The Anit-Religious Sign in Olympia
This reminds me of a story:
True story. Many years ago I had an acquaintance who was involved in Theatre and had a strict Christian upbringing. Her family did not approve of her acting. They thought it was sinful and inproper for a godly young woman. She herself was not particularly religious and, like many of us in the theatre, looked on the theatre and her friends in it as a refuge from the psychological repression that her religious family represented. Like it has done for many of us, theatre saved her life, and like it has done to millions of people since it started, religion made her life nearly unbearable. As if the psychological abuse of religious fundamentalism wasn't enough, at the ripe old age of 23, she got cancer and she died. Her funeral was attended by her family and her friends. The services were extremely religious and spent a great deal of time talking about what Jesus did for her in her life, how much she loved God and Jesus, and how she's finally reunited with them in heaven. All of us theatre sinners were relegated to the outskirts of the service. Later at a gathering of the friends I couldn't take it anymore and started mouthing off (if you know me, you know my internal censor has a short battery life). I railed against religion and repressive families and stated that it was spitting on her memory to talk about how important God was to her, when it was God that made her unhappy for so much of her life and if God existed he was evil for allowing this nice, talented young woman to be struck down by something as painful as cancer at 23 fucking years old long before she could have had anything that could be called 'a life'. I probably said some other things but I don't remember. It was a long time ago and I was ranting.
In retrospect I was 100% correct in what I said, but I was 100% wrong in the time and place to discuss it and the way in which I presented it. The owner of the house was somewhat religious and we were all upset; instead of supporting my friends in times of trouble, I turned the whole thing for a few minutes into a forum for my views. That was wrong and I ended up apologizing to the host.
I think the same thing can be said about the Anti-Religious sign in Olympia. The content is all correct, but the context was ill considered. I know. We all get tired. When you're surrounded by people who disfigure their lives and their minds and the lives and minds of their children, sometimes you just lose it and start mouthing off. That's why so many atheists are called arrogant by the religious community. The goal though should not be to lose our cool. We are the more rational position, and we are therefore held to a higher standard of rational behavior. I applaud the Washington State government for honoring the separation of church and state and allowing us the forum, but let's face it: We blew it.
True story. Many years ago I had an acquaintance who was involved in Theatre and had a strict Christian upbringing. Her family did not approve of her acting. They thought it was sinful and inproper for a godly young woman. She herself was not particularly religious and, like many of us in the theatre, looked on the theatre and her friends in it as a refuge from the psychological repression that her religious family represented. Like it has done for many of us, theatre saved her life, and like it has done to millions of people since it started, religion made her life nearly unbearable. As if the psychological abuse of religious fundamentalism wasn't enough, at the ripe old age of 23, she got cancer and she died. Her funeral was attended by her family and her friends. The services were extremely religious and spent a great deal of time talking about what Jesus did for her in her life, how much she loved God and Jesus, and how she's finally reunited with them in heaven. All of us theatre sinners were relegated to the outskirts of the service. Later at a gathering of the friends I couldn't take it anymore and started mouthing off (if you know me, you know my internal censor has a short battery life). I railed against religion and repressive families and stated that it was spitting on her memory to talk about how important God was to her, when it was God that made her unhappy for so much of her life and if God existed he was evil for allowing this nice, talented young woman to be struck down by something as painful as cancer at 23 fucking years old long before she could have had anything that could be called 'a life'. I probably said some other things but I don't remember. It was a long time ago and I was ranting.
In retrospect I was 100% correct in what I said, but I was 100% wrong in the time and place to discuss it and the way in which I presented it. The owner of the house was somewhat religious and we were all upset; instead of supporting my friends in times of trouble, I turned the whole thing for a few minutes into a forum for my views. That was wrong and I ended up apologizing to the host.
I think the same thing can be said about the Anti-Religious sign in Olympia. The content is all correct, but the context was ill considered. I know. We all get tired. When you're surrounded by people who disfigure their lives and their minds and the lives and minds of their children, sometimes you just lose it and start mouthing off. That's why so many atheists are called arrogant by the religious community. The goal though should not be to lose our cool. We are the more rational position, and we are therefore held to a higher standard of rational behavior. I applaud the Washington State government for honoring the separation of church and state and allowing us the forum, but let's face it: We blew it.
posted by John McKenna at 12:04 PM
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