BrianJarrett.com

Good-Time Boy

The non-belief in a deity has little more to do with the motivation for these people’s crimes than their hair color or their favorite food. If someone is homicidal they’ll find a way to carry out their plans, regardless of religion. Religion can be twisted any which way; it’s not an impediment to immorality. It’s the same old tired argument, made time and time again to inextricably combine morality with religion. It’s a tactic fundamentalists have used for centuries and they’re still doing it today. It’s tired, it’s old, but, apparently, it’s effective.

Since Hannity has decided that all atheists are “good atheist communists” and are mass-murderers then I thought I’d present a list of other atheists to “watch out for”. You might be surprised by this list which includes the likes of Woody Allen, Lance Armstrong, Isaac Asimov, Berkeley Breathed, Warren Buffett, Rodney Dangerfield, Jodie Foster, Bill Gates, Katharine Hepburn, Penn Jillette, Billy Joel, Angelina Jolie, Diane Keaton, Bruce Lee, John Malkovich, Barry Manilow, Julianne Moore, Desmond Morris, Jack Nicholson, Ron Reagan Jr., Keanu Reeves, Gene Roddenberry, Andy Rooney, Salman Rushdie, Teller, Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke, William Shatner, and Linus Torvalds, just to name a few.

I guess Hannity didn’t want to mention the hundreds of other atheists in the world who are not mass-murderers. I guess that doesn’t work to prove his point. He also neglected to mention that virtually all the world’s intellectuals and scientists are atheists as well.

Here’s the clip if you want to watch the exchange:

As an aside it’s worth noting how ineffective Hannity was at knocking Hitchens off topic. It seems to be a consistent theme on Fox News, a bait and switch of sorts (I’ve seen O’Reilly employ it multiple times), but Hitchens stayed on topic the whole time. I actually learned a lot about debate from this little interview; about tactic and focus.

Besides, Falwell was a bigot, a hate-monger, a homophobe and, overall, a horrible human being (in my humble opinion). A few charitable acts don’t undue the damage he did to society and our government. He was a weasel, his grimy little hands entangled in conservative Republican politics. My wife likened him to Gríma Wormtongue from the Lord of the Rings trilogy; whispering in the ear of the king, true only to his own ulterior motives. I think it’s an excellent analogy. I’ve posted about him before, with some of his quotes, so you can read it for yourself. Everything Hitchens said was true.

Equating atheism with immorality, mass-murder, or any other action that violates the Golden Rule is a lie. Hannity is a liar. He’s an enemy of reason, science, and morality. He purposefully misrepresents, vilifies, and dehumanizes anyone who doesn’t agree with him, all while calling himself a “Christian” (which is, in my opinion, a very accurate moniker). His vilification attempt is just more slight of hand and, although rather smoothly executed, is not undetectable-as long as one knows where to look.