Something I’ve noticed is that Americans seem
to have more of a problem with atheist messages in public than religious ones,
even if it’s an Islamic message. Thousands of people drive by Christian and
Muslim billboards every day, and you rarely hear complaints on the news. On top
of that, college campuses are prime spots for preachers, but most students just
ignore them, or maybe they’ll stop and listen for entertainment.
Conversely, atheist billboards are very often put into the “controversial” category, even if it’s something as vanilla as, “atheists exist”, and public events by secular college groups receive much more negative feedback than religious events. While there are obvious answers, I think there’s an important answer that’s not so obvious.
Conversely, atheist billboards are very often put into the “controversial” category, even if it’s something as vanilla as, “atheists exist”, and public events by secular college groups receive much more negative feedback than religious events. While there are obvious answers, I think there’s an important answer that’s not so obvious.
Vs.
The obvious answers include the fact that
atheists are the least trusted minority, the fact that atheism has a negative
connotation, etc., but another important, not-so-obvious explanation of why
public atheism creates such a stir pertains to what it means to say, “I am an
atheist” as opposed to “I am a Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc.”
The only thing that atheism asserts is, “There are no supernatural things; your god is not real”, and if you directly tell that to peoples’ faces, they don’t usually receive it well. Compare that with a Christian billboard that says, “Jesus loves you”; the main message there is “I believe in the Christian God.” Of course, this does imply that everyone else is wrong, which is the same message of public atheism, but the difference is that while religious messages merely imply this idea, atheist messages state it outright. This means that atheism is, by its nature, a more confrontational message than that of a religion.
There’s really nothing that we atheists can do about this because that’s what being atheists means, but it’s something to keep in mind as we go around talking about our beliefs.
The only thing that atheism asserts is, “There are no supernatural things; your god is not real”, and if you directly tell that to peoples’ faces, they don’t usually receive it well. Compare that with a Christian billboard that says, “Jesus loves you”; the main message there is “I believe in the Christian God.” Of course, this does imply that everyone else is wrong, which is the same message of public atheism, but the difference is that while religious messages merely imply this idea, atheist messages state it outright. This means that atheism is, by its nature, a more confrontational message than that of a religion.
There’s really nothing that we atheists can do about this because that’s what being atheists means, but it’s something to keep in mind as we go around talking about our beliefs.
6 comments:
I feel that athiest messages don´t say "your god is not real" but rather (and I always mean just) "I don´t believe in your god".
To me, the religious billboards and messages and preachers is "you´re a sinner. you need to change your ways. accept our god." or "Confused? Turn to our god".
And I do not think that athiest message explicitly state your aforementioned ideas outright. But then again, I find the Christian messages to be more hostile, but that´s just me.
Apart from negative connotations associated with the word "atheist," the reason people don't like atheist billboards is because they mean bad news. They mean, "abandon all hope; the suffering you experience in this life is meaningless and simply a result of random cosmic chance. Whatever terrible things happen to you, that's just it. Sucks for you."
Whereas a Jesus billboard says, "I don't care what you've done in the past; all things can be made anew. 'His yoke is easy and his burden light'"
If you look at the picture of the bilboard that's posted in the article, you'd see that atheist bilboards are not even close to how you described them. It said that you're not alone if you don't believe in God. It's meant to be reassuring. Several Christian bilboards are far more hostile as the first comment pointed out.
Besides suffering is only meaningless if you perceive it that way. Personally I'm an atheist and have found a lot of growth in the suffering that I've gone through in the past. It gives me hope for the future if I can go throw what I did and grow from it.
When I wrote that the atheist billboards "mean" bad news, I'm saying that they imply bad news by the necessary result of the nonexistance of God (i.e. suffering has no meaning, life has no meaning, etc).
Even if the "Christian" billboards are threatening, most people who have some idea of the tenets of Christianity know that sinners can repent. With the atheist billboard, whatever you do doesn't matter; your meaningless life will end, and that'll be it for you.
Maybe it is reassuring in the short term knowing that there are other people with your same views, but how far can that go? Two people with no hope can not give each other hope. Also, atheist billboards are not limited to the above (I recall David Silverman's "Christmas is a myth" billboard, and the "Atheist bus" campaign).
Growth through suffering is not suffering in the way that I mean it. Pain that results in growth is not suffering. I.e. working out and being tired and sore is not suffering; you are improving your health (probably). The suffering that I am talking about is e.g. incurable cancer that you've developed despite a nearly perfect diet, etc. Or having all of your family members killed in a tragic accident.
Two options: the occurrence of these situations was necessary for personal growth (somehow), or the occurrence of these situations was for all intents and purposes utterly pointless; you would have gone on to do great and charitable things if you didn't have cancer, and you would have developed into a person who loves greatly through the care and support of your family members.
If we acknowledge that there are certain situations like the latter option, where indeed no seeable good comes from evil situations, then the atheist billboard solidifies one's fear of meaningless suffering. If we posit that the latter do not exist, and that all suffering situations have some meaning (possibly with regards to the eternal realm), then we embrace Christian doctrine.
Just because you grow from it, doesn't mean that pain isn't suffering. You can choose to grow from suffering, no matter how bad, no matter how much time you have left to live, even if it is debilitating.
I'd also like to point out that Atheism isn't the lack of all hope or meaning. Read into existentialism (or at least Elie Wiezel). There isn't some inherent meaning to your life, you decide it. What you're thinking of is nihilism, not atheism.
Also think about it from an atheist's point of view. If we don't think there is a god, then why pretend that there is one just to say that we have meaning in our lives? Just derive it for yourself.
Lastly yes bad things happen, but don't be afraid of it being meaningless. Take it in stride and keep pushing forward. Just because you can't see any good coming from the situation, doesn't mean there is no possibility for good to come of it.
Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He could have just given up right away and called it meaningless. Instead he wrote a very inspring book that has helped a lot of people. Clearly his suffering was not meaningless. Don't fear meaningless suffering. Atheism certainly doesn't promote that.
I think from a philosophical point of view it is impossible for something that was created to create its own purpose. Think about something that man creates. Everything that man creates, he creates to have some purpose or role. Since we did not create ourselves, we cannot assign ourselves our own purpose.
I don't expect you to agree with me with respect to the above paragraph. Most simply because to create a purpose for oneself is basically second-nature; without it we would have trouble living our lives. I could say, for instance, that my purpose is to study in school so I can get an education and get a job. But, this is not really my purpose; this is just something I do because it benefits me. But in the ultimate sense, if our purpose is reduced simply to what benefits ourselves, then it seems are purpose is necessarily temporal.
For some reason, it is dissatisfactory to me (and maybe others) that my purpose in this existence is simply to care for my corporal and psychological wants and needs. It seems to me if that's the end-all-be-all, then I might as well die now because we both know that life carries with it many more hurts than joys.
Yes, I am exaggerating in order to make a point, but I do think that atheism (not just nihilism) for the reason I have attempted to describe above does in fact lead to a sense of purposelessness and dissatisfaction with one's existence. It is for this reason that people don't like those billboards.
One is thereby faced with a choice: do I resign myself to my finitude and seemingly meaningless existence, or do I further consider this predisposition for transcendence? These are the seeds of faith. We do not have to pretend there is a god. We just have to take small steps in recognizing Him where He already is.
As a side note, the fact that Randy Pausch wrote an inspring book as a result of his condition by definition causes the situation not to be meaningless, and again, not suffering as I have attempted to define it.
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