Let’s Start a Civil War
So this is one of those things that really seems like it’s a joke. Perhaps the Onion reported on this? My brief Googling spell couldn’t find anything definitive regarding the authenticity, just many people claiming that it is real. Apparently the reverend on the sign is deceased.
I’ll assume for the time being that this is legit. The irony of referring to a class of people as lunatics while simultaneously making a ludicrous statement like this is just sweet. There is something very pure and simple about it….perhaps like the mischeif that a small child gets into when left to their own devices. It makes you smile sometimes when it’s funny, and you know they are only doing what comes naturally to them.
Dec 13th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Ouch! This guy embarrasses me as much as the nutcase from the Westboro Baptist Church (who hates homosexuals). You can deconstruct the argument pretty easily, and it doesn’t really make sense. Thomas Paine was probably an atheist, and he was definitely pro-American. And “treason” is a specific legal charge; you can be anti-American all you want and not be guilty of treason unless you commit specific acts. And treason doesn’t lead to civil war; civil wars are often fought over social,political or religious issue (usually with both sides calling the other traitors).
But that’s beside the point. You rarely convert someone to your view by insulting them. That’s why atheists rarely convert theists; although, admittedly, the atheist evangelist has less at stake than the theist evangelist.
Dec 13th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
It’s legit.
The Digital Ghost of Everett Francis Briggs
The Reverend is dead but his billboard lives on.
Dec 14th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Thanks for the comments! Frank, I completely agree that insults do not win converts. It’s usually the undecided middle that has a chance of being converted either way, and not by insults. Theism’s leg up is fanciful promises that sound really good, or the ability to fear someone into it. Atheism doesn’t really have those advantages, and we’re usually not trying to evangelize much. When we do speak publicly, it’s usually in opposition to something that infringes on human rights, etc.
Atheistik evangelism for the masses? I wonder what that would look like…..
Dec 26th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/gunowningatheists