I'm in 100% agreement with the FFRF statement about Sept. 11. Naturally, I expected that any number of people were going to run to their houses of worship after the WTC destruction occurred. If that is what individuals need to do to find solace or to sort things out for themselves, I certainly do not object.
However, when I saw the President of the U.S. issue a proclamation for Friday, Sept. 14, to be a day for what amounted to a federal acknowledgment of prayer, I cringed. By not going to my local synagogue that day, I kind of felt as if I was being a disloyal American. Although nominally Jewish, I consider myself an atheist, and I am not going to apologize to anyone for that. Moreover, I don't see how that philosophical position in any way makes me a disloyal American or in any way unpatriotic.
I am further distressed by the events in NYC in which Mayor Guiliani designated five locations in NYC (one being Yankee Stadium in the Bronx), for a mass prayer vigil for the fallen firefighters and police officers.
I mourn the loss of these brave people, but I see no compelling reason why I should indulge in prayer over it.
I'm concerned about a new loss of freedom in this country as a result of what occurred. I think one of the freedoms to be eroded in all of this is going to be freedom of and from religious coercion.
As a result, I'm filling out a form to join the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Dr. Bill Friend
New York
The tragedy that occurred in New York and Washington recently is another example of an evil act inspired by organized religion, which has probably caused more death and suffering throughout history than all of the declared wars. The deranged people who carried out this unspeakable act of terror were, no doubt, inspired by the "noble," "pious" calling of the holy Jihad against the decadent infidels of Western society.
This same feeling of religious and ethnic superiority is what motivates the Hindus and Moslems to hate each other in India. It is also creating havoc in other ethnic hotspots such as Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Israel, Macedonia, Kosovo, and the Philippines, to name a few.
If there was some way of eliminating the scourge of organized religion from this world, I am sure it would be a much better place to live in.
Wallace Berliner
New Jersey
National Public Radio on Sept. 21 ran a story on the effort to track terrorist funds. It was said that some Muslim "charities" were used by terrorists to collect money from unsuspecting people, or to "launder" money.
If that can be brought to public attention, it will help to kill Bush's "faith-based charities" plans, and it may cause believers to cut their gifts to "charities." Who knows what that money is being used for?
Charles M. Selby
Oregon
The evening of the attack my husband Jim, who was in Queens, NYC, at the time, said, "Now we know what a faith-based initiative really is!"
Of course to us at FFRF it's so simple: (1) The definition religions give of their god is a force that is omnipotent--that can step in at any time and change the laws of nature. (2) Ergo, this force, if it exists, is directly responsible for everything, including the Sept. 11 attack. Why then, do the believers in this god praise it or call it "love"? It would seem to be the most sadistic force there is. Are all the believers masochists?
It occurred to me that this god would then have to be the "devil" that Christianity and Islam are always talking about! Getting its followers to keep praising it, praying to it, calling it love and morality. What's more diabolical than that? I've always thought that spending any time at all--much less "eternity"--with the patriarchal god of so many religions was my idea of "hell."
Some of my religion-free friends advise not to be too hard on the theists right now--that they're trying to comfort themselves. Why is it they should be able to spew their views in everyone's face, but we nontheists shouldn't even point out the absurdities of what they say? Atheists are expected to step aside for theists, especially in times of stress. Well hey--we're stressed too! but we cope with it in a more mature way by facing reality, instead of diving into the kind of twisted thinking that has ultimately resulted in Tuesday's attacks!
Let's be soft-spoken but not silent.
Cathy Groves
New York
I thought of FFRF when I heard Billy Graham's message on Friday, Sept. 14, at the "Day of Prayer" service in Washington, D.C. I don't know if he meant it or if it was inadvertent, but he actually said: "Many of those who died are now in Heaven. . . ."
You have to wonder what terrible lives the others must have lived if even their tragic, innocent deaths didn't offset enough to get them into heaven according to Billy Graham's standards. Talk about rigid, unforgiving, and picking an inappropriate time to quibble.
