My name is Bud Uzoras, and I am an atheist. I begin my letter to you by introducing myself because, considering that this is an open letter posted on my blog, I want to emphasize that I don't blog anonymously; consequently, my atheism is public knowledge. This is significant because I know many atheist bloggers feel the need to write under the guise of anonymity. There are times I wonder whether I'd be better off writing under a nom de plume myself. You see, Bill, being an atheist is a lot like being gay: many of us are in the closet, and many, many people still hold a strong and equally irrational prejudice against us, which intimidates many atheists into staying in the proverbial closet. A lot of folks don't consider atheists to be "true citizens" or moral or "normal" - another similarity we share with the gays.
Bill, can you imagine being persecuted and ostracized like that? Yes, I know, you think atheists are in league with the devil and together we are waging a war on Christmas and Christians have it really bad, but put aside that histrionic shtick for a moment and consider what it would feel like for you to really be persecuted. Imagine what it would be like to be told you can't marry the person you love because, for some reason, genitalia is the deciding factor vis-à-vis what makes a relationship "good," or that you have no hope at all of getting elected to public office because you happen to not believe in certain claims, or that you are considered "offensive" and "hateful" just because you have an honest and educated opinion. Can you imagine what that would be like, Bill? You pretend you do, but reality speaks strongly against that self-induced delusion of yours.
Now, Bill, I know how you feel about homosexuals: you think homosexuality leads to pedophilia, and you believe gay marriage is unnatural and wrong and... just really really bad. I remember you going on about how unnatural homosexuality is and how the prong has to penetrate the socket and some such. Seems Freud's got nothing on you, Bill. You have quite the way with words.
"Talk dirty to me..."
Lest we allow your clever pick-up lines to distract us, allow me to make my point: you have a knack for discriminating against those with whom you disagree, and you have a seemingly effortless proficiency for using your religion and position to promote misunderstanding and bigotry. Case in point: the "Adopt an Atheist" campaign. It's bad enough that you're ignoring the fact that a lot of atheists are still "in the closet" due to fear (and let's not forget that a significant number of closet atheists are members of the clergy), but you take it a step further and mock attempts made to comfort these closet atheists and encourage them to come out. In an attempt to mirror the efforts of David Silverman and American Atheists, you "want atheists to realize that there may be Christians in their community, even if those Christians don’t even know they are Christian."
Yeah, Bill, I'm sure there are tons of people out there who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, second person of the Holy Trinity, and trust him as their personal Lord and Savior and have no freaking clue that any of this is going on. I can't wait to hear the testimonials that should start pouring in as a result of the "Adopt an Atheist" campaign:
"Thanks to Bill Donohue and the Catholic League, I discovered that I had been praying three times a day to Jesus, tithing 10% of my net income to the church, watching the 700 Club and looking forward to the Rapture. I had no idea I was a Christian!"
I can let all that slide, though. Go adopt all the atheists you want. Go get all "Brad and Angelina" with the heathens. Whatever makes you feel good. That said... here's what I can't let slide, Bill. You wrote:
If we hurry, these closeted Christians can celebrate Christmas like the rest of us. As an added bonus, they will no longer be looked upon as people who "believe in nothing, stand for nothing and are good for nothing."
If atheists are looked upon in such a way, it's because bigots like you continue to misrepresent who atheists are and what they believe and don't believe. Atheists "believe in nothing," Bill? I alone have a few hundred blog entries right here that speak to the contrary, and I am certainly not the only one. Atheists "stand for nothing"? Bill, take a good look around. Read the blogs. Go to YouTube and type in the name "Christopher Hitchens" and watch a few videos. I can recommend a few good books for you to read. I want to help you overcome this crippling ignorance of yours which leads you to utter such nonsense. What I'm saying is, I am willing to adopt you, Bill.
You say atheists are "good for nothing." I'm not surprised. You're not the only one who thinks this way, and atheists are no strangers to dealing with this kind of bigotry. Consider the words of another Christian named Bill:
Therefore, when a person refuses to come to Christ it is never just because of lack of evidence or because of intellectual difficulties: at root, he refuses to come because he willingly ignores and rejects the drawing of God's Spirit on his heart. No one in the final analysis really fails to become a Christian because of lack of arguments; he fails to become a Christian because he loves darkness rather than light and wants nothing to do with God.
[William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, (Revised edition, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1994), pp. 35-36.]
Nonsense like this is why prejudice against atheists still runs rampant. William Lane Craig - with no evidence at all to back up his claims (which is usual for him) - criticizes atheists for "loving darkness." In other words, we're atheists because we're rebellious and bad people who ignore god willfully. Bill, I suspect that when influential Christians like you and Craig make such claims about atheists, the purpose must be to reinforce the negative stereotype and strengthen the bigotry of your followers. The fact that Craig's and your claims and accusations have no evidential or rational foundation is of no concern for either of you. But I understand why: if rational thought were a priority for you it would interfere with your agenda. For you to achieve your goals, hatred, small-mindedness and bigotry must prevail while compassion, understanding, reason and tolerance must be quashed.
I'm guessing you won't read this, Bill, but that's okay. This letter really isn't for you.
- Bud
