In yet another example of lazy journalism in regarding the American Atheist Lawsuit of the "9-11 Cross", Andrea Peyser of the New York Post has vomited up an op-ed worthy of Faux News. The first line in the article reads: "These atheists can go straight to hell,". Sadly, the article only goes downhill from there, sinking to depths I thought only Bill O'Reilly would go.
She talks about her interview with the leader of American Atheists, David Silverman, and positively does a happy dance when Silverman gets angry at the traffic (he was driving at the time) and says "god damn it".
As we talked, Silverman got lost in traffic en route to Newark Liberty Airport. And then I learned all I needed to know about atheists and their lack of belief.
"God damn it!" Silverman shrieked suddenly. "I hate this Newark so much!"
"Did you just say God damn it?" I asked incredulously.
"Don't put in the paper that I said God damn it!" he repeated. Um, too late.
Talk about a classic case of "gotcha" journalism. Ms. Peyser, when does using an interjection qualify as a profession of faith? Also, the lack of journalistic integrity of including said interjection that is clearly not only supposed to be off the record but also irrelevant to the story boggles the mind. The inclusion of Mr. Silverman's outburst in her article is all I need to know of both the amount of ethics and dedication to the truth Ms. Peyser has. Which, of course, is to say not one god damn bit!
If Ms. Peyser actually acted like a competent journalist, she would have checked out Mr. Silverman's op-ed in the Guardian. Here's an interesting tid-bit of information Ms. Peyser did not mention:
What we seek is any remedy that honours everyone equally, be they Christian, Muslim, Jew or atheist. This can either be done with a totally neutral memorial that concentrates on the tragedy and not religion, or one that allows everyone to put up a display of equal size and prominence. In the latter case, we have offered to pay for a display ourselves. If everyone is provided equal treatment, we will drop our lawsuit, because fair is fair.
So even though American Atheists have offered to pay for religous and philosophical symbols to honor all Americans, those in charge of the memorial have opted with a Christian symbol only. Apparently the Christians want their cross and to be martyred on it too.
If you think that American Atheists are still being nitpicky, consider the following:
Suppose a group Muslims found a twisted piece of steel in the World Trdae Center wreckage that roughly resembled a crescent moon. Further suppose that this group of Muslims came to the dubious conclusion that this "symbol of Islam" represented both the Muslim victims of 9-11 and the true spirit of Islam. Now suppose then that these Muslims decided to display this symbol at the 9-11 Memorial to the exclusion of all other religions including Christianity. (Do remember that a good chunk of funding comes from the federal government.) What do you suppose would be the reaction of Christians then?
If you just had an "Aaaaah!" moment, welcome to my world.
So you see Ms. Peyers, this lawsuit isn't about excluding Christian symbols. It is not about enraging a majority in this country for the sake of enraging the majority. This lawsuit is about dragging the Christian majority off their high horse of privledge and making them obey the same laws as everybody else.
In the end, this lawsuit is the truly patriotic thing to do.
