So... hear the news lately about the atheist sign beside the Christmas tree and manger scene in the Washington State Capitol? Well, an atheist group was allowed to put up a sign saying that there is no religion, no god, no angels no heaven or hell...etc...and that religion enslaves the mind. At first I though - freedom of speech, freedom of and freedom from religion, etc.etc. But, then I thought about it. This sign came up for the Christmas holidays - a national holiday. If Atheists do not like it as a national holiday, they should petition the government to get rid of the holiday - they should not, in direct contradiction to the holiday, post an anti-religion sign. It is sort of like hate speech or discrimination - for example, on Martin Luther King Day we do not allow KKK groups to post signs or hold demonstrations, on Presidents Day we do not allow anarchists to display their beliefs everywhere. National holidays are not necessarily "religious" but honoring people who deserve it.
The Christmas national holiday does have religious undertones but the National Holiday part of it is that we are honoring a prophet, philosopher and to some people savior who influenced the world more than most anyone else in history. Just like MLK day or Columbus Day (which I have problems with but whatever) or Presidents Day or Veterans Day the Fourth of July - we are honoring something. You do not have to participate in the ceremonies or celebrations. For example, I normally do not adorne my house with American flags or wear red white and blue on military-related holidays but I also do not go and post signs that say "Make love not war" on the state capitol building. It is disrespectful.
It should also be a violation of rights. In John Locke's philosophy of government - where the main portions of our Constitution and Bill of Rights as well as state's Constitutions come from - he says that your rights end where another person's begins. In other words, you have freedom of speech, religion, press UNTIL it interferes with anothers' rights. So... just like I cannot use my rights to hurt someone else, the Atheist group who posted the sign should not have because it interferes - or denegrates - the religious rights of others. A sign that said "We Worship No One" or even one that explained atheism would be perfectly fine. But, when you begin to discriminate and denegrate anothers' beliefs, you cross the line of your rights. Therefore, I think the sign should be taken down - not because I disagree with them, per se, BUT because they are not within their legal rights to post it, as I see it. I believe in free speech, and freedom of religion (which also means freedom "from" religion) but I do not believe in free hate speech or freedom to slander anothers' beliefs.
However - remember this: Whatever you believe and whoever you are is not, or should not, be influenced by a contradictory sign or demonstration. People can believe what they want and express it - in a respectful way.
