In Defense of Things I Disagree With
post by Carl
One thing about defending speech is that sometimes you defend speech you disagree with. So the Freedom From Religion Foundation has signs on buses around town that say “Yes Virginia…There is no God.” You’ve probably seen them around if you live in King County. Whatever. Dori is upset.
A couple weeks ago, I talked with both the Freedom From Religion Foundation and with Metro Transit about FFRF’s anti-religion bus campaign they’re running this Christmas season.
I didn’t hear that interview, but here’s how I’d assume it went:
Dori: God God God God.
FFRF Person: No no no no.
Dori: Hey Metro person, please shield me from anything I might find offensive.
Metro Person: That’s not really our policy.
Dori: God God God.
As I said on the show, I don’t blame FFRF for its campaign. they’re athiests - doing what athiests do.
Dori doesn’t believe in spell checking or capitalization. Also, you don’t have to blame anyone.
I do, however, blame Metro Transit for allowing this campaign. Now that the busboards have hit the streets, many of my Christian listeners have contacted me about how offensive this campaign is to them.
I don’t like the bus poetry sometimes. What talk show host should I complain to?
One listener sent me a photo of a busboard that I have seen all over the streets the last week or so.
Metro has ads about getting out of your DWI that actually seem more offensive to me. But again, whatever.
I continue to believe that there is no way Metro would ever allow a campaign that is so offensive towards blacks… towards gays… towards hispanics, Asians, transsexuals, or hermaphrodites.
If the Reject R-71 people had wanted to put a sign up it probably would have been more offensive and, I’d have fully supported their right to do that. Metro’s policy should be to sell ads, not to shield us from being offended. If the sign had been reversed and, say the Seattle Archdiocese had a bus ad that said “Yes Virginia…There is a God” nobody would have cared.
But our government-run transit agency has no problem with a campaign that targets people of faith. The last acceptable targets of government-endorsed bigotry.
Much better if government run transit agency decides what speech is OK and what speech isn’t. That’s a much better standard. Also, sorry but you aren’t a target of government endorsed bigotry, you’re just whiny. When the government says you can’t get married because of your religion, or they lock up people who are disproportionately religious then you’ll have a case to make about government bigotry.
Only in Seattle.
King County. 40-40-20 means there are plenty of those signs in the suburbs.
November 13th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Are there Christians out there who don’t know that some people have no faith? Are they offended when they learn this?