A recent NYTimes story reported that billboards promoting atheism on city buses have outraged some religious leaders, prompting them to suggest no religious advertising at all be allowed there, rather than have to see it. Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum responds:
Religious people sure are touchy. They don't seem to mind competing with each other, so what's the problem with competing against atheism? Seems like a fair fight to me.
But this is what happens whenever a minority group of any kind tries to demand reasonable treatment: the majority group instantly takes it as a vicious, personal attack.
To be fair, I believe in this case everyone has equal and reasonable treatment; nobody is having to demand it. What's happening is that the majority group doesn't like the way the minority group is making use of it.
But his point is well-taken. True freedom means all are free – both to believe and not to believe. The instinct to deny rival – even critical – points of view is a sign of weakness not of strength, and undermines a core Christian tenet: the decision to believe should be one made in freedom, and not subject to coercion of any kind. All choices should be equally available. That is not something to combat; it's something to celebrate.
