They’re like modern-day Ebenezer Scrooges — only with less charm and self-awareness.
Under the guise of wanting to “start a conversation,” an atheist group is putting up billboards around the country that feature a nativity scene and the words, “Just Skip Church It’s All Fake News.”
Atheists use images of nativity scene, 'Just Skip Church, It's All Fake News' –> https://t.co/6HTOpLMKxO pic.twitter.com/CPL08mJMrz
— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) December 7, 2017
Bah-humbug to you too, buddy.
At the bottom of the billboard, in a smaller font, it adds disingenuously, “Happy Holidays from American Atheists!”
According to Fox News’ Lauren Green, the attention-seeking “American Atheists” are — like they do every year — putting up billboards in cities with large Christian populations.
Naturally, a lot of people in the targeted cities are — like they do every year — finding the message on the billboards insulting and inappropriate.
But Nick Fish with American Atheists maintains that the main reason for putting up the anti-Christian billboards in Christian population centers is to “spark a conversation.”
“If you want to call that evangelizing — sure,” Fish told Green on Saturday. “We want to get our foot in the door — we want to spark a debate. We want to have a spirited debate like we are right now, and we want to have that in communities where people just aren’t thinking about that enough.”
What exactly is it that evangelical atheists want Christians to “think about”?
“Atheist voices aren’t being heard,” Fish explained. And “the assumption is everybody is the same.”
What presumptuous twaddle. I’m pretty sure most Christians are quite aware that not everyone is the same. They didn’t need an insulting, Scrooge-like billboard mocking their holiday to tell them that.
“Why take the image of the nativity,” Green asked. “You don’t think that would offend people?”
“The issue isn’t being offended,” Fish replied. “The issue is — again — getting our foot in the door, getting people talking about it. And so the only way to do that sometimes is to be provocative.”
I’m still confused. Talking about what exactly? That not everyone believes the same things? We already knew that.
Fish helpfully explained what his group wants Christians to think about: “We want you to think critically about your religion and we want you to think critically about what’s going on and what your preacher is telling you,” he said.
I think that’s excellent advice. We should all pay more attention during church.
Fish zeroed in on what really chafes atheists about Christians. They “threaten” him with “eternal damnation,” he said.
“There’s a little bit of an imbalance there in what people see as offensive,” Fish added, laughing.
But I wonder who has actually been threatening him with eternal damnation? Did Fish see a giant billboard that told him he was going to H-E- double toothpicks unless he believed what Christians believe? I kinda doubt it.
Did a Christian who saw his obnoxious billboard tell him to go to H*ll? Maybe. I wouldn’t be surprised.
Has he had some awkward encounters with evangelical Christians? Perhaps. But there are more grown-up ways to deal with your “feelings” than putting up billboards that insult millions of people.
Apparently, it is the very concept of eternal damnation itself that upsets people like Fish — the sobering prospect of eternal judgment. Dies Irae — the Day of Wrath.
It’s almost like some evangelical atheists attack Christians not from a place of confidence, but from a place of fear.
There’s not really much we can do to help them with that other than to pray for them as we pray for ourselves. And ignore their silly billboards.
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