Letter to the Editor - Help wanted.
Offline An article was printed in my local Daily News bashing on Christopher Hitchens new book. I’ve decided to write a reply to it in hopes of getting some responses of my own. I was hoping people here could give me some feedback on it before I send it in.
To be a religious fanatic you have to fly planes into buildings. To be a religious fanatic you have to deny gays the right to marry or oppose condom use in Aids ravaged Africa. According to George Jonas (Daily News May 31) and many others, to be a fanatical atheist all you have to do is open your mouth, or in this case write a book. Jonas claims that “a fanatical atheist is on par with a religious fanatic.” This comparison is completely unreasonable; a religious fanatic uses an ancient text, or belief as support for some of the disgusting actions they carry out. The atheist who sees the absurdity in these actions and beliefs, and simply opens his mouth – in a reasonable manner mind you – to challenge these fallacious beliefs becomes a fanatic. The reason for this is that faith is a taboo issue and has been greatly sheltered from criticism. However when people like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, or Sam Harris write a book or attend a conference, they are setting the stage for a time when faith can enter our discourse and be open to the same criticism we extend to our political views, or economic policies. Jonas goes on to define the positions of the deist (a more correct term would have been theist), agnostic and atheist. He defines the atheist’s position as “knowing there is no God”. This is incorrect. An Atheist is a person who lacks the belief in a god or gods. Jonas continues to paint an unfair picture of atheists, calling them delusional. To be delusional you must hold a belief, or opinion that goes against fact and reason. I know of no fact or reason that indicates a God exists, so the position of an atheist is completely reasonable and in no way delusional.
Thanks guys,
Garrett
Sorry I posted this in completely the wrong section, could a mod please move it to the Freethinking section. Thanks again.
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i think it's a great letter, very well written. personally i wouldn't be so quick to criticize their definition of an atheist, because i kind of like the phrase "KNOWING there is no god", but that's my own atheist arrogance talking
but seriously, i think it sounds really good. question is, will a newspaper print a letter from an atheist that defends atheism and an atheist author? we are sort of the "black sheep", you know
www.derekneibarger.com http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=djneibarger "all postures of submission and surrender should be part of our prehistory." -christopher hitchens
Thank you for the kind words.
I live in a small town in British Columbia, Canada that isn't very religious so I feel pretty good about it being accepted. I hope I can spark something though.
Great letter. Hope tehy print it. I live in a somewhat religious area and the local paper has printed atheist letters in the past - including one of my own.
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I'd say it's perfect. I'd imagine it will be printed. Newspapers absolutely love controversy in their editorial section. When I wrote a letter that mentioned I thought Hiroshima's bombing was terrorism, that sentence god bolded and headlined for my letter. Lol.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
I also have to agree it is a good letter. Would like to see what you are responding to, though might be a space problem here. The more of us who respond with corrections to the newspapers, the sooner the general public will accept they are being lied to by the theists.
I am waiting to see what hell breaks lose in this red-neck, bible thumping Ozark town when my letter to the editor hits the streets this coming week. It is not going to be good.
The newspaper ran the article "Angry Atheists are hot authors" in their Religion section two weeks ago. I started a letter to the editor on all the distortions in it when they ran the article "The Crusaders" in their Opinion section. (Both articles are at Richard Dawkins website.) The newspaper articles had different titles and 5 paragraphs were missing from the "Angry Atheists" article. Turns out their AP service had made the changes.
Since this was the first time I have seen any anti-religion articles around here, I thanked the editor for having the guts to print them. Then tore into the Library Board for not having any of the anti-religion books listed in the article and why "Letter to a Christian Nation" disappeared from there. The rest was showing the distortions in "Angry Atheists" and mention of how "The Crusaders" article contradicted what the "Angry Atheists" author was trying to prove.
I hand carried the letter to the newspaper and did not expect it to be printed due to its length - 4 full typed pages - and its content. The length was due partly to examples of news media distortions.
Surprise, surprise!! The editor phoned me a couple hours later. He agreed with everything I said and wanted to print the whole thing. (I still hope he was not lying.) He has all of the Dawkins, Harris, etc. books and was disappointed the Library did not. Since his newspaper (he is head honcho) has many religious articles and ads, I expected him to be religious. Seems not the case.
