Bigotry at the Tea Party Protest

[readherring.livejournal.com]

Given some of the discussions generated from my last post, I wanted to share with you one last picture from the April 15 Tea Party protest.

But first, I wanted to thank everyone for all of the positive comments. I was trying very hard to be open minded and fair, and I am genuinely happy that people found my post to be so. I am even more happy that people from "both sides" liked it for that reason. This is an incredibly positive political sentiment - that we have a common preference for fair and balanced presentation. It gives me some hope that this hyper-polarized climate might collapse one day.

I also wanted to apologize for not being on line much after posting - I'm on limited internet these days.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't destroy the fair and balanced vibes, but a lot of the commenters believed that the Tea Party is a bigoted movement. Not only do I insist that this is wrong, but I also believe that making this wrongful accusation needlessly pushes Tea Partiers and their liberal counterparts further away from ever listening to each other, or making any compromise. I therefore wish that I could say that I saw no evidence of bigotry at the Tea Party, but I can't. Here's the last picture:



This is one of the counter-protesters. Her shirt reads "F*ck your God". I didn't intentionally leave this out of the original post because I was embarrassed by it, although I am embarrassed by it. I only left it out because in choosing from my hundred photos to post, this one was just va poor quality shot.

I'm not trying to make liberals look bad with this picture. I'm just trying to show that while there are people with ugly beliefs on both sides, these ugly beliefs don't define those sides. The Anti-Tea-Party movement (or Coffee Party, or whatever) isn't an anti religion movement, even if some members of the Atheist Takfiri show up in the crowd. The same goes for racists (of which I saw none) or anti-abortionists (of which I saw the nutter truck driver - his rear billboard was all about fetuses) who show up for an anti-tax movement. The movement isn't about those other things, even if some of the participants go way off message.

Sorry if this post doesn't offer much new information over the last one, but given that there was such a strong belief in Tea Party racism in the first set of comments, I felt that I had done everyone a disservice by leaving this picture out.

Comments

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

I have a question for Atheists; why do some Atheists feel it's necessary to tear down people who choose to have a belief that you don't? I find it hilariously ironic. Atheists believe there are no gods and yet a bunch of them spend their time thinking of ways to insult people who believe in a higher power. What's the point? Why are you trying to convert people to one school of thought that's dependent on another?

[paft.livejournal.com]

Actually, Christians are a bit more prone to doing that than atheists. Often, merely an atheist stating his or her belief that there is no God is denounced as "insulting" Christians, as the recent reaction to atheist billboards, and atheist bus ads indicates.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Actually, Christians are a bit more prone to doing that than atheists.

I don't think so. I couldn't care less if someone doesn't believe in a higher power. That's their perogative, and I've actually found that to be the attitude of most Christians (or Wiccans or Buddhists or any other religion) that I've encountered in my lifetime. Probably the only people who care about the eternal souls of others are the ones looking for converts and they ARE attacked by Atheists and called stupid and illogical and all sorts of colorful names.

[paft.livejournal.com]

MvL:I don't think so. I couldn't care less if someone doesn't believe in a higher power. That's their perogative, and I've actually found that to be the attitude of most Christians (or Wiccans or Buddhists or any other religion) that I've encountered in my lifetime.

Then I must assume you have not encountered many Christian evangelicals -- or for that matter, many Catholics.

mvl: Probably the only people who care about the eternal souls of others are the ones looking for converts and they ARE attacked by Atheists and called stupid and illogical and all sorts of colorful names.

Sure, there are atheists who do this, but the fact is, most atheists just politely blow off the evangelicals, just like other nonChristians do. Keep in mind, atheists have been known to face discrimination and outright harassment for being atheists, so they're often not inclined to be vocal about their beliefs. And most atheists aren't out to convert anyone to atheism. You don't, as a rule, have atheists going door to door carrying tracts.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

I don't think so.

I can't recall telling anyone that they were going to burn for eternity in a lake of fire, but yep, I have had several Christians claim this was my fate.

attacked

LOL. So, "attacked" == "criticized"?

