DangerousTalk

As we all know, the Reason Rally is next weekend and it seems that some people are upset because the purity of the atheist race will be tainted with some video speeches by people who are unreasonable about something in their lives. We all know that every speech must not only be 100% pure, but also that each speaker must be pure as well. We must all march lockstep to the Reason Rally and agree not only with everything said, but with every opinion that everyone speaking has ever helds. Anything short of that is blasphemy!

Obviously, I am being sarcastic here and if you can’t read that between the lines then you have a serious problem. However, there are people who are upset that Senator Tom Harkin, Bill Maher, and Penn Jillette will be delivering pre-recorded video speeches.

The issue with Harkin isn’t that he irrationally believes in Catholicism (which carries a host of ridiculous superstitions), but rather that both he and Maher believe in alternative medicine. It is unlikely that either will actually be talking about their views on alternative medicine or that either will have something negative to say about the audience at the Reason Rally. Instead, Harkin is presenting a nice speech welcoming people to the National Mall for our rally even though he doesn’t agree with us on every issue. Maher will undoubtedly be keeping his remarks aimed at the religious.

So why are people upset that these people are allowed to speak? Have we really gotten to the point where everyone needs to be vetted for their atheist purity? Have we learned nothing from that South Park episode featuring Richard Dawkins? Okay, forget South Park, have we learned nothing from the religious or even from history?

I get it if we wouldn’t want Rick Santorum to speak at the Rally because he would obviously say some negative crap about us as an audience and he would promote a lot of things that we as a community stand against, but we have to have some bounds of reason here. Obviously we can’t allow everyone with ridiculous ideas to speak, but there are some people who are on our side on most of the important things but disagree with some of us on a few issues.

I really think that those who have a problem with these individuals speaking really need to pause and take a deep breath. Is it really reasonable to be upset that some people speaking might not agree with you 100% on every single issue?

We are a diverse movement and we have diverse opinions on a diverse range of issues. Let Harkin, Maher, and Jillette speak. They aren’t even speaking about the issues you take issue with, so get over it.

Related articles

• A Senator Agrees to Appear by Video at the Reason Rally but His ‘Reason’ Credentials Are In Doubt (patheos.com)
• An Excerpt from Senator Tom Harkin’s Reason Rally Speech (patheos.com)
• Reason Rally Draft Campaign (dangeroustalk.net)
• Santorum feuds with Bill Maher (examiner.com)

Filed under: anti-intellectualism, atheism, Coexist, People of Reason