Social Autism of Atheists Growing in Intensity as Holidays Approach

It's been reported that the above billboard now appears in New Jersey just in time for the Christmas shopping rush.

"A group called the American Atheists has paid for a huge billboard on Route 495 outside the Lincoln Tunnel in North Bergen, N.J., that is raising some eyebrows.

The billboard shows a silhouette of the Three Wise Men approaching the Nativity, with the words: “You KNOW it’s a Myth / This Season, Celebrate REASON!”

The group says the billboard is not designed to convert Christians to atheism. Rather, Dave Silverman, a spokesman for the American Atheists, says the sign is designed to encourage existing atheists who are going through the motions of celebrating Christmas to stop."

One wonders if the group intentionally wanted to appear snarky and catty during The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. If they were, they are doing a magnoificent job at it.

People might wonder how members of this group can rationalize having such a billboard at Christmas time when a poll released yesterday by Rasmussen conveys the following...

"As Americans crowd stores nationwide, most still prefer being greeted by signs that say “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays.”

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, just one-out-of-four Adults (24%) like “Happy Holidays” instead. Sixty-nine percent (69%) prefer that stores use signs that say “Merry Christmas.”

These figures are consistent with surveys during the holiday season for the past few years."

If I were to wager a guess, I would speculate that people find the term "Merry Christmas" preferable to the more generic "Happy Holidays" greeting because Christianity offers hope to people during the time of the year in which the announcement "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" is celebrated and Happy Holidays offers little in the way of this type of hope.

Atheism does not offer hope. Perhaps that is why this particular group appear so sour at this time of year.

Perhaps some atheists might like to comment on this. I am of the opinion that such a group would be much better off scheduling debates with Christian historians concerning the actual birth of Jesus of Nazereth and then taking it from there, than starting off with the statement, "You KNOW it's a Myth." Your thoughts, please.

UPDATE: Catholic League counters atheist billboard


"Take that, atheists.

New York Catholics, furious about an atheist-sponsored billboard calling Christmas "a myth," lashed out with a counter-attack today — a billboard of their own that defends the celebration of the birth of Christ.

The billboard erected by the Catholic League went up near the New York side of the Lincoln Tunnel, at Dyer Avenue and 31st Street, in a bid to offset the anti-Christmas billboard at the tunnel’s New Jersey entrance.

"We decided to counterpunch after a donor came forward seeking to challenge the anti-Christmas statement by American Atheists," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League." Link

Ireland Should Default

Columnist Vox Day has provided a very precise assessment of the economic crisis in Ireland and the bailout option offered by the European Union...

"According to figures published by the Bank of International Settlements, the Irish government now owes $146 billion to German banks, $134 billion to British banks and $54 billion to French banks that have invested in Irish banks and Irish bonds. This means that if the Irish government refuses to default on the debts incurred by its failed banks, it will put every single man, woman and child in Ireland on the hook for $76,781.61 for the benefit of the European bankers to whom the Irish bankers owed that money.


Fear that the Irish will follow the example of the Icelandic people and refuse to pay loans they never took out are why the International Monetary Fund and the European Union are so insistent upon the Irish government accepting what is described as "a bailout package" but is actually a loan of around $112 billion with many insidious strings attached. This loan will take the European banks and the Irish banks safely out of the picture, while the people of Ireland will be forced to pay the Irish bankers' debts to the people of the various European countries who have been forced to take the risk that previously belonged to the German, British and French bankers who originally made the loans.

It isn't necessary for the Irish people to be impoverished for multiple generations in this way. After the failure of the biggest bank in Iceland, Dutch and British banks tried to force the Icelandic people to pay them $16,400 apiece to settle bad debts incurred by the owners of Landsbanki. Fortunately for Iceland, some of the politicians in Reykjavik were made of less corrupt stuff than Brian Cowen and his Fianna Fáil government and they took the matter to a referendum in which only 1.5 percent of the electorate voted for the "bailout." And contrary to the dire predictions of the furious banking elite, the island nation did not sink into the Atlantic as a result."

Agreed. Indeed a majority of the Irish people would rather default, but I don't think their leadership is listening. As we see the Fianna Fáil government becoming synonymous with "Epic Fail" one harkens to the cry of Scottish independence fighter, William Wallace.... Freedom!

The War That Never Ended

Columnist Austin Bay writes in today's Washington Examiner concerning the increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula. After laying down what an abysmal failure appeasement has been over the years when negotiating with the Stalinist regime of the north, Bay then proposes an interesting solution to how to deal with North Korea...

