Confrontational Atheism…My Reason For Reason

Some people point out that religion isn’t especially relevant to daily life and has little impact on our existence, so why am I such an outspoken atheist?

I could give you a drawn out dissertation on the contrasting utility of reason over faith, but that’s the not it. I could offer you my philosophy that all religion should welcome questions so that they can prove their specific validity over other false faiths, but that isn’t the best answer either. I could even go one further and argue that I secretly wish one of the many religions is actually true and this is just my way of flushing out the one true religion so I don’t waste my time with the bogus ones, but that reason would be lacking.

All those reasons above are in some small way true but the main reason I am such an outspoken atheist is because I can. That answer perhaps sounds a bit glib but in this country the only way to defend your right to free speech is to assert yourself and vigorously exercise that right. You may still think that I am making a spurious point because my freedom of speech is not under attack and that my right to speak as an atheist is secure. I can argue that you would be wrong.

On Wednesday April 2nd there was a hearing where Rob Sherman was challenging the constitutionality of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s questionable $1 million grant for Pilgrim Baptist Church. You can look up the specifics of the hearing and the merits of his argument, but Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) took great offense at his challenge largely because Sherman is an atheist. She then asserted that that his very lack of faith should preclude him from offering his opinion on this issue. Here is the audio of the exchange and I offer an excerpt from the exchange:

Davis: I don’t know what you have against God, but some of us don’t have much against him. We look forward to him and his blessings. And it’s really a tragedy — it’s tragic — when a person who is engaged in anything related to God, they want to fight. They want to fight prayer in school.

I don’t see you (Sherman) fighting guns in school. You know?

I’m trying to understand the philosophy that you want to spread in the state of Illinois. This is the Land of Lincoln. This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God, where people believe in protecting their children.… What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous, it’s dangerous–

Sherman: What’s dangerous, ma’am?

Davis: It’s dangerous to the progression of this state. And it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! Now you will go to court to fight kids to have the opportunity to be quiet for a minute. But damn if you’ll go to [court] to fight for them to keep guns out of their hands. I am fed up! Get out of that seat!

Sherman: Thank you for sharing your perspective with me, and I’m sure that if this matter does go to court—

Davis: You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.

Indeed, this is a precise example of why the founding fathers constructed the legal wall between church and state. Many religious faithful are taught concrete intolerance towards those of other religions perspectives and it is wholly unacceptable to them to respect these points of view. That is a infantile and ignorant point of view that they are entitled to exercise as a private citizen but it is intolerable in a government such as ours. Rep. Davis might find her style of reasoning more acceptable in Iran but not here in this country.