South Carolina Atheist Movement Growing Strong

Of all places, South Carolina is experiencing a public relations boon for atheists. Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry recently put up a large billboard exclaiming "Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone". The sign was in response to the South Carolina Legislature passing a law allowing State sponsored Christian license plates.

Instead of the expected angst, the group had to find a larger venue for its meetings as hundreds crowded outside the doors of the small meeting room. South Carolina Atheists Growing NYT

Over the past 20 years the number of people claiming no religion has doubled, from 7% in 1990 to 15% in 2008. It is the tip of an iceberg of millions of Americans who are afraid - for many reasons - to admit they are unable to swallow the Kool Aid. 

If one were to include those millions along with the tens of millions looking for an organized religion void of ignorance and intolerance it could very well become the majority coalition in America. A new religion, for after all, Unitarian Universalist churches are filled with boring people who read books and talk about stuff and just don't have the room. The Kick! Religion Page

But I have a warning which I hope I can explain by turning on the wayback machine.

It was the day I reported for duty after being drafted, before the train ride to Missouri for Basic Training. I was in a large room with others filling out the last series of forms. One of these was for Dog Tags, the last line of which asked for my religion. My answer would then be stamped into the steel I would wearing around my neck for the next few years. I put "n/a."

A few minutes after I had turned it in, an aging bald man with lots of yellow stripes on his arm (I later learned that the yellow stripes did not mean cowardly as one would think, but that he was a First Sergeant) pulled up a chair next to me and asked what religion my parents were.

I answered "Catholic."

He advised we put "Roman Catholic" in that field.

"No", we replied. He shook his head and made his pitch.

"Listen kid, you are going to Missouri, you are a Yankee who will soon be housed with so many Southern Crackers there won't be enough cheese in the world to make it palatable. If they get wind of your cute little "n/a" there, you will soon learn what a "blanket party" is. [This was well before the movie Full Metal Jacket so I needed that explained.]

I still balked on the free expression issue.

The 1st Sergeant went on. "Where do you think you will end up kid? You want to ensure that Vietnam is your final destination? Then let it be known in combat that you are an atheist. You know the old saying? 'There are no atheists in a fox hole?' Well that's only true because well meaning Christians shoot all the atheists in foxholes."  

I was still having trouble believing him. 

He went on, "I can assure you that one Southern Christian Boy or another will frag your butt if word gets out that the Yankee from Wisconsin is an Atheist. Especially if you are in a leadership position. His explanation that "frag" meant shoot your own guys in the back during combat and no one would ever know, registered as logical to me. 

I acquiesced and added "Roman Catholic" to the form.

I had been somewhat of a wiseass is high school with a barely "C" average and working in a factory when I was drafted. I was not a week into Basic Training when I was pegged for Officer Training School, assigned as platoon leader, and was called Einstein by my drill sergeant.

That experience was repeated 30 years ago when I moved to Texas.  Overnight my IQ rose 50 points. Relatively speaking.

I am still not quite sure if that boost to the ego compensated for the thirty years I have been banging my head on the table in disbelief of just about everything that happens down here in Dumbutt.

This month my lumps are regards the 31 to nothing Senate vote FOR guns in schools! Texas and the NRA to Arm College Students to Make Keg Parties more Fun

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