. But some of them are offensive. Some of them are hurtful.
I could write replies to quite a lot of them. But I do not. The paper has a limit of one letter per person per month to be published. Therefore, I limit myself.
Issues such as homophobia and gun control have many people in the public willing to write about them, on both sides of the issue. But, surprise! Issues regarding religion are decidedly one-sided. Oh, sure, the occasional non-Mormon will write to point out the absurdities of Mormonism. But I haven't seen any letters pointing out the absurdities of religion in general, not to mention all the truly harmful effects of faith.
So that's my ball game. I'm the defender of freethought in this part of Utah. Hopefully, my words in the newspaper will inspire others to voice their freethought opinions, too. But I'll be the sole voice of reason here if I have to be.
In my initial offering, I berated one writer for saying that millions of people have been killed in the name of atheism, having to explain that (for example) Stalin's massacres weren't motivated by atheism, but a lust for power and control. I pointed out that Hitler's massacres were, in fact, religiously motivated and had nothing to do with his dabbling in the occult. I stated that atrocities don't have to be committed by "godless" people, since the bible is chock full of instances where the word of God is to commit them. And I reminded one and all that our founding fathers weren't Christians.
In my second letter, I addressed the "quote," often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, that the "wall of separation" is a "one-way" wall. My addressing of this was simple: I merely pointed out that it's a fabrication and exists nowhere in Jefferson's writings. I went on to explain that a one-way wall of separation would be meaningless, and allow religion to gain the upper hand over everything else, a fact that is either missed by or desired by the person who first wrote to the paper about it.
And my most recent letter confronts the myth that homosexuality is a godless lifestyle and that the gay movement's true goal is to turn people away from God. There are lots of gay religious organizations, and I mentioned several of them, including two that are Mormon related. I also pointed out that it might be understandable for someone to think that homosexuality is atheistic, since it seems that freethinkers on the whole are more willing to be accepting of alternative lifestyles, rather than those who subscribe to repressive religious views.
I'm not mentioning my published letters in order to blow my own horn. The sad fact is that if someone doesn't point out the truth to the masses, many of them won't even know it exists. They'll swallow the lies put forth by others in the newspapers, on the radio, on TV, on the street corner, in their churches.
I urge all of you to do the same: confront the propaganda… deny the lies… prevent the right-wing brainwashing from spreading further than it already has. It won't happen by itself. Freethinkers everywhere must speak, or soon we won't be allowed to.
