Another tale of eye rolling and inane crap to come out of the Christian camp with a complaint against Borders from a bunch of religo's. Apparently Borders attached a wee tag to the Richard Dawkin's book "The God Delusion" (excellent read - go get yourself a copy) reading "O come all ye faithless". Insert wry smile, nay, chuckle here. religion
Straight away, the Church swung into action, condemning Borders as the latest tool of the heathens, godless and the devil. The Rev. Jonathan Edwards, general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain said "I am quite sure that Borders intended their Christmas card as a joke. However, I personally find it an ill-judged and insensitive joke. Christians have always been used to being punch bags but I would have hoped that, in a society in which we are seeking to show respect to all people and beliefs, we might have grown out of this kind of nonsense."
What a crock - sounds like someone desperately trying to find anything to get themselves into the news.
The Evangelical Alliance's Justin Thacker also waded into the nontroversy by saying "I think the atheists will love it because it's bashing Christians around the head. It's another thing to take a Christian festival and abuse it. Borders wouldn't do this to any other religious festival. Borders [has] made a strategic mistake and Christians will boycott it."
Christian Festival? Whatever - a renamed pagan festival celebrating the Winter Solstice is more like it.
I think the thing that annoys me the most about this is the mock martyrdom of the God Botherers - "oh woe is us. All these nasty atheists refusing to believe in our one god Thor, er I mean, Zeus, no Jehovah (pssst - which one was it again?)" When have the Christians, or any religion, been persecuted for their beliefs by Atheists in the name of Atheism? I know plenty of Christians vs Jews, Jews vs Christians, Religious Sect vs Religious Sect, Godzilla vs Mothra, but I know of no Atheists thrashing the local populace for believing in any god. Weirdos might say "what about Hitler? he was an atheist and he gave the Jew's a towelling for their beliefs." Well - the Atheist Hitler debate rages on, and he certainly was responsible for some very despicable acts, but (and lets get this straight) not BECAUSE he was an Atheist. He was very cosy with the Catholic church and the pope, so Atheism was not the motivating factor for his atrocities.
Claiming that the atheists are "bashing Christians" because a book seller puts a witty remark on a book very unlikely to be read by Christians smacks of desperation. Atheists numbers are growing year on year as people become more aware of the bullshit spewed by the church. In 1901 only 1 in 30 NZ'ers identified with no religion - and in 2001 that had expanded to 4 in 10. In the 2006 census that is up again to 43%, with another 250,000 people choosing logical thought over woolly thinking.
The outcome is a bit more positive in my book - Borders responded to the arm waving and frothing at the mouth by saying "meh". Here's the actual words :
Borders said it "did not intend it as anti-Christian or a swipe at the Christian faith," and said that it "apologizes to any of our customers who feel it was that."
The book store described the card as a "continuation" of the debate on atheism that had come as result of the book, which was a best-seller for Borders this year.
"Our customers are intelligent, curious people who enjoy exploring all types of books and music. Naturally, some of the thousands of books and music selections we carry could be considered controversial or objectionable depending on individual views, tastes and interest," Borders said in a statement.
"However, Borders stands by its commitment to let customers make the choice."
Nice one Borders - plug the book, compliment the customers, and jam that fence directly up your backside.
Via Richard Dawkins .Net
No comments:
Post a Comment