"A terrible day of decision is approaching -- the day North Korea deploys its nuclear warheads. The dangerous game then becomes more dangerous, and South Korea may no longer enjoy the luxury of avoiding war. Until that day arrives, North Korea's continued belligerence demonstrates that the allies' economic incentives are little more than acts of cyclical ineptitude. Rewards for murderous behavior must end. Let wealthy China pay all of North Korea's bills. Who knows, investment-savvy Beijing may finally tell Kim to quit wasting money on nukes."

I think Bay is correct when he asserts that appeasement just doesn't work insofar as tin-pot dictators are concerned and his approach to "let wealthy China pay all of N. Korea's bills" just might be workable. However the only problem I could see in all of this are he poor, North Korean peasents that would lose out on the deal. I really don't think that the Chinese regime is sympathetic to their plight to the point of providing food shipments to them. It's been said that N. Koreans are on average 3 inches shorter than their counterparts in the south due to the lack of nutrition. China wasn't much of a help when that generation was growing up and I don't see them having the good grace to start embracing charitable giving and philanthropy now either.

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

Dr. Peter Lillback of The Providence Forum sent this out to those on the group's mailing list. If you are interested in history and are selctive about it, then consider joining their mailing list to receive informative emails on the topic of early American history.

"WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine."

Ralf Augstroze of the Providence Forum posted this more in-depth article on the topic and you make click here to read it in it's entirety.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

A Response From Jill D.

"He (JD Curtis) seems to think bigotry is using racist names or categorizing any entire group (Entire group minus one person is enough of a loophole for him) .
He's not racist because he married a black woman and has links to black commenters on his sidebar is JD's frequent defense."



Jill D., Nov. 14th



I stand by each sentence of it.



Jill D., Nov. 25th



Outstanding Jill, welcome to the party. Better late than never. It's nice that you "stand by" your statements, now please defend them. In case it somehow escaped your notice, I posted my rebuttal to your remarks immediately below yours, yet curiously, you don't address a single point that I raised. I guess if I were a maleducated intellectually vapid fool, I wouldnt try to defend such slop either. In case you have forgotten, I will repost that which I wrote...



#1. Did I ever say that an "entire group minus one person is enough of a loophole for me" or even remotely try and argue as such? If the answer is absolutely never, then why is this not an complete and outright lie? I'm sure that you meant to answer this earlier, so please post your response here. As it stands now, you are accused of lying.



#2. I will go on record and state that it is an absolute, 1000% fact that my wife is black. The above writer (Jill D.) mentions this but then fails to square this with the alleged, yet factually bankrupt notion that I am in any way, a bigot, (or a racist). Please explain why this is so.



#3. "..links to black commenters on his sidebar is JD's frequent defense". As if I use this as mere cover for my latent racism. Jill D. fails to take into consideration that the sidebar of columnists on my blog serves as a resource for me. In a blog that is about a year and a half old I have cited columns and created threads for writers like Larry Elder, Walter E. Williams, Ellis Washington (at least 3X), Mychal Massie (at least 5X),Deroy Murdock (at least 5X), and from Thomas Sowell a minimum of SEVENTEEN TIMES. Can you cite any other blog on the internet that you frequent that cites more black columnists then this one? If not, then perhaps you can provide a link to the blog that you comment on in which black columnists are featured at all. If you comment on no such blog at all, then why are you so closed minded to exploring the writings of black columnists? Youre not a racist, are you?



Please answer the above in order that we can get to the bottom of this. Happy Thanksgiving BTW.

On Race and American Exceptionalism

Mark Tooley reports on a recent survey conducted to assess American's religious attitudes toward the concept of American Exeptionalism which broke down the results into categories which including race of the respondents...

"The left-of-center Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Brookings Institution have released a post-election survey showing nearly 60 percent of Americans believe God has assigned America a "special role" in human history. Over 80 percent of white evangelicals believe in this special role for America, as do two thirds of minority Christians. Majorities of white Mainline Protestants and Catholics also agree. Two thirds of the religiously unaffiliated disbelieve in any special role for America.

