Coming Saturday to the National Mall: “Woodstock for nonbelievers” (The Atheist Woodstock)

Hotair ^ | 03/23/2012 | AllahPundit

[SeekAndFind]

C'mon. You didn't think I was going to let this luscious bit of traffic bait pass unposted, did you? Atheist Woodstock? Good lord. I may have to take weekend duty just so I can liveblog it.

I'll be there in spirit. Er, so to speak.

Paul Fidalgo, communications director at the Center for Inquiry, said that, despite appearances, this isn’t a rally about believing in nothing. There’s actually an agenda involved — and that includes current politics, the 2012 race and President Barack Obama ...

Among the issues: international anti-blasphemy laws, the recent clash over contraception and the Republican presidential race.

“The right has so commingled themselves with religion,” Fidalgo said. “I will say that I do find it interesting that in an election season in which the main issue is ostensibly about the economy, that in recent weeks it’s been issues surrounding religion that have become so central.”…

“It’s a celebration,” Fidalgo said. “It’s not a protest. It’s not a complaint. It’s not a March on Washington where we’re picketing anything. It’s a celebration of the fact that the secular movement is really starting to come into its own. There are more people who feel free to come out and say they’re nonbelievers or secular humanists and those numbers are growing. People are less shy about it. This gives us a chance to make ourselves known and put ourselves on the national stage and say, ‘We’re here, we’re a large group, we’re active, we have a positive agenda.’ We want you to know we’re your neighbors, and we’re not scary.”

Fidalgo insists that there’s no partisan bent to the event (he specifically grumbles about Obama attending the National Prayer Breakfast), but given that Richard Dawkins has an op-ed in today’s WaPo singling out Santorum, Palin, and Bachmann as “politicians who flaunt their ignorance as a vote-winning virtue,” I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that there will in fact be a partisan bent to the event. In fact, follow that link and read Dawkins’s entire column, noting how he promotes the “Reason Rally” by singling out the types of people who he thinks wouldn’t want to attend. It’s terrible, terrible messaging, infused with the sort of sneering self-congratulation that colors popular stereotypes of atheists. (Fidalgo acknowledges that “Americans do have a bad impression of their atheist neighbors.”) On the day of a major rally on the Mall, the tone should be pure inclusion — “show up and give us a chance,” etc. Instead, this. Every identity movement has elements of “we’re just like you” and “we’re not just like you and we’re darned proud of it.” A little more of the former would go a long way, RD.

Here’s the official schedule, which will include a video tribute to Hitchens. And here’s an unofficial YouTube vid touting the event that seems to capture the flavor well enough.

Update: Just noticed this on the schedule. Dude?

06:00 pm
Close and Hugs
With everyone.

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO

[JudgemAll]

Was there ever a Woodstock for believers or one that needed “nonpartisan” PR claptrap.

This is another lawyer/lawmaker sponsored event.

The unlimited budgetists and degenerates continue their march.

The whole world hates liberals, and one day, hopefully soon, it will be known.

[Above My Pay Grade]

>>>Among the issues: international anti-blasphemy laws, the recent clash over contraception and the Republican presidential race.<<<

Hypocrisy can truly blind a person. If ANYONE should understand and agree with the Conservative and Roman Catholic position on the contraception mandate it should be atheists.

How would they feel if the government passed a law requiring all atheist orgainzations to provide free Bibles to all their employees and students?

The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.” - Psalm 14:1

[Lazlo in PA]

I can’t wait to see how poorly attended this BS is. Whenever these dopes mount any sort of protest or event, 6 people show up.

[apillar]

Lol! Just checked the weather for DC tomorrow, 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms. I wonder how many of those so called atheists will be getting a little nervous if some lighting and thunder starts cracking overhead?

[Arkansas Toothpick]

Depends on how it’s marketed. If it turns out to be a hedonism festival with free alcohol and drugs, sex and rock and roll, then it could be a “smash”. However, you are right that it will have nothing to do with atheism, per se.

