Reasons to go to the Reason Rally! Liberal Religious Listen!

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a meaningful holiday, in which we reflect upon the horrific tragedies of our American history, and celebrate the progress we’ve made thus far in overcoming them and promoting civil rights. It’s also a day off work and I am sitting around watching the History Channel and welling up with tears. I have deep admiration for that Christian minister and his message of non-violence. I keep catching glimpses on the internets of people wanting to point out Dr. King’s flaws as though if these things are true that somehow discredits the amazing, amazing things this man did for our country. That can be more research and potential argument for another day. He really was an “ordinary man who did extraordinary things”.

I actually am not coming here to write about Martin Luther King, but to write about an upcoming event I’m very excited about, the “Reason Rally”, at the National Mall in Washington D.C. Watching footage of Dr. King’s “March on Washington” in 1963 has me even more excited about going to this iconic place and being part of a movement that is very important. I’m not going to speculate on how MLK would feel about atheists and separation of church and state in America today, or use his immense struggle to make an issue for personal freedoms, but I will use a general quote of his that I have heard a lot today, that we, as the liberal religious, should not forget. Why should we care about this “largest secular gathering in history”? I will use Martin Luther King’s words here, which will continue to be applicable in the course of events in this country. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”

I hope that we, as UUs, and defenders of religious freedom care about this event. As more and more atheists are “coming out”, more and more are being made to feel as though they are “outsiders”. This event will help raise awareness of atheists/ agnostics/ humanists/ and various varieties of non-believers- that we exist, and we deserve representation in this democracy, especially as there are more and more threats to justice, with lawmakers wanting to bring Christian based pseudo-science into schools, and as children like Jessica Alhquist receive death threats for asking her school to abide by the Constitution and remove a school prayer. These are threats to justice. Just as we as UUs Stand on the Side of Love for gay marriage and immigration issues, I hope we will also stand with the atheists, many of whom sit in our loving pews each Sunday and go out into hostile communities and schools each Monday.

OK, maybe I’m getting a little preachy. Did I mention that I’ve been watching MLK speeches all day? I think I’ll just post some info from the event website, and from the UUA. Oh, and did I mention Tim Minchin will be there performing? And the earlier mentioned Jessica Alhquist will be speaking. Along with Richard Dawkins, and James Randi, and other speakers and performers? And it is at the National Mall in Washington DC? And there are buses from all over the country providing really reasonable transportation? My son and I are taking a bus, sleeping all night on the bus, going to the rally, and sleeping all night the way back. I get to be a part of history, take my kid to DC, and see Tim Minchin all for $100 per bus ticket and the price of food. Those are some reasons to go to the Reason Rally. So far, I have not been able to muster much interest within my local congregation. I'm not sure if it is the fact that maybe people aren't as enthused about riding a bus for 16 hours as I am, or if people are wanting to embrace our religiosity over our secularism? Even if people do not want to go, I hope there will be some discussion of it. I've searched for other UU blogs or tweets or mention of this anywhere, and so far am finding nothing. I know my blog has only twelve followers, of which maybe three (?) are UUs, but I want to try to figure out a way to start a conversation about this. This is exciting and important to me and I at least want to make sure it is on people's radars, and would like even more to have a discussion about it, and would like even more to fill a bus from Peoria to DC and take a journey together.

UUA Statement on Religion and State:

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has long expressed our support of the separation of church and state in relation to public education, partisan politics, free exercise and religious pluralism. For the reason, the UUA works to ensure that federal dollars are not used to fund religious discrimination, to combat government endorsement of religious beliefs, and to ensure freedom of religious expression.

Goals of the Reason Rally:

-To encourage attendees (and those who can’t make it) to come out of the closet as secular Americans, or supporters of secular equality.
-To dispel stereotypes – there is no one “True Atheist”. We will have non-theists from all political persuasions, ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds. We will show that there are secular Americans in every American demographic.
-Legislative equality. Secular Americans can run for office and adequately represent theists, just as theists in office can represent their secular constituents proudly and openly. We deserve a seat at the table just like theists, and we hope this rally can put our values in the radar of American voters.

