Get ready for the American Atheists’ “annual attempt at relevancy,” says religion and culture expert and author Dr. Alex McFarland (www.wordpress-829333-4268594.cloudwaysapps.com).
Any day now, the atheists will likely be posting billboards in major cities to sway people from the meaning of Christmas, as they have done since 2011. In years past, billboards have declared that Christmas is “fake news” or urged people to stay home from church.
“The American Atheists are ready again to try to save the U.S. from the season’s irascible burdens of ‘tidings of comfort and joy,’” McFarland says. “But the annual roadside ‘Humbug!’ proclamations elicit little more than a ‘ho-hum.’ Each December, the atheists have put up strategically placed, carefully worded billboards urging people to turn away from Christmas. But when groups like these work to promote a worldview that denies God and undermines truth, there are repercussions in terms of human behavior—tragically negative ones. At this point, atheists will say that the greater tragedy is to believe in a ‘mean old man in the sky’ or an ‘antiquated book of fairy tales.’
“But the reality is this,” McFarland continues, “the encouraged, and often enforced, secularism we are living with is destroying the country. As a scholar, I would argue that the atheists’ Christmas billboards are vacuous from the standpoints of historical fact and logic. To get any sort of traction in the public consciousness, or the press, atheists must have something to ‘ride on’—usually something directly or indirectly Christian. These billboards evangelizing for unbelief represent the atheists’ annual attempt at relevancy. This season is an opportunity for the God-deniers to emerge from their ideological vacuum and enjoy some momentary news coverage. But this requires the presence of and reality of Christianity. Strangely enough, God and Jesus have to ‘be there’ in order for the atheists to fight recognition of them—thus, the schizophrenic nature of the campaign and of atheism itself.”
McFarland adds that at a time when more youth are leaving their faith behind or identifying as the religious group “nones,” the culture needs God more than ever—and Christmas is a time when many find Him.
In advance of these billboards popping up, interview Dr. Alex McFarland by contacting Jeff Tolson, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, 610.584.1096, ext. 108, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.
