Richard Wade here.
I’ve spent a long time on this blog trying to have and to promote respectful dialogues with the many Christians who visit. Many of you have expressed your appreciation of my courteous approach. I now want to spend some of that “social capital” by respectfully issuing you a challenge, and by making an appeal:
CHRISTIANS!
DO YOU STAND UP FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND RELIGION OR NOT?
Your truthful answer is not shown by your words but by your actions. Yet again, another atheist bus ad has been unfairly and illegally banned, this time in Des Moines, Iowa. What are you going to do to protest and to correct this? We are what we do. Our words mean nothing without actions.
You are free to worship and express yourself as you wish only because of the First Amendment. If not for that, you would not be practicing the particular faith that you are. You’d be worshiping whatever way the government dictated, and I’m sure you wouldn’t like it. You are free only because we are all free to follow our consciences.
This is your liberty that is being threatened, not just that of atheists. In the comfort of their majority, most Christians blithely take it for granted, accepting the benefit but not paying anything back in responsibility, like spoiled children. All of us must defend our freedoms, not just those who are being trampled upon on any given day. If it is okay to stifle one group, soon enough it will be okay to stifle your group. If you, as the majority don’t stand up to things like this, then you, more than others will richly deserve the suppression that will eventually smother us all. The battle for all our rights is not in Iraq, it’s right here. In Iowa.
Christians: At the very least I ask you to do this:
Read Hemant’s post to understand the story, click on the links there to phone, email or write DART, identify yourself as a Christian and tell them that as a Christian you demand that the atheist bus ads be replaced back on the buses immediately. Then post your comment here telling us what you did or did not do, and why. If you have already commented there about an action you took, copy and paste it here. If you don’t think you should have to do anything about this, then have the courage to tell us why not.
Atheists: Please hold back your comments for a while and let the Christians comment here so we can readily see what, if any, response they have.
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