Atheism in America; slow development of my integrity

So, after seeing Tim Minchin perform twice this summer, and reading or watching interviews while he is on tour, I wonder how he perceives us Americans. I sometimes wonder if he had any preconceptions that have turned out to be wrong, or that he has reexamined. I wonder if there are any preconceptions that have been confirmed or are worse than he thought. I’ve heard him on a couple occasions say that he knows he’s “preaching to the choir”. He knows there are a number of godless people in America, but suspects that number is actually higher than reported. I suspect that too, and suspect that number is growing.

One of the things I am really enjoying about being a little Tim-obsessed right now, is that I am finding I am feeling more comfortable being open about my religious views in other places besides church, and even more open at church as well. I’ve always felt a bit guarded and worried about being judged. I’m now asking myself why that is, and why it is OK for teachers at the school I work at to have Christian plaques on their desks, and give assignments like “What is God’s Big Plan For You?”, and for the school to have a fundie Christian group come in to teach abstinence education, while I feel too shy to be open about my atheism. (Have you ever felt relieved when you say something about your “church” to a conservative Christian, knowing they assume you mean a Christian church, and not corrected them? I have and I’m starting to feel like I can and should be more explicit that while I may go to church, I’m not Christian.)

He is touring at a time here in America, when I think there is a growing atheist movement even. I’ve seen him on video interviews and podcasts for several different atheists and skeptic groups, who may want to claim him as their new spokesperson. I doubt Tim Minchin wants to be in that role. I think a lot of us have experienced the feeling, though, that he surely articulates ideas we have wanted to express, and after hearing his songs, we feel more free to express them.

On his Fan Forum, someone asked him in 2008, about atheists in America. I am going to paste that question and response:

Forum Question- My question is about the atheist or, dare i assume, anti-theist themes in some of you songs and how they go with an American audiance. With the religious climate in the State, and atheists being generally regarded and the sporn of satan in most places there, do you change your act to accomodate these attitudes or have you had any trouble with psyco fundies?

Tim’s response- Oo. Now this one I could obviously spend hours on.

But I won't.

I'm in the US now (love the time-lapse) and it's kind of interesting. I do think there is a general feeling that Atheists Are Bad over here... and you can imagine how much that freaks me out. However I'm certainly not going to alter my material. If there is anything worthy about my show beyond pure entertainment value, I think it is in its attempt to encourage critical thought. I hope that doesn't sound condescending to anyone... but that's really what my show is about in my head.

I went out last night after the show with a couple of very smart New Yorkers... and they didn't know (for example) that the "under God" bit of their Pledge of Allegiance was added in 1951. It's not that they are not extremely well educated - they were smarter than me - it's just that critical analysis of their society's religiosity is not the norm. They even posed the question, "How do you comfort yourself in grief if you don't believe in God?", which barely makes sense as a sentence. (Not only can I list the ways one may try to comfort oneself in grief, but I don't understand how one can claim a "belief" by citing the benefits of that belief. It's like Pascal's Wager - it's useless. Just because the belief that tomorrow I will wake up with a perfect body and loads of money and a wife who likes threesomes makes me happy... it doesn't mean I can believe it. My rational mind prohibits it.)

It is obvious to me that Atheism - for all it's negative connotations - is the only possible position one can take on religion without completely discarding rational thought. And I am going to continue to treat my audiences with respect - by which I mean, I will continue giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming they are clear-thinkers.

tx
ps - I have dropped "10 Foot Cock" over here... but only because of time-constraints. I don't want half my show to be about rationalism. 1/3 is about right!


So, for next time- Let's Discuss "Ten Foot Cock and a Few Hundred Virgins". I'll post the video and we can discuss some more, the balancing of respecting one's freedom of religion and criticizing when people use religion to act in ways that are disrespectful, at best, violent at worst.