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Response to the Chambersburg Public Opinion Newspaper
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Here is the response of In God We Trust Chairman Council Nedd to the February
10th editorial concerning the "Imagine No Religion" billboard and In God We Trust's response.
To
read the original editorial, click here.
Dear Editor,
Thank you for your editorial, "Our view: Defensive
billboard goes a bit overboard" (Public Opinion Online, February 10, 2008). I'm very glad you're letting people
in the Chambersburg community know about the two "dueling billboards" and challenging them to consider the signs'
meaning.
However, I'm surprised that you seem
to find the atheists' billboard so harmless, while you seem to take offense at our sign. The atheists' sign says,
"Imagine No Religion." Perhaps if our sign had said, "Imagine No Atheists," it would be easier for you
to see why I am so troubled by the atheists' message.
"Imagine No Religion," they urge, and you say you find that non-judgmental. Really? To me, the judgment of America's
largest atheist group seems obvious: They think America would be a better place if all people of faith would simply disappear.
Where should we go? Where do they want to send us? I suppose it would make their crusade to ban religion easier, but I don't
plan to go quietly, and neither do the 64,000 supporters of In God We Trust.
Instead of rushing to condemn people who want to defend freedom of religious expression by calling us
"manipulative" and "craven" as your editorial has done, perhaps you should start asking a few questions
that go right to the heart of this matter.
First,
how is "Imagine No Religion" different from "Imagine No Christians" or "Imagine No Jews"? The
anti-religious bigotry is more obvious, but otherwise the statements seem interchangeable to me. (Now are you starting to
see why we find the atheists' sign so troubling? I'm not sure where they're headed with this line of argument,
but I don't like its direction one bit.)
Second,
"Imagine No Religion" also means "Imagine No Mother Theresa," "Imagine No Martin Luther King, Jr.,"
and "Imagine No Gandhi." Do you really believe America-or the world-would be a better place if the atheists got
their wish? Are you starting to get the picture?
Regrettably, religious people are more often defined in the media these days by a caricature that is not very generous, and
I assure you it does not apply to In God We Trust. We are not even a religious group. There are already plenty of religious
groups who want to be involved in politics, and that is not what we are. Instead, we are a political group that is concerned
with defending the traditional role of God and religion in American public life, because we believe it makes America a better
place-for believers and non-believers alike. I urge fair-minded people who agree with me to visit our website at www.InGodWeTrustUSA.org
for more information.
We live in a diverse country,
and In God We Trust believes it is wrong to try to imagine an America where the people who disagree with us have all disappeared,
or been sent away. History is full of bad examples like that, and they didn't work. Instead, why not try to work out our
differences? We don't address racial issues by all pretending to be black. We don't address gender differences by
all pretending to be women. So why on earth should we address our Constitution's guarantees of religious freedom by all
pretending to be atheists? Now that's going overboard.
Very
sincerely,
The Rt. Rev. Council Nedd II
Chairman, In God We
Trust
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