Basically, it boils down to this: if the only time that you ever hear of groups like the Council for Secular Humanism is when they say stuff like the following…
“The Obama Administration has been criticized by secular humanists for backpedaling on then-candidate Obama’s campaign pledge to reverse Bush-era policies that provide federal funding to religious charities that discriminate in hiring,” said Tom Flynn, executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism and editor of its journal Free Inquiry. “But praying for rain[*]? That’s not just government entangling itself with religion, that’s government publicly practicing it, and wallowing in superstition.”
…then you have a PR problem. Which you knew already, the second that you saw the hashtag in the title. I got nothing against non-deists we’ve got a couple who comment here, and they’re perfectly nice folks – but a lot of them give an excellent collective impression of caring a hell of a lot more about being secular than they do about being humanists.
Just saying.
Moe Lane
PS: If by some odd chance this gets noticed: the reason why your bitter pro-atheist screed didn’t get published is not because you’re a schmuck; it’s because you’re a cheapskate schmuck who won’t hit the tip jar, because a lot of you guys are stereotypical like that. So throw in five bucks and I’ll think about publishing your comment.
Yes, I’m experimenting with monetizing my hate mail. It’s very exciting.
*Background: there’s a drought in the Midwest. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack doesn’t need any more crap on his plate than he has already. He’s praying for rain, in a somewhat I-don’t-really-mean-this-but-actually-yes-God-I do fashion. This should not be particularly controversial.
Their desperation is showing, and desperation is never a pretty sight.
“The girls all get prettier at closing time” don’t they!
I’ve never understood atheists who get their panties in a bunch over someone else doing something that the atheist considers (at least, claims to consider) utterly harmless and ineffective. Like an atheist getting mad when a believer tells them they’re going to Hell after they die — what harm does that do to the atheist?
Hey, big-mouthed atheists: if you REALLY believe what you claim to, then show a little tolerance when other people do things that neither harm nor even inconvenience you, OK?
Hey Moe, do you save the hate mail? You might actually be able to monetize it. Just annotate some of the better ones, and throw it up on amazon for a buck or two. Heck, I bet Redstate probably gets enough that they could fund the next time they want to totally redesign the site…
“Yes, I’m experimenting with monetizing my hate mail. It’s very exciting.”
I hope you brought your fingers up to your lips, kissed them, and went ‘magnifique’ after you wrote that. Great line.
Yes, I’m experimenting with monetizing my hate mail. It’s very exciting.
That is a great idea. You could publish a little book of hate mail with your cruel notes in between.
Arthur C. Clarke devoted an entire chapter of one of his non-fiction books to the bizarre mail he’d received over the years.
I thought John Scalzi had already done this, but I was mistaken.
I think the athiests were less offended than afraid it would work.