Written by Don Byrd
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. That’s the new strategy of a group of atheists who object on church-state grounds to Ten Commandments monuments on public land. The New York Times today profiles the effort, which recently erected its first atheist monument in Starke, Florida.
[B]uilding monuments to atheism from sea to shining sea is not really their goal. They figure that once atheists join the fray, every other group under the sun will demand the same privilege — including some that Christians might find objectionable, like pagans and Satanists. In the end, the atheists hope, local governments and school boards will decide that it is simpler to say no to everyone.
“It’s a very smart tactic,” said Charles C. Haynes, the director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum in Washington, “because by countering the message, they make it unpleasant for people who want religious messages in the public square, and less likely that they will push for them.”
The best way to maintain and express equality and neutrality for all is for government to refrain from putting up monuments with religious messages. But if they are, they should make room for messages from all religious corners.