[dead]

Being an atheist is one thing, but being an atheist who gathers together with other atheists is just bizarre.

I don't surf, but I have no desire to go to a conference in Utah to meet other non-surfers and discuss the joys of not surfing.

[Dilbert San Diego]

I hope they clean up after themselves and pick up their trash.

After Obama’s inauguration, there were tons of garbage left behind by Obama’s supporters on the National Mall.

After Glenn Beck’s rally at the Lincoln Memorial, there was virtually no trash to pick up.

People can gather to support whatever cause they want to support. However, it’s interesting that the liberal side seems to leave behind so much residue, compared to conservative oriented events.

I’ve heard similar things about stadium prayer rallies. Some stadium clean up crews have been amazed at how little they have to do after religious events, compared to how much crap they have to clean up after a football game.

[Dilbert San Diego]

I hope they clean up after themselves and pick up their trash.

After Obama’s inauguration, there were tons of garbage left behind by Obama’s supporters on the National Mall.

After Glenn Beck’s rally at the Lincoln Memorial, there was virtually no trash to pick up.

People can gather to support whatever cause they want to support. However, it’s interesting that the liberal side seems to leave behind so much residue, compared to conservative oriented events.

I’ve heard similar things about stadium prayer rallies. Some stadium clean up crews have been amazed at how little they have to do after religious events, compared to how much crap they have to clean up after a football game.

[dog breath]

My father an atheist and armchair rationalist philosopher who ignored the strange things that occurred throughout his life that were not rational or explainable. It required more blind faith for him to not believe then most can muster in a lifetime of going to church. I will never forget his eyes when he died they were full of total wonder as if he was staring at angels, for he had tried to find faith the last few days of his life. Someday I may see what it was that he beheld. One thing I did learn from listening to him was that to ridicule faith is a form of contempt and arrogance. A contempt born not so much out of a contempt for God but for humanity in general. It is our sense of awe and wonder at the universe our reaching out to that which goes past words, that which is not confined to formulas or math that makes us human. We humans are not the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, we are but born of the breath of the divine upon the dust.

[Dilbert San Diego]

These atheists are not just those without a belief in God. They actually do have an ideology and a theology, which is an ideology of being hostile to religion.

These are the people who file lawsuits to tear down crosses from mountaintops, because they are offended. These are the people who file lawsuits to take “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance. These are the people who file lawsuits over prayers at graduations and city council meetings.

Some atheists are happy to just live and let live, but there are organized atheist groups, dedicated to shoving their agenda down out throats. These groups are dedicated to cleansing the public sphere of any mention of religion in any form.

[CatherineofAragon]

Very nice post. I pray your father is in the arms of God as we speak here.

My husband’s grandfather died the summer before last. He loved and served the Lord for most of his life. The things that went on in his hospital room, during the last days of his life, took away the breath from all of us. He told us at one point, “I can’t describe to you what I’m seeing. The Lord is showing me things I don’t have the words for.” I believe God did that partly for all of us, so that we would know what a joyous homecoming he was going to.

[Our man in washington]

I used to be an atheist, but I’m a Christian now.

One thing I noticed about atheists was there was no expectation of behavior. Some atheists were nice folks and some weren’t, but the ones that were nice had no easy means of calling out that ones that weren’t. Jerks were called out, but it led to accuastions of being judgmental and then people wanted to create legalistic rules of behavior and it ended up with a sense of unease between people.

It seems atheists should spend time figuring out what are their expectations of behavior. The problem is that codes for morality tend to come from religious sources and are thus automatically suspect to atheists. If you tried to put together a code of morality in America without using the Judeo-Christian traditions, it’s really difficult. You end up with “be nice to everyone and let’s make fun of religious people.”

In contrast, when I walk into my Christian church, certain behavior is expected of me and I can expect certain behavior of other people. While the occasional jerk still walks through the doors, others have a standard to call out bad behavior. The level of trust is far higher and it’s far more pleasant than hanging out with a group of atheists.