No atheists in hail storms? Mother Jones has egg on her face after insulting atheists with a tired and lame joke, proving even the most progressive publication can act like an ignorant school yard bully.

In an attempt to promote a hyped video of a rather mundane hailstorm in Siberia, the administrators of the Mother Jones’ Facebook page decided it would be cute to insult atheists with a play on the discredited and mean spirited assertion that “there are no atheists in fox holes.”

However, instead of making the tired and discredited claim “there are no atheists in fox holes,” they instead made the equally lame and discredited claim that “There are no atheists in hail storms.”

Ha ha! Funny, right? Get it? Get it?

The failed attempt at humor is of course embarrassing and juvenile, and reflects poorly on the publication the page is supposed to represent.

The reaction to the post has been strong. Hundreds of comments have been registered, mainly negative, asking why Mother Jones felt the need to insult all atheists with such a lame attempt at humor.

If the joke would have been remotely funny, it may have been forgivable. But the fact is the joke was not funny, and simply fed the bigotry of those unable to grasp the superiority of a life free of religious superstition.

One wonders if Mother Jones would insult any other group so freely and so gratuitously. Indeed, it seems fairly certain that the so-called progressive publication would be much more sensitive to the feelings of Muslims, Jews, Christians, or probably any other group; but there continues to be a subtle double standard towards atheist and other freethinkers in the media, a double standard which allows these kind of insults in the guise of humor to be given a pass.

Mother Jones claims to be “a nonprofit news organization that specializes in investigative, political, and social justice reporting.” However, it would seem that atheists are an exception, and they are not entitled to social justice, nor even simple respect.