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I am an American, a native New Yorker, cousin of a fire fighter, and an
atheist. The first three pull
me intimately into the circle of grief and horror that still surrounds
September 11. The fourth seems to exclude me from the forums of public
expression of sympathy and patriotism that have followed.
The President declares not just a day of remembrance, but a day of prayer
and remembrance. Memorial services include religious worship of every ilk,
Catholic, Muslim, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist--but not one word of loving
sympathy for those who died who had no religious belief. The only
acknowledgment came from British Prime Minister Tony Blair who said:
"This atrocity is an attack on us all-on people of all faiths and on
people of none."
So, I grieve in private. But, I won't be private about the shocking verbal
attacks on atheists as if we, somehow, were the ones who flew the planes
into those buildings. It was not the non- religious, but rather people of
dedicated religious beliefs who did that. In an amazing example of
displaced hostility a national newspaper ran a vitriolic piece stating:
"One can't help notice the silence of atheists these days. There are
no atheists in foxholes, we've always known."
Remarks like those insult not only my belief system, they directly impugn
my personal courage. I doubt I have the extraordinary courage exhibited by
the fire fighters and police officers in New York, but I have served my
country and was awarded a civilian service medal for 18 months in Viet
Nam. I drove over bridges where explosives were rumored to have been
placed; sat in a plane that came under enemy fire; looked out the window
of my vehicle to see the ground being pock-marked by bullets; and woke in
the middle of the night to the sounds of incoming mortar and debris
hitting the tin roof above my head, wondering if it was harmless dirt or
penetrating shrapnel. Never once did I seek the protection of some god
figure. To suggest that mortal danger causes atheists to abandon their
heart-felt beliefs is insulting beyond measure.
About 10 percent of Americans are atheists, agnostics or secular
humanists. This is not the time to make us scapegoats just because we
approach life differently than the majority. Our philosophy is, after all,
relatively benign. We believe life is full of random chance events--some
good, some bad. We believe that human beings ought to take full
responsibility for their actions. We have humanitarian impulses because we
believe people should not suffer in this life. To quote from the ancient
Greeks, we believe that man is the measure of all things, whether that be
for good or ill.
Katherine Bourdonnay,
Communications director for the Council for Secular Humanism,
Amherst, New York.
December 27, 2001
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