The other day, I posted about a Police Officer’s Prayer that was popping up on several government websites.
Comments were made about how that was not a battle atheists should be fighting. It was too small an issue to care about.
It’s a similar argument to the one made when Michael Newdow took on the “Under God” phrasing in the Pledge of Allegiance. Some atheists said he was taking on an unwinnable, unnecessary battle.
Going after “In God We Trust” on our money? Not a serious priority for any atheist group in the country.
Changing the national motto of “In God We Trust” back to “E Pluribus Unum”? Also not a biggie.
Going after every Christmas display in a government building? Not a serious issue, but one atheists have been battling for a while.
Onthe other hand, I don’t think there’s any atheist who would argue that we should stop going after faith-based funding in the government. That’s a serious problem.
Obviously, some church/state issues are minor and others major.
No atheist organization in the country has the time or money to go after every violation of church/state separation. And there are plenty of violations out there. So we have to make a decision.
Should we go after all of them equally or should we just let some things slide?
How should we pick our battles?
(via Friendly Atheist Forums)