Monday, December 30, 2013

FOX News' War on Atheism: What exactly is this all about?

Fox News seems to have a fetish.  Not content with their annual imagined "war on Xmas", now they are "gifting" atheists with reasons God exists...so that we may better see the light and come to Jesus.

 http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/12/13/christmas-gift-for-atheists-five-reasons-why-god-exists/

What's behind their and the Right's bizarre obsession with atheists? I think the reason is two fold.

First, they see their belief system as a target and they're scared.
Scared over reduced church attendance, over the drop in people calling themselves Xtian (76% now, down from 86% in 1998); over the growing ac
ceptance of gay rights/gay marriage which is unstoppable in spite of the efforts of their preferred followers and viewership.  They're scared of the dwindling influence of the religious-conservatives; over the refusal of school boards to accept Creationism as science, even in their southern strongholds. In short, they see their looming impotency, the end of the heyday of religious demagoguery as has already happened in the rest of the Western World. 

This fear is also palpable among the most outspoken conservative clergy.  Just this past week John Hagee, the Texas pastor whose anti-Semitic statements caused John McCain to back away from Hagee's endorsement of his presidential run, has called on atheists to "get on planes and leave the country."  If only the atheist threat would just go away!  
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/27/john-hagee-atheists_n_4509397.html


Secondly, instilling fear and loathing of a minority has always been a way to rally support, and distract the majority population from real issues. 

Nazi propaganda films portrayed Jews as vermin, infecting society, working to destroy Germany from within.  More recently Pat Robertson outrageously claimed gays in San Francisco intentionally try to infect heteros with AIDS by wearing rings that will cut during handshakes, the easier to transfer the infection; and that they "recruit" children to homosexuality. In wars on the African continent, demonizing of minority tribes worked to instill a frenzy of inter-tribal mass murder, most famously in Rwanda by the majority Hutu's against the minority Tutsi. Between five-hundred thousand and one-million people died in just a few months. 

Declared atheists in the US represent only between 5% and 10% of the population.  To hear FOX News and the far right religious extremists tell it, you'd think we were the majority, or on equal footing with the 76% Christian population. But for their propaganda and obsession to work they simply need to imply, plant the seed, that the power of atheists is disproportionate to our popular representation... like the Jews of Germany, or the Tutsi in Rwanda. We become the vermin seeking to take power, to undermine the patriotic Christians, to work as agents of Satan to overthrow their God given moral superiority and condemn the nation to a godless hell of hedonistic immorality.  
   
S
preading the fear of atheist influence, as small as it is in reality, is a strong motivator to the FOX faithful ... not famous for their ability to think critically or discern reality from hype.  It works like a rallying cry, it cements support for the most extreme conservatives, never mind the fact that atheism is the least of the causes of what truly infects and affects this nation's stability and progress.

Indeed, it's the threat of progress itself that is the true demon to them, but that doesn't play as well among the religiously afflicted ditto heads of the Fox flock.
 

8 comments:

NewEnglandBob said...

Notice that the cowards at Faux Noise do not allow comments on their post.

That is because the William Lane Craig spewings are easily refuted.

Dromedary Hump said...

In deed, as proofs of god those are laughably weak.
Any time one can substitute the word god for another mythical creature's name in a proof for existence,without changing the outcome it renders said proof defunct.

Try substituting "a" for the "m" in E=mc2 ... it doesn't work. Tell's you everything you need to know about "belief."

Anonymous said...

Bob.....

comments:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/12/13/christmas-gift-for-atheists-five-reasons-why-god-exists/#comments

Anonymous said...

Yes, Craig's god created the universe but that god is so laughably ignorant of the actual physical world: his god created a flat earth with the Sun moving around the Earth, stars can fall onto the Earth, etc. All his "philosophical" crap cannot save him from this embarrassment. But maybe he lives in a different fantasy universe created by his creator.

As an example of his "objective morality", please see the video entitled "Christian Apologetics - Genocide Is Good For Everybody!":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FHRmdCZO2bE

Sickening "morality"!

Anonymous said...

As a non-American, liberal, atheist living on the opposite side of the world,I have to be careful what I say: I do not want to draw attention to my existence to the NSA (ah, shit, now they now know where I live on the internet, I think) but...

1. although your country's population is 10 times that , country, yours seems to have more that 10 times the the number of irrational crazies than mine (I must admit, one of our exports - Murdoch - has probably tipped the balance in our favour) and

2. why don't the reporters just come, undercover of course, to one of your atheist meetings: every second Tuesday of a month with a "k" in it, isn't it?

I'm hoping I'm introducing you and your followers to Richard Holloway, ex-Archbishop of Edinburgh, with whom you and yours will empathise.
One of his comments; indeed, understatements, is:

"religion gives one permission to be discourteous"

Change the last word to "a total bastard" and it says it all!

Go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YYoxqd8Xwc

TommE said...

I found your latest post interesting. As a conservative atheist, I find the Fox attack on atheism particularly troubling, probably even more than you do. As you can guess, I agree with many of the Fox positions regarding politics, limited government, the threat of Islam, etc., but get more than a little furious when religion is the topic. One of the most disgusting interviews I've ever seen was O'Riley interviewing Richard Dawkins. Dawkins was even seated in what I would call a subordinate position. It reminded me of videos of examination of the accused in Nazi trials. On the other hand, one of the most enjoyable interviews I've seen was when Hannity interviewed Christopher Hitchens - the one about Jerry Falwell. Maybe Fox is trying to get even.

Now to my point. We need another Christopher Hitchens. Someone with a razor sharp tongue, and not afraid to say what needs to be said. How about you Mr. Hump? I'd love to see you on with O'Riley. Think about it.

Dromedary Hump said...

Thanks for your insight and input.

Anon... that video on genocide speaks volumes of what religion does: it dehumanizes the other, very much in line with my proposal that atheists are less than Christians, thus worthy of disdain and persecution.
Thks.

Anon from Oz,
Indeed, we have more than our share of asshats and unbalanced.
I'll check out Holloway, thanks!

Tom,
Thanks for that input. I wish I had the courage and knowledge of a Hitch to go toe to toe w/ O'Reilly in the enemy camp. Alas, If I did I'd probably lose my cool. I don't deal well with gross stupidity.

WhyNot said...

Wow! I read that clown's (Wiliam Lane Craig) diatribe, and 15 minutes later Deidra and I are still still laughing our heads off.

"a web-based ministry whose purpose is to provide an intelligent and articulate perspective about the existence of God in the public arena."

ROFLMAO, oh my! This William Lane Craig cunt is at the top of the list of the most cretinous fucktards on the planet. And why am I not surprised that Faux News should be the proud publisher of such retarded drivel?

However, I have to say he has one valid point,and that is when he sez "they, too, would find Christmas worth celebrating!". You bet your stinking ass that we atheists find Xmas worth celebrating! Hell, we get paid by our employers to stay at home and bloat ourselves silly with stuffed turkeys! It is truly a proof that heaven exists, and it is right here on this planet!