Peach Pittenger
Ohio
We've had a horrific tragedy that is almost beyond belief in scope and sadness.
For hours and days afterwards we had many scenes of persons shown in private and public prayers. Our President invoked the blessings of God many times and even quoted Christian Scripture in his address to the nation. Our Congress held prayer "moments" along with a group singing of "God Bless America."
I'm sure this does help some grieving persons to deal with overwhelming sadness when they have nowhere else to turn for relief.
I'm not trying to be mean-spirited here, but I do wonder why nobody ever questions why a supposedly benevolent and loving deity permits such an awful act to take place. Surely most of the religious persons on board the airplanes had sufficient time to offer prayers to get them out of such a dreadful situation.
The thousands of persons who were in the buildings and on the ground no doubt had seconds or perhaps many minutes to ask for divine help. Divine help was dearly needed. Obviously divine help never arrived.
My main question is: Exactly how bad does it have to get before these religious followers throw up their hands and say, "If there truly is a kind, loving, and all-powerful God up in the sky, then wouldn't this have been the perfect time for some divine intervention?" If not then--when?
Why did an omnipotent god just "sit this one out"?
Donald L. Ward
California
With grief and sadness in our hearts, people everywhere are coping with loss and fears for the future, since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
I do not begrudge anyone his or her coping mechanisms. If some folks need to turn to a religion, well, whatever helps.
Still, I wonder if other freethinkers are feeling assaulted by the constant renditions of "God Bless America" and all the "prayers." It's in the workplace, in retail establishments, in my local government, on national news.
I started playing "The Star Spangled Banner" to try and counter "God Bless America." I have asked coworkers to stop sending me emails about god, blessings and prayers. Even people who know I am an atheist were sending me this. I had to remind them that I don't share those beliefs and I don't find that helpful.
Who could possibly take all this on? (Thank you, FFRF, for your efforts to do just that.)
Lori Gray
New Jersey
I am writing to express my outrage over a statement by Judy Woodruff on CNN Live shortly after 2 p.m. PDT on September 11, 2001. This is an exact quote found in CNN transcripts. She said, "I think that even those out there who may not believe that there (is) a God at a time like this, we all reach out for a higher being and we want to believe that there is someone who can bring us salvation."
This is the kind of remark that religious people often think of as innocuous. I found it insulting. How dare she presume to speak for the millions of atheists in this world!
One can be profoundly affected by Sept. 11's tragic events without being rendered suddenly superstitious or irrational.
Laura Edick
California
Adding to the sadness of the horrible events, people have been capitalizing on this tragedy to promote public, taxpayer-financed religion. Letters to the editor of the Orlando Sentinel have blamed the crisis on lack of official school prayer, and President Bush has naturally called for an official day of prayer.
As I passed Ventura Elementary, a public school in Orlando, I saw the marquee proclaimed: "One nation, under God, indivisible." Thinking that religious differences and government support of religion have contributed to the terrorist acts in this country, I felt that a public school marquee was not the place to be touting god, even if it is in the "official" Pledge of Allegiance.
I stepped into the principal's office and spoke with both her and the secretary. I briefly brought up the fact that keeping religion out of government is one of the reasons America doesn't (usually) see religious violence, and that the display at least gave the impression that the school was taking advantage of this opportunity to promote religion--all while reaffirming our shared wish that Americans remain steadfast in their solidarity and determination at this time of crisis. To her credit, the principal immediately asked if it would be OK to simply remove the "under God" from the sign, and I agreed. Before I could even grab my camera they had changed the sign.
Now, if only Congress could be so obliging and remove the "under God" from the Pledge, returning it to its original wording before its "patriotic" change in the 1950's.
Ed Burchenal
Florida
Editor's note: Ed later reported that "under God" reappeared on the school marquee. He and FFRF are pursuing the complaint.
My religious neighbor said of the New York catastrophe: "Judgment Day will deal with those terrorists." When I pointed out these 19 or so terrorists were vaporized instantly in death, he looked puzzled. He thought a second, and was speechless. So much for "judgment day" or "judgment second" or even "judgment split-second." We can only hope all these thousands killed did not suffer. Their families and friends have our deepest sympathy for this great tragedy. Obviously, as always in disasters, our invented "all-loving" gods were on vacation or had their attention diverted.
