I seem to recall that Christ told the Pharisees (aggresively proud of their religiousity and truthyness) that they were like whitewashed tombs, gleaming on the outside, bones and corruption on the inside. Sonehow I don't think that Christ died on a cross just to have his followers walk around with one inserted next to their backbones. If for no other reason than it's terribly constipating.
It's strange that an article about atheists in Tulsa didn't illicit an interview from the Atheist Community of Tulsa (ACT), or on e of it's organizers. The author is welcome to contact us any time for such articles.
We are the second largest Atheist group in Oklahoma and the 27th largest atheist group in the world. in 2011 and 2012, we held a Free Thought Convention (FreeOK) that is larger than our neighboring state TEXAS, and is probably one of the top ten in numbers in the United States.
There are nearly 1000 of us in just this one community in Tulsa, and there are a great number of other atheist communities and groups besides us. Feel free to look us up on Meetup or Facebook.
"Both sides need to respect that sometimes the other can feel attacked. When it became known that the name of the Christmas parade was changed to the holiday parade, some Christians felt attacked. First Amendment issues aside, it is how some believers felt, and it would be wrong to call their feelings invalid."
Feeling attacked is not the same thing as actually being attacked.
If there had been a parade where images of Christian religion were deliberately defaced and mutilated, where the Christian community as a whole were lambasted with a sarcastic shower of scorn, then yes: that's an attack.
Taking the parade and opening it to everyone in the area as opposed to merely the Christian population is obviously not an attack. It complies perfectly with the Christian admonition to love one's neighbor.
Which is really what this is about. The creators of the second parade, the "Christmas" one, shout loud and clear that they do not love their neighbor. That they want to be exclusive. That they want anyone who doesn't agree with them about their religious opinions to be excluded from community events.
When a person deliberately chooses to "feel" put upon with no good reason, I do not have to respect that. It's fake. It's manipulative. It's insincere. It's unkind and it's selfish. Those feelings are totally and completely invalid.
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Re: Unbuckling the bible belt
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Re: Unbuckling the bible belt
Re: Unbuckling the bible belt
We are the second largest Atheist group in Oklahoma and the 27th largest atheist group in the world. in 2011 and 2012, we held a Free Thought Convention (FreeOK) that is larger than our neighboring state TEXAS, and is probably one of the top ten in numbers in the United States.
There are nearly 1000 of us in just this one community in Tulsa, and there are a great number of other atheist communities and groups besides us. Feel free to look us up on Meetup or Facebook.
Re: Unbuckling the bible belt
Feeling attacked is not the same thing as actually being attacked.
If there had been a parade where images of Christian religion were deliberately defaced and mutilated, where the Christian community as a whole were lambasted with a sarcastic shower of scorn, then yes: that's an attack.
Taking the parade and opening it to everyone in the area as opposed to merely the Christian population is obviously not an attack. It complies perfectly with the Christian admonition to love one's neighbor.
Which is really what this is about. The creators of the second parade, the "Christmas" one, shout loud and clear that they do not love their neighbor. That they want to be exclusive. That they want anyone who doesn't agree with them about their religious opinions to be excluded from community events.
When a person deliberately chooses to "feel" put upon with no good reason, I do not have to respect that. It's fake. It's manipulative. It's insincere. It's unkind and it's selfish. Those feelings are totally and completely invalid.