Militant atheism rears its ugly head again

By Neal Larson

I have a confession.

I’m guilty of discrimination against militant, activist atheists. I simply don’t like them. If there were an epithet to describe them, I’d probably use it regularly. I would refuse to vote for a proud and vocal atheist for high office, regardless of any offsetting credentials. I’m not talking about those who struggle with faith, or have simply resigned themselves to not knowing, or those who cannot reconcile the horrors and miseries that life offers at times, with the existence of a loving God. Those are examples of unintrusive atheism. I have good friends who are agnostic, and I enjoy their friendship. I do have a problem, however, with those who proselytize and demand that the rest of us cater to their unbelief, as though that unbelief is itself a virtue worthy of our nurture and respect.

Referencing Russian composer Pavel Tchesnokov’s “Salvation Is Created”, a high school marching band in Newark, Ohio wore shirts bearing the name of the composition. “Salvation” is too offensive a word for the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) which sent a complaint to the school’s superintendent, claiming even the word on the shirts is an unconstitutional violation.

A professor at the College of Coastal Georgia banned students from using the phrase “bless you” in class, threatening to dock points from an offending student’s final grade. Keep in mind, saying “It’s 2014” has a more direct reference to deity than “bless you.”

Earlier this month, high school cheerleaders in Tennessee led a football game crowd in the Lord’s Prayer after the ACLU and the FFRF forced the school to stop allowing prayers over the public address system. The whole crowd, home and away, joined in. Good for those cheerleaders. It’s good to see normal, middle-America types pressing back. We need everyone to do the same.

Militant atheism is not entirely unlike a mullet, that paradoxical “business in the front, party in the back” haircut that never should have happened. Instead, these strident unbelievers are more “angry in the front, pansy in the back” — making testosteronal demands of compliance on the outside, because inside they have all the tolerance of a scared three-year-old girl when faced with the words “salvation” or “bless you.”

Indeed they have created out of thin air a right to not be offended. If everyone asserts this manufactured right, we have created hell on earth.

In recent years, atheism has tried creating the equivalent of what believers build to express their faith. Churches, hymns, missionaries, even a sort of clergy have cropped up as either an effort to elevate atheism to a place of acceptance and moral equivalence, or toss a big dose of mockery at those who truly believe in God – a deliberate muddling of what it means to have faith.

While atheists are certainly capable of doing good works, those good works are not inspired by an absence of belief in God. How could they be? If atheists do good, it is in spite of — not because of — their atheism, so let’s stop acting like not believing is just another super awesome way of believing.

Particularly insidious are the atheists who get a sense of satisfaction eroding the faith of others and behave as though it is a favor to rattle another’s belief in a higher power. More than one of my college professors would target the faith of young wide-eyed freshmen. I still despise those lettered bullies who used a position of influence and authority to spew their own one-sided questionable dogma. I’m sure somewhere — even if only in overestimated grey matter — exists a trophy case of fallen testimonies and faith renouncements. Exploring the big questions is one thing — and should be encouraged because it expands the mind and augments various thought processes. Everyone at some point in life should put all philosophical options on the table and fearlessly explore them, then choose in good faith and forge ahead. But to deliberately aim to create confusion and chaos in those who are spiritually settled is despicable.

I think we could all be more tolerant of unintrusive atheism, because who doesn’t have doubts? But let’s separate them from the purveyors and jihadists of Godlessness. Don’t let them get you down. Don’t let them make you think for a moment that public displays of faith are somehow wrong or unconstitutional because someone chooses to be offended.

Instead, such public displays serve to identify the tantrum-prone entitled militants who are anything but tolerant.

Neal Larson of Idaho Falls is a conservative talk show host on KID Newsradio 590am and 92.1fm, and also at www.590kid.com. “The Neal Larson Show” can be heard weekday mornings from 8:00 to 10:00. His email address is neal@590kid.com.