Robert Corya
Indiana
I am a KC-10 Pilot in the AF Reserve and a former F-16 Pilot in the California Air National Guard. I was raised in a Protestant church, went to a Catholic high school but dared to break from the mold at an early age, asked the hard questions and haven't found a god yet. That is fine by me.
For religious people, faith is among the greatest of virtues. A firm belief that a higher being is watching out for you in times of need provides great comfort to much of the world. A definition for faith, according to Merriam-Webster, is the "firm belief in something for which there is no proof." Faith's placebo effect helps people through hard times but its use discourages reality-based pursuits that would help humankind.
At best, faith is a comforting deception and a cheap replacement for the truths that humans naturally seek. At worst, it provides an excuse for ignorance, and comfort for those who hurt, kill, and oppress others. In either case, its comfort comes at a high price.
The great faith of terrorists was demonstrated recently as men drove airlines full of people into buildings full of people believing they were doing good and that their god would be pleased with insane mass murder and suicide. The list of such horrible acts, proudly committed in the name of mythical gods, is grotesquely long.
I have faith (something that is believed especially with strong conviction) in our species. I think that good people will do good deeds whether they believe in myths or not. I think that bad acts will be committed with or without the threats or imagined approval of god. The problem is that faith gives many people the strength to commit horrible deeds and the ignorance to believe they are acting morally. The crusades, the inquisition, the witch trials and the Sept. 11 horror in New York and Washington are but a few examples.
Dave Horn
California
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, devoutly religious men came to my city and carried out the will of god as they understood it. I was witness to the fruits of their labors. I watched in horror from an elevated subway platform in Brooklyn as the twin towers of the World Trade Center burned and then collapsed. I knew I was watching the deaths of thousands of my fellow New Yorkers and that I could render them no assistance whatever. Like millions of others, I can never erase the memory of this horrific morning.
A large portion of my city lies in ruins and thousands of my neighbors are bereaved as a direct result of fundamentalist religion carried to its illogical extreme. The lunatic ravings of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson in the wake of the attack only serve to remind us that the war we must wage in the years to come to preserve western civilization will not be limited to fanatics in the Mideast. Both of these vile men could scarcely conceal their glee over the attack.
Despite the appeals for prayer and public displays of religious conviction on the part of our national leaders in this hour of crisis, I have never in my life been more affirmed in my atheism.
Dennis Middlebrooks
New York
Evolution rules, science proves, and religion fools.
Jeffrey Quillinan
California
Thank you very much!
This is truly the highlight of my semester.
Imagine going from a day like yesterday (September 11) where everyone around me was screaming: "The world is coming to an end! Check Revelations chapter whatever! We're all going to die in World War III!" to a day where I feel like I can be truly justified for thinking freely the way I do.
Tomiko Ballantyne-Nisbett
(2nd Place College Essayist)
Georgia
Editor's note: Tomiko's essay and essays by the other college winners will appear in the November issue.
God Bless America! I cringe, because the corollary is: God don't bless our attackers. Tonight Afghanistan citizens are praying to God for protection and for a blessing on their country. What's a God to do? Perhaps a coin-toss. Whichever country has inscribed on their money "In God We Trust" must automatically get the edge, don't you think?
The emphasis on religious unity is very strange to the freethinkers of our country. We are patriotic and feeling deep pain from the terrorist attack, just like the religious members of our country.
Our country is great by allowing a diversity of religious philosophy. Let us come together as thinking citizens, working to find a solution to this crisis. If prayer gives you solace, that is good. But let us not rely on a God to point us in the right direction, or to protect us from the perpetrators of this attack. Let us use our minds to decide the best course of action to eliminate terrorist activities, to protect our democracy, and to avoid massive bloodshed of innocent people, and a nuclear holocaust.
Karl Hadley, M.D.
Washington
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