"or is it.. "don't celebrate a secular christmas" . I don't know. I'm confused by this whole campaign"
It's "WE GOOD, THEY BAD! GOOD WE, BAD THEY!" Like pissing on a tree, only hairless apes like to use sets of visual markings instead, since their eyesight is much better than their sense of smell.
Using Christian symbols for the billboard is pointless, unless they're just out to annoy people -- which they are. Silverman comes right out and says the purpose is to give "a taste of what war on Christmas looks like."
As a way of persuading people to celebrate reason, it's a bad job. If you want to get people to celebrate something, you use symbols which relate to it, not the competition's symbols. It could have had, for instance, an astronomer looking at a star, tying in a seasonal theme. As a declaration of war on Christmas, it's tame and feeble.
They aren't using "myth" that way though, are they?
Besides, the astronomer thing is a great example of how you might reclaim the mythology. Within the myth the wise men are astrologers, so if you show an astronomer looking at the stars instead with scientific tools, then the mixing of the symbols sends a powerful message precisely because of the well known Christmas symbol of the star.
I think this is a good point. I agree with the right to put up the billboards, but sometimes they're too shallow and slogany and not poignant enough and don't really communicate anything other than "nuh uh!"
Though "nuh uh!" is sort of well-deserved, you may as well aim a little higher and make a more thought-out point while you're at it.
'Every year, atheists get blamed for having a war on Christmas, even if we don't do anything,' he said. 'This year, we decided to give the religious right a taste of what war on Christmas looks like.'
Strangely enough claiming that you are making war on Christmas in response to people who irrationally believe you've always been making war on Christmas does not help!!!
The OP is absolutely right to call out the fatwa envy from Daled Amos. And it looks like Mary Elizabeth Williams from Salon.com is also annoyed that American Atheists aren't targeting minority religious groups instead of focussing on the over-priveleged one. Awww diddums!
Oooh and "it's gonna backfire" really is quite a daft one too, isn't it?: "Ironically, in his desire to out Christians who are just going through seasonal retail motions, [Silverman's] billboard may serve to remind believing Christians of the real reason for the season."So the real reason for the season is to celebrate daft myths? Why didn't you say so before? :P
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Well, a big "outlaw Christianity" billboard would be "war on Christmas" in a sense worth talking about. "Reason rulez, X-ianity droolz" isn't quite the same thing.
I really think Morning Gloria makes some good points. She writes: "Why not just focus on celebrating your own beliefs rather than pissing people off by putting theirs down?" The billboard even appears to do this, if you look only at the words.
If you're going to put something down, it should be something worth putting down, like the doctrine of eternal damnation, rather than going after people's most sentimental associations. Put up a picture of people writhing in agony in a pit of lava, with devils prodding them with pitchforks, and put the words "You know it's a myth" above that -- you're making a worthwhile point, and even some Christians will respond sympathetically.
I like and dislike Christmas in about equal amounts. Neither has the slightest thing to do with religion (I like the sense of occasion, being given presents, etc. I dislike the occasianally vomit-inducing schmaltz of it all and trying to work out what to buy countless family members who have no observable inteests).
I don't understand why anyone on either side makes such an issue about it.
The "ask Jesus into your heart or (literally) go to hell" aspect of it kinda ruins it for me more than anything else. That, and the holiday is played up so much that if you want to feel anything at all other than how the prescribed script tells you to feel, it's a melodramatic mini-tragedy. I really dislike the "keeping up with the Jones'" aspect of it. It's also another opportunity to breed guilt, because Christmas is Supposed To Be X and that's Really Important.
I've spent the last couple of Christmases on my own and, being on my own, nothing's really happened: just had a sandwich for lunch, spent most of the day in bed, etc.
It does make me feel pretty sad, I have to admit. But it's only one day and I guess it doesn't really matter.
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It's "WE GOOD, THEY BAD! GOOD WE, BAD THEY!" Like pissing on a tree, only hairless apes like to use sets of visual markings instead, since their eyesight is much better than their sense of smell.
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Not to the non-religious.
I presume that "This season celebrate REASON" is an intentional play on the typical Christian trope "The Reason for the Season"
So, it makes the most sense as a pointed response to that trope... i.e. to constant pressure from some Christians to de-secularize Christmas.
Essentially the point of the campaign to my mind is "Go ahead and be secular about Christmas. Don't sweat it."
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As a way of persuading people to celebrate reason, it's a bad job. If you want to get people to celebrate something, you use symbols which relate to it, not the competition's symbols. It could have had, for instance, an astronomer looking at a star, tying in a seasonal theme. As a declaration of war on Christmas, it's tame and feeble.
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Besides, the astronomer thing is a great example of how you might reclaim the mythology. Within the myth the wise men are astrologers, so if you show an astronomer looking at the stars instead with scientific tools, then the mixing of the symbols sends a powerful message precisely because of the well known Christmas symbol of the star.
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Though "nuh uh!" is sort of well-deserved, you may as well aim a little higher and make a more thought-out point while you're at it.
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Strangely enough claiming that you are making war on Christmas in response to people who irrationally believe you've always been making war on Christmas does not help!!!
The OP is absolutely right to call out the fatwa envy from Daled Amos. And it looks like Mary Elizabeth Williams from Salon.com is also annoyed that American Atheists aren't targeting minority religious groups instead of focussing on the over-priveleged one. Awww diddums!
Oooh and "it's gonna backfire" really is quite a daft one too, isn't it?:
"Ironically, in his desire to out Christians who are just going through seasonal retail motions, [Silverman's] billboard may serve to remind believing Christians of the real reason for the season."So the real reason for the season is to celebrate daft myths? Why didn't you say so before? :P ( ... )
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If you're going to put something down, it should be something worth putting down, like the doctrine of eternal damnation, rather than going after people's most sentimental associations. Put up a picture of people writhing in agony in a pit of lava, with devils prodding them with pitchforks, and put the words "You know it's a myth" above that -- you're making a worthwhile point, and even some Christians will respond sympathetically.
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I don't understand why anyone on either side makes such an issue about it.
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I've spent the last couple of Christmases on my own and, being on my own, nothing's really happened: just had a sandwich for lunch, spent most of the day in bed, etc.
It does make me feel pretty sad, I have to admit. But it's only one day and I guess it doesn't really matter.
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