Probably the surveyors were discomfited by the results, especially that the devotees of American exceptionalism were not confined to white evangelicals but were nearly as numerous among minority Christians, which presumably mostly means blacks and Hispanics. American exceptionalism essentially originated with the ancestors of Mainline Protestantism, who were America's earliest European settlers and America's primary religious pillars for most of our history. A half century of leftward drift by Mainline church elites unsurprisingly has dampened their confidence in exceptionalism, but most still adhere. Likewise for most Catholics. The survey frustratingly does not provide a detailed break-down, but almost certainly most religiously active Mainline Protestants and Catholics are more prone to American exceptionalism than the nominally affiliated.

Much and perhaps most of American exceptionalism originated with the Calvinist English religious dissenters who settled New England, the first wave of whom landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. With Thanksgiving, America celebrates those dissenters' founding holiday. Later waves of Puritan immigrants conceived of their American adventure as an "errand in the wilderness." And some metaphorically likened their new civilization to the Chosen People of the Old Testament, with special blessings but also special obligations, always under both God's gracious care and sometimes severe judgment. Subsequent immigrants were not always as religiously devout. But the Puritan conception of America on a special mission from God that would benefit not just Americans but all peoples was reinforced by the heroic and spiritually animated struggle for American independence. Later immigrants, though far removed from the British Protestant tradition, still often comfortably embraced the notion of America as a sort of Promised Land, especially when compared to the travails of the old country. The Calvinist conception of American exceptionalism expanded to include other Protestants, Catholics and Jews."

Oh boo-hoo. The idea that all cultures and regions of the world don't carry the same weight when it comes to a broad spectrum of metrics of comparison and are decidedly NOT all of equal value still hasn't percolated through the tough veneer of the religiously affiliated. I was quite pleased to see that this idea isn't anywhere near dead but indeed prevelant in minority churches.



It's curious that the rumblings of artillery of the world's most recent crisis are currently aimed at the largest percentage of Christians in East Asia (S. Korea). May we take a moment to remember them this Thanksgiving as we sit in relative comfort and security here in the West. Me? I gotta work tomorrow, but I just started marinating a seven pound butt roast to pop into the slow-cooker tonight to have ready for Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The Thankful, Conservative Mindset

Not to make this place "Dennis Prager Central" or anything, but when someone knocks several articles out of the park in succession, then my hat's off to them. Today's article by Prager explains why it's more than just a generalization to think of Leftists as whiney, complaining types who do little to improve things...

"According to polls -- Pew Research Center, the National Science Foundation -- and studies such as Professor Arthur Brooks' Gross National Happiness, conservative Americans are happier than liberal Americans.

Liberals respond this way: "If we're unhappier, it's because we are more upset than conservatives over the plight of those less fortunate than ourselves."

But common sense and data suggest other explanations.

For one thing, conservatives on the same socioeconomic level as liberals give more charity and volunteer more time than do liberals. And as regards the suffering of non-Americans, for at least a half-century, conservatives have been far more willing to sacrifice American treasure and American blood (often their own) for other nations' liberty.

Both of these facts refute the liberals-are-more-concerned-about-others explanation for liberal unhappiness."

This is nothing new and the same can apply to the atheistic mindset. Indeed, as far back as 1855, for all of their complaints about Christianity, according to an article in The New York Observer, "Infidelity makes a great outcry about it's philanthropy, but religion does the work". It is as true today as it was back then.

Prager goes on to note some other differences in the opposing views that can affect one's happiness...

"Utopians will always be less happy than those who know that suffering is inherent to human existence. The utopian compares America to utopia and finds it terribly wanting. The conservative compares America to the every other civilization that has ever existed and walks around wondering how he got so lucky to be born or naturalized an American.


..imagine two Americans living in essentially identical socioeconomic conditions. Both earn $45,000 a year, both have the same amount of debt on their homes and both have the same number of dependents. One seeks governmental assistance wherever possible; the other eschews any governmental help. Which one is likely to be the liberal and which one is likely to be the happier individual?

This is not a question only an oracle can answer. The one who yearns for governmental help is the one who is likely to be both liberal and less happy. Conservatism, which demands self-reliance, makes one happier. The more one feels that he is captain of his or her ship (as poor as that ship may be), the happier he or she will be."

All of this paints a picture of insecure, inward-directed people who feel that Big Government should be taking care of them. I personally despise governmental tyranny and want to deal with it/rely on it as little as possible. Perhaps if the current (US) congress does what it was elected to do, there will be less intrusion into people's lives and self-reliance might be seen as the virtue that it can be and not some odd sort of anamoly that it is more commonly being viewed as these days.