So, I am still looking for a surveillance system for my home, as I expect every nutbag, from the mayor on down, to come out of the woodwork. Except for the Library board, I made no references to any one in town. Just general statements about religion and their fear mongering tactics. From the angry reaction I received the next day from the women working at the newspaper office, I expect the worse from their husbands and church leaders. I considered the consequences before taking the letter there. Am in the mood to battle the nuts to the max.
I have been reading the treads, but not been posting due to my really angry mood. I have to apologize for dropping the ball on not responding to posters a couple weeks ago. Too many things on the old mind. The heart problem that was supposed to be repairable has turned out to be questionable. It should have been taken care of a year ago (doctors screw-up). So, I pretty will tick off any body I come close to.
Keep those cards and letters going out to the news media.
"What the world needs is an enema." Jack Nicholson, "Batman"
Perhaps it would be wise for it to be signed "Name Withheld By Request".
That really sucks. I sincerely hope you are OK and it turns out your are "repairable".
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22jesus22, that is an excellent letter just the way it is.
I requested my name not be used, but the editor turned it down. No name, no print. First time I heard of a newspaper doing that. Almost backed out, but am totally tired of all the bogus stuff that gets printed about atheists and what they are trying to accomplish. This town is totally controlled by the religious fanatics of all sects. Will not be the first time that I have butted heads with people over their bullshit. As I told an aunt the other day about my letter, "I know. Sit down and shut up. Ain't gon'a hap'n!!"
I am hoping my letter with give the closet atheists around here the guts to speak up. Spoke with a man last week whom I had not seen in a year. Turns out he is atheist. He had anti-religion bumper stickers on his car when he lived in St. Louis a couple years ago. I think it is time to start an Atheist Meetup here in town.
Seems dumb, even to me, that I will be raising a stink like this town has never seen at the same time I am looking at possible major surgery that will lay me up physically. I hope no surgery and will not know until this Thursday on the MRI results. Surgeon would not put stents in two artries (75% blocked) until they figure out what the anomoly is in the right heart chamber. Is not cancer, just something flaky and possibly dangerous if blood thinner used. Ain't life fun!
(Sorry to break the thread topic here. Just a suggestion for the macho dudes out there of any age.) A nurse helping with my angiogram two weeks ago is the wife of a blood cousin. Her father died of a heart attack the next morning. He was one year older than me (58). She had tried to get him to go to the doctor for a couple weeks due to the chest pains and other symptoms he was having. He did not feel good after he got to work, so went to sit in his truck. He died as he sat down. So much for being a tough country boy.
I have been trying for 2-1/2 years to find out what is wrong with my heart. I'm a chicken and don't like physical pain.
"What the world needs is an enema." Jack Nicholson, "Batman"
*crosses fingers that MRI results show something easily fixable*
Thanks. Same here.
I hope your condition improves. I can't imagine how frightening that must be.
Our local letters to the editor have to be concise...no more than 250 words. They won't publish them anonymously and reserve the right to edit them (ostensibly to make them fit). Generally, what gets sent in gets published, provided it meets the word count and isn't libelous or profane.
Concision, regardless of the paper's mandates, is necessary for effectiveness. Were the paper to publish longer pieces people won't read them, unless, perhaps, the writer has established himself and has a following.
The other down side to the lengthy letter is that the paper might take a knife to it, leaving it a wreck and your best points excised or mangled so badly as to be inarticulate.
One thing that might be tested, depending upon the paper and the community, is to offer to do an opinion piece. That'll end up a much longer work.
In smaller communities one could write an article about local atheist and church responses to the wave of books hitting the market. Here you would have to assume a certain mantle of fairness in giving all sides their say. You could, however, make sure the best and juciest points by the atheists are made in contrast to the theist responses.
If you get that piece submitted...you might interview bookdealers to see how many of the Harris/Hitchens/Dawkins/Dennett books are selling. They're flying off the shelves here.
Much of what I write here addresses what might be pulled off in a town like I live in...a college town. In a more provincial area, this sort of thing might actually be so inflammatory as to cause great detriment to the writer. One always has to assess what they can afford to risk.
Good luck with the heart. I say that knowing it isn't an issue of luck...call it a figure of speech and a way of articulating hope for the best for you.
