I do have a mixed opinion about Christmas. I don’t think unbelievers have to take offense at Christian symbolism that comes with the Christian celebration of Christmas. I consider it more of a big winter holiday and people who don’t want to celebrate it can stand aside, excluded voluntarily. If atheists want in on it, and I for one do, then we need a winter holidays’ themed atheist made myth.

If the symbol for Christmas were Zeus I would defend that symbol even more emphatically because it would be even more clearly a symbol of the holiday versus the religious affiliation of the cultures that celebrate Christmas. The more holidays the merrier. Deistic “God Bless Yous” in response to my sneezing get the same approval. It’s just a cultural way to be, we don’t have to include it in the ideological debate.

I think how far you would go for your atheism is a good topic for discussion since it will probably be a different answer for each person. This answer just happens to reflect me.

This sign isn’t action enough in my opinion. More direct action should be taken against the insanity of Evangelism. It’s sad to see that many of you don’t believe in the power of radical change. It’s disheartening to know that some Atheists are more apathetic than revolutionary. I say step up your efforts! Make change! Don’t “play nice” just because you don’t want anyone to “be upset” that you can use your brain! We deserve to be recognized and we deserve a nation state that recognizes the intellectual freedom and seeks to eliminate oppression of any free-thinking group!

Let’s call this display by this group what it is. Something to piss people off. It’s not something there to make a statement for freedom of speech. Should people just keep making signs in public countering one another in a negative way? No. This is best left ignored. People celebrate the holidays for all sorts of reasons and this just makes atheists look like people who are out to suck the life out of a time of year that brings enjoyment to people.
This is negative attention seeking and it doesnt impress me much that people who consider themselves atheists agree with this display just because this group that made it also happens to be an atheist organization. It’s an unintelligent and inappropriate way to go about making a point.

One thing that gets me is how can you live with no hope for the future? What happens if you are wrong? According to a few faiths unless you believe you do not go on to heaven. I just can’t wrap my mind around the thought of no creator. Even in evolution there has to be a creator. Just as an artist shapes their piece so I believe that God guided evolution.

This part of your comment is off-topic and these questions seem somewhat rhetorical, but you sound earnest and respectful and I am sure that many atheists here appreciate that attitude. You have never commented here as far as I can tell, so if you are new to interacting with atheists it is understandable that you would have questions such as these. Since this thread seems to be slowing down I’ll briefly respond to your questions in hope of helping you to understand us. To those who are old hands at this, just skip reading this.

I don’t “live with no hope for the future,” despite my lack of belief in an afterlife. I hope for the future of my family, my friends and my species. I hope that they will find a better way of life through reason and rationality, free from superstition, and living in immediacy with their focus on the well being of each other more than selfishly focused on themselves. The continuation of my own particular consciousness is of no consequence to me; I am only concerned about how the influence of my actions of compassion, honesty, fairness and creativity may continue on in similar actions of others whom I have affected.

Your question “What if you are wrong?” sounds like Pascal’s Wager, a famous but deeply flawed argument for theism. You can find a brief and very good description of its shortcomings here.

As for your thoughts about the necessity of a creator, remember that skeptics are not people who refuse to believe but who are willing to withhold belief until credible evidence is presented. We look at the world and the universe, seeing many processes that follow natural laws, but the notion of a creator is a jump to a conclusion that is not supported by evidence, so we do not make that conclusion. Mankind is a maker of things. Making things is deeply in our nature. So we tend to have a bias in our view of natural things around us that they must have been “made” in a similar way that we make things. But that bias leads to confusion because it suggests the necessity of an ultimate maker for which there is no evidence. Skeptics live by sight. That’s where the word comes from. What we see is what we hold as reliable. What we hear in stories from our parents or in ancient scriptures, we refrain from believing until we see evidence. It’s just the way we are.

Charmy, I hope you stick around and continue to comment, because your positive and fair-minded input is very welcome and sorely needed. Your belief in a god will probably not be damaged, but your puzzlement about your fellow humans who do not believe will hopefully be clarified.

Well considering there are hundreds of possible gods our guess is that our chances of being wrong purely numerically speaking are just as bad as yours.

Difference is that we don’t pretend to know.

I try to be respectful of other people’s beliefs, I am not perfect as you are not perfect but I do try. I apologize for people out there parading around their faith as if it allows them to do whatever they want. It doesn’t.

One thing that gets me is how can you live with no hope for the future? What happens if you are wrong? According to a few faiths unless you believe you do not go on to heaven. I just can’t wrap my mind around the thought of no creator. Even in evolution there has to be a creator. Just as an artist shapes their piece so I believe that God guided evolution.

I think that the sign should be removed and replaced with a respectful one. Furthermore I think it is an attack on Christians and its not right and atheists are going to gain respect from anyone with this sign. It just shows that some of you can be just as bad as the right wing conservative Christian nut jobs.

We shouldn’t feel pushed into masking what we believe, when no one else does. But there may be better ways to deliver that message, and mix it with something positive. Commenting on the importance and power of reason and the value of skepticism and doubt. Then again, it’s hard to be positive, when the underlying stance is essentially a negation of other stances.