[usekh.livejournal.com]

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God

[usekh.livejournal.com]

http://www.smh.com.au/national/thank-god-were-not-all-atheists-bishop-says-20100401-ri4q.html

[luxinthemachine.livejournal.com]

To be fair, why do some Christians (insert any other faith denomination here) feel it's necessary to tear down people who choose to have a belief that they don't?

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Probably cause they're intolerant morons. So does the same go for Atheists then?

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

One quick swipe at this topic. For instance, sizable chunks of America have a religiously-driven belief that homosexuality is an "abomination" and because of that, support legislation and candidates who agree. It's hard to attack that idea because followers can fall back on "It's in the Bible!" so taking potshots at their overall belief system is what ends up happening.

[readherring.livejournal.com]

True - the anti-gay religiosos are horrible, and they draw fire onto Christianity. But that doesn't make hating on all religion, or even hating on all Christianity, a respectable practice.

If the religion is defined by bigotry and hate - like the Westboro baptist Church - I'd say those potshots are justified. But drawing sweeping generalities about Christianity based on that church will just alienate the other Christians that would otherwise be telling the Westboro Baptists to STFU.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

I agree with your points. I think people can and do go through reactionary phases - and strong aversions usually have some root cause. Hopefully in time we end up with more balanced viewpoints.

For instance, the RCC drives me crazy - I'm convinced that it's a covertly evil organization. And while I may be frustrated by individual catholics, I also know from personal experience that the ones I've met are definitely not evil.

Some topics are religiously charged and where that intersects politics, there's bound to be tension when it comes to homosexuality, abortion or stem cells, for instance.

[http://users.livejournal.com/aviation_/]

This is a two-way street.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

Why, you ask Why? Because of discrimination against atheists by the religious.

http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistactivism/p/PrejudiceBigots.htm

[penguin42.livejournal.com]

Because there are assholes everywhere, and they tend to be louder than the rest

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Most precise answer on this thread.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

Reaction to constantly having religion used as a basis to attack them.

"My god says fags go to hell, my god says you are an evil sinner, my god says you are the black to white, my god says I'm right and you're wrong"

Fuck your god.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Reaction to constantly having religion used as a basis to attack them.

"My god says fags go to hell, my god says you are an evil sinner, my god says you are the black to white, my god says I'm right and you're wrong"

Fuck your god.

Who? And be specific. Cause otherwise, you're just painting everyone with a broad brush and making generalizations like that isn't very constructive.

Oh, and please enjoy this video. If an Atheist is going to "attack" a Christians beliefs, this is how it SHOULD be done:

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

That is how it should be done in your opinion. In my opinion Edward Current is funny and entertaining, but totally ineffective.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

What are you asking? Are you asking why you are generalizing this approach to all atheists? One could say, 'painting with a broad brush'?

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

why do some Atheists feel it's necessary to tear down people who choose to have a belief that you don't?

Well, its like that person who believes that they are Elvis, at some point someone has to tell them that they are not actually elvis.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Well, its like that person who believes that they are Elvis, at some point someone has to tell them that they are not actually Elvis.

But who actually told said Atheist that it's their responsibility to get in my face and tell me that my beliefs are wrong if I don't really give two shits about their beliefs? I'm not gonna tell someone that they have to believe what I believe (religiously speaking) but an Atheist feels it's their job? Since when?

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Way to move the goal posts.

ho actually told said Atheist that it's their responsibility to get in my face

Well in my case, its more often because a Christian gets into the seculars persons face and tells them they are a sinner and repent and let jesus into your life etc etc etc. I've never been told I was going to burn in hell by an atheist, however Christians do it all the time.

but an Atheist feels it's their job?

They do? How do you know that? Maybe they are just sick and tired of irrational mean bullshit. That's more likely.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Good question. Well it's wrong and we shouldn't do that. Regardless of the fact that theists have gone to painful lengths to convert others, but that still doesn't make two bad-s cancel each other out.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

So, if your math teacher is saying 2+3=5 and your religion says 2+3=4, can we point out you are wrong without offending your religion?

This is exactly what happens when they try to remove evolution from textbooks.