If it weren’t for a blogger over on the Chicago Tribune it’s highly likely that many of us would have never heard of Monique Davis’ anti-atheist tirade. Since that time only one non-theist organization appears to have said anything and that was the Council for Secular Humanism which issued a press release calling for Davis to resign.
Everyone else has been conspicuously silent in the aftermath.
I’d at least have expected to find a rant over on AA about it and the Secular Coalition? It’s frigging mission statement says it’s purpose is “to increase the visibility and respectability of nontheistic viewpoints in the United States”.
One would think that a sitting representative telling someone with a “nontheistic viewpoint” that they have no right to participate in government affairs would be an opportunity for them to increase “the respectability of” said viewpoint.
This is quite disappointing. So, where are the leaders and why have they kept their mouth’s shut about this?
Monique Davis has apologized citing that she was upset and was, according to another Illinois representative, having a “bad day”.
Well, I’m having a bad day myself.
I’m catching a cold or something and I’m pretty sure I’ve managed to break one of my toes. My five year old is home sick and is doing her best to mimic Velcro. One of the cats decided to use a pair of jeans for a litter box and the other puked on sick kid’s discarded but now “favourite” piece of schoolwork.
Did I mention the mountain of laundry that needs doing? It’s huge and I swear on the life of both cats that’s it’s growing as I type this. I’m also having a really bad period that hurts almost as bad as my toe. What I’d like to do is pop a Midol or two and lock myself in the bathroom for the rest of the day.
So, I’m not quite sure how I managed to do it, but I went outside for a smoke and did not scream at the nun visiting next door.
In fact, I simply smiled at her and said “hi” just like I always do, bad day or not.
Maybe it has something to do with me not actually believing that Christianity is such an abhorrent belief system that it is imperative that the children not know of it existence to the point where Christians should be kicked out of public meetings thus sparing myself the embarrassment of being caught saying what I actually don’t believe.
But, what do I know? I’m having a bad day. I’ll apologize next week after Keith Olbermann says I’m a bad person for not using my bad day to say exactly what I don’t think about Christianity and Christians.
Now, where’d I put that Midol?
UPDATE:
Just wanted to point out an excellent post by Alonzo Fyfe of Atheist Ethicist about how Representative Davis’ apology was not an apology:
This was actually nothing more than Davis admitting her bigotry, and slapping Sherman and all atheists again with the accusation that atheism was responsible for this student’s death.
This bigotry . . . this common rant that atheists and evolutionists are responsible for all school violence . . . this is morally no different than Gibson’s claim that Jews are responsible for all the wars of the world.
There is no evidence behind it. People do not get this idea because they are driven to it by any sort of valid argument. Why do they believe it?
People believe that atheists are responsible for all school violence for the same reason that anti-Semites believe that Jews are responsible for all of the wars of the world. It is because their hatred has driven them to seek a reason to hate, and these types of beliefs fill the bigot’s need.
Keith Olbermann’s worst person last night was none other than Rep. Monique Davis of Illinois for her anti-atheist tirade in which she stated that it was “dangerous for children” to even know of the existence of atheism and ended with ordering the target of her tirade, an atheist, out of the witness chair he was sitting in because he (and by extension all atheists) had no right to be there.
Just ask Representative Monique Davis, a Democrat mind you, who recently went off on Rob Sherman as he was speaking before the House State Government Administration Committee about the governor’s recent grant of $1 million to a Baptist church. Representative Davis had this to say: …it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your [...]
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish. — Anonymous