Regards,
Steve
Oh...and the meaning of "fanatic" as found in the Oxford dictionary has this:
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.(as an adjective): from French fanatique or Latinfanaticus ‘of a temple, inspired by a god,’ from fanum ‘temple.’ The adjective originally described behavior or speech that might result from possession by a god or demon, hence the earliest sense of the noun [a religious maniac] (mid 17th cent.).
So..."atheist fanatic" really sort of comes out as an oxymoron.
The only emotion I feel about it is anger at the doctors for taking so long to figure it out. Either it kills me, or not. Such is life. Just my attitude from having too many friends, family, and co-workers die from heart problems or cancer.
From your details on letter writing, I suspect you have written a few, or work for a news media. Have seen it to be an interesting and stressful profession.
I offered to shorten the letter, but the editor said "no". He wanted the whole thing as is. Was grateful that he said there was nothing libelous in it, without my asking. Not my first "nasty-gram" to people of authority, so took extra care to make sure there was nothing to bite me legally.
At least 80% of my comments were based solely on countering what the "Angry Atheist" article said against what is actually occurring in the anti-religion movement. Based my comments on what I have read at RRS, Richard Dawkins, and many other websites. Worked my opinion into only a few of them. For every statement I made, I asked myself a couple times "can you back this up?" If "no" or "maybe", I took it out. Some of the proof would take me a few days to find again, but it is available.
The only way the locals could confront me is for attacking religion and xtians in general, and the news media in particular (except the local paper). I am more concerned about the reaction via gossip than from people who actually read it. (Too many people here are "fanatics".)
Since it will fill half a page or more, I expect more people will read it than the usual short ones. Did not think to ask if it will be printed as a letter to the editor or in their Editorial/Opinion section. I would love to be a fly on every church wall the Sunday after this hits the streets. Would probably die laughing from the manure the pastors/priests will have to spread to counter it.
The only bookstores in the county is the town Public Library, a Wal-Mart, one Christian store, and one used bookstore. Since I do not hang around the Church crowd, have no idea if they are talking about the books. A female JW who made the mistake of knocking on my door a couple weeks ago had read a news article on the RRS/WOTM debate, but did not go into details.
I am hoping that one or more of the religious leaders wants a face-to-face discussion on my comments. I will make sure a newspaper reporter is there to record it. No problem doing it in writing either. I doubt the Church of Christ leader will want to tangle with me again. Or any of the JWs. The CofC joker was almost running to get away from me last summer. Had him so pissed that he did not know what to say or do. I am better prepared now. Could probably make him cry.
"provincial area" - I love that. Have not heard that term in a long time. Not many people here could pronounce that, let alone spell it.
I considered multiple times what could occur in making any disparaging comments about religion in the local newspaper.
I never liked the narrow-minded, bigoted attitude of the people in this area, and state. Annoying them with anti-religious information that they do not want to hear is my payback. I have dealt with liars, scammers, and childish personalities before, so know what to expect and how to deal with them. Sent a man to prison about 10 years ago and his son lost everything. They picked the wrong person to scam while leaving too much information laying around.
A coffe cup I carried around at work for a number of years said: Piss me off, Pay the Consequences. I got very vocal there at screw-ups, including mine.
"What the world needs is an enema." Jack Nicholson, "Batman"
Garrett - excellent letter!! Concise and well-written - good job! I am anxious to hear if they print the letter and what feedback, if any, you receive. Keep us posted!
DoubtingThomas - that really sucks about your heart but I am glad to hear you are not turning a blind eye to it. Is there any way you can post a link to your printed letter when it hits the paper? I would love to see it!
You are both doing something I need to do more of, that is - making our voices heard. I think it is very important to challenge religiously slanted media at every opportunity.
The newspaper has a very poor website. Whatever is on the front page that day is what the site shows. No archive. Doubt my letter will make the front page, so will have to try a different method. May attempt a blog, but not really into them myself. Any suggestions??
I have been here 1-1/2 years and could not pass up the only opportunity, so far, to make the locals think a little.
"What the world needs is an enema." Jack Nicholson, "Batman"
My letter was printed on Monday, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the community (though it’s been all verbally). I personally don't think I'll get that much negative feedback. Not because people don't disagree with what I have to say, but because people don't want to disagree.
I don't suppose it's on their website. if so, could you post a link?
I think you said earlier that their website is somewhat limited, but since I can't see the whole thread when I have the comment box open... and I'm too lazy to backtrack at this point, I thought I'd ask!
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