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I made the mistake of engaging in a Christian forum regarding Neil deGrasse Tyson’s claim that even some Christians think Ken Ham’s view of creationism is crazy. While I knew I would hear some of the actual “craziness” associated with Creationism, I wasn’t prepared for the level of insanity that ensued. You expect to hear arguments about dating methods, where life originates from, etc. These are the typical arguments of biblical literalists. What I did not expect was the claim that the entire discipline of science is basically Atheist propaganda. Let me be more specific. Here is an actual excerpt from one of the conversations, “God is the ultimate oncologist.” WTF! The best oncologist is an actual oncologist!

One individual even went on to say that the DNA of Canaan offspring is cursed, and this is how a four year old girl can get cancer. I may literally break the W-T-F keys on my computer as I attempt to type this. These are the people that call Atheists, Agnostics and Humanists evil. Do you know what is evil? Believing that a four year old girl deserved to get cancer! The only thing more evil is believing praying for a cure is better than providing an actual cure! I really wanted to find a funny or satirical way to write this, but I don’t think it is possible. There is nothing funny about the possibility of someone with this mindset potentially becoming a parent.

When it comes to Atheist activism, my preference has always been to allow it to happen organically. I don’t engage in campaigns like “sitting out the Pledge” or getting the Ten Commandments out of a public courthouse. I believe religion will fade as reason prevails, and with each generation there will be less religion in our lives. But what I’m coming to realize is that the more this plays out, the more desperate and extreme some on the religious right are becoming. To even suggest that science isn’t real is delusional. Not metaphorically delusional, but an actual delusion.

Moreover, it is important to understand that the people who hold these beliefs are not some nut standing on a pulpit at a street corner with a bullhorn. There are congressman that actual human beings have elected who carry these views. Business leaders who are getting cases in front of the Supreme Court. This is what needs to be stopped. Fuck the Ten Commandments. Carve a giant shrine of every commandment into the Empire State building. Who cares. Reasonable people will see the first five commandments are narcissistic rules about how to properly honor the Almighty, and have nothing to do with morality.

Go after Hobby Lobby. Go After Chic-Fil-A. Lobby for legislation that protects Americans from religious views that could actually cause physical harm to our children and our future. I once worked for a great leader who would say, “I don’t care how good you are, if I ever catch you lying, you’re fired.” His argument was that he couldn’t detect where your line was with regard to lying, and if you lie about something small then you could lie about something big. I couldn’t think of a better analogy for religiously based delusions. With all the anti-homosexual rhetoric, and exceptions for “closely held” corporations, is it not unreasonable to believe that someday a legislator may say “God is the ultimate oncologist?” What’s next… “legitimate rape”… oh ait… (that isn’t a typo, I broke the letter next to Q on my keyboard typing -TF again).

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