My OperaRadical Atheism, or Antitheism
Thursday, September 20, 2007 11:25:10 PM
Today, I received a memory that I find I will have a hard time forgetting. This memory I received, first requires a bit of background.
Today in the Daily Herald, and in the Chicago Tribune (I have heard), there was an article about my high school, Buffalo Grove High School. You can see this article at http://dailyherald.com/story/?id=41511 . This article was about a freshman atheist at my school. For homecoming, I guess one of the songs on the list was the song "God Bless America." The freshman, Dawn Sherman, is on student council, and fought the song being on the list. She won.
That's not even what this is about. After reading this when I got to school (I receive the Chicago Sun-Times, so this article was not on the front page), I knew my last hour class was going to be at least a little interesting, because Dawn Sherman is in my eighth hour Spanish two class. The passing period was coming to an end when Eric (last name removed) walked in and asked if Dawn Sherman was there.
Dawn raised her hand; my guess is not knowing what was going to happen next. Eric walked up to her, handed her an American flag, and said "God Bless America," right to her. Now, I do not agree with this, but this isn't the part that bothered me. Personally, I don't agree with getting the song banned, however, I'm not going to be a jerk to Dawn because of it. What happened next is what got me mad.
Eric left the class room, and a couple seconds after the bell rang, Dawn walked up to the front of the room, and threw the American flag in the trash can. That is what I won't forget. That is where she crossed the line. I don't care if you don't believe in God, but it's when you go against America that I get mad.
I have thrown my opinion in here and there throughout my story, and I hope that my view doesn't differ too dramatically from what others would write. Perhaps my language was stronger than it should have been in some places, but I still hope I got the point across. Radical Atheism, or Antitheism is becoming a new religion, or, rather, anti-religion.
I normally agree with Voltaire, and how he said "I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death your right to say it," however, there are some times when you can cross over the line, and this is what I observed today. In a free country, religious toleration is something we are in great need of.
Please, post your opinion in a comment.
[UPDATE]The principal e-mailed a letter to all the parents who subscribe to the bghs-parents mailing list. Summarizing this letter, student council was brainstorming songs to play over the intercom during homecoming week. For US day ("sports day"), the song "God Bless America" was brought up. Some arguments were brought up against this, but the final nail in the coffin was Dawn saying that we shouldn't play secular songs. However, I can't stress enough that the song not being played is NOT the point of this. I can deal with the song not being played; it's the events that happened before Spanish class that got me angered. You can read the note posted to the parent mailing list at http://lists.d214.org/pipermail/bghs/attachments/20070920/32ad61d0/HomecomingLetter-0001.pdf .
Today in the Daily Herald, and in the Chicago Tribune (I have heard), there was an article about my high school, Buffalo Grove High School. You can see this article at http://dailyherald.com/story/?id=41511 . This article was about a freshman atheist at my school. For homecoming, I guess one of the songs on the list was the song "God Bless America." The freshman, Dawn Sherman, is on student council, and fought the song being on the list. She won.
That's not even what this is about. After reading this when I got to school (I receive the Chicago Sun-Times, so this article was not on the front page), I knew my last hour class was going to be at least a little interesting, because Dawn Sherman is in my eighth hour Spanish two class. The passing period was coming to an end when Eric (last name removed) walked in and asked if Dawn Sherman was there.
Dawn raised her hand; my guess is not knowing what was going to happen next. Eric walked up to her, handed her an American flag, and said "God Bless America," right to her. Now, I do not agree with this, but this isn't the part that bothered me. Personally, I don't agree with getting the song banned, however, I'm not going to be a jerk to Dawn because of it. What happened next is what got me mad.
Eric left the class room, and a couple seconds after the bell rang, Dawn walked up to the front of the room, and threw the American flag in the trash can. That is what I won't forget. That is where she crossed the line. I don't care if you don't believe in God, but it's when you go against America that I get mad.
I have thrown my opinion in here and there throughout my story, and I hope that my view doesn't differ too dramatically from what others would write. Perhaps my language was stronger than it should have been in some places, but I still hope I got the point across. Radical Atheism, or Antitheism is becoming a new religion, or, rather, anti-religion.
I normally agree with Voltaire, and how he said "I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death your right to say it," however, there are some times when you can cross over the line, and this is what I observed today. In a free country, religious toleration is something we are in great need of.
Please, post your opinion in a comment.
[UPDATE]The principal e-mailed a letter to all the parents who subscribe to the bghs-parents mailing list. Summarizing this letter, student council was brainstorming songs to play over the intercom during homecoming week. For US day ("sports day"), the song "God Bless America" was brought up. Some arguments were brought up against this, but the final nail in the coffin was Dawn saying that we shouldn't play secular songs. However, I can't stress enough that the song not being played is NOT the point of this. I can deal with the song not being played; it's the events that happened before Spanish class that got me angered. You can read the note posted to the parent mailing list at http://lists.d214.org/pipermail/bghs/attachments/20070920/32ad61d0/HomecomingLetter-0001.pdf .
Matthew L TriforceOfAnnoying-666 # Wednesday, February 2, 2011 6:15:02 PM