Secular America under attack, says the University of Miami

OPINION:

Are atheism and secular America really under attack?

Millionaire Louis Appignani, who gave the University of Miami $2.2 million to create the world’s first chair of Atheism Studies, seems to think so.

“I’m trying to eliminate discrimination against atheists,” Mr. Appignani told the New York Times about his donation. “So this is a step in that direction, to make atheism legitimate.”

Interesting. I was unaware atheism was ever under attack, or even considered illegitimate in today’s society. It’s Coptic Christians who are being beheaded in the Middle East by radical Islamic terrorists, not atheists. It’s social conservatives who are being labeled bigots by the Left for not accepting gay marriage or wanting transgenders in their bathrooms.

By its own definition, atheism is “not a belief system nor is it a religion.”

So what is it?

Molly Worthen, in an article titled “Wanted: A theology of atheism” put it this way: “In one sense, secular humanism is a style of fellowship intended to fill the church-shaped void, but it is also a strand of the liberal intellectual tradition that attempts to answer the canard that godlessness means immorality.”

Bottom line: It’s a line of study created to reassure those without a God that they can be good, moral people.

Fine. But are atheists the ones being discriminated against — or are they the ones doing the discriminating?

For many Christians feel there’s a secular inquisition underway.

It all starts with the secular left’s fundamental disrespect for religion and religious thought leaders as it pertains to academia.

“The only common thread that ties all atheists together is a lack of belief in gods and supernatural beings. Some of the best debates we have ever had have been with fellow atheists,” said American Atheists, a civil rights group for atheists, on its website. “This is because atheists do not have a common belief system, sacred scripture or atheist Pope. This means atheists often disagree on many issues and ideas. Atheists come in a variety of shapes, colors, beliefs, convictions, and backgrounds. We are as unique as our fingerprints.”

Atheists think that because they’re not weighted down by the teachings of the Scriptures, Torah, or Koran, that their thinking is the most logical, that their positions are the most justified.

So they’ve picked fights with social conservatives, trying to deny them their religious liberty all the while belittling their positions. For the teachings of God have infringed on what these secular warriors have independently, clearly and logically, deemed is right and good.

Take the Little Sisters of the Poor birth control case. Liberals — and the secular left — wants to force nuns to fund contraceptives that they don’t believe in and have no use for. And they don’t seem to care, or have any sympathy for the right’s argument because atheists place no weight in God when making their value judgments.

The same goes for gay marriage.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, pastors are unsure what legal ramifications may await if they refuse to officiate a ceremony of which they morally disagree.

But the secular left doesn’t see this as a problem, they view it as an opportunity. For anti-discrimination laws will allow them to broaden their reach — to officially suppress any dissenting views through legal precedent.

For the secular left seems to only value three things: Big government, amassing societal power, and pseudo-intellectualism.

For these reasons alone, no one should be surprised at the University of Miami’s new line of study.

But what I do take umbrage with is Mr. Appignani’s rationale.

He told The Times he gave the school millions to help “eliminate discrimination” against atheists.

That’s not true. His real purpose for the donation was to proselytize atheism for generations to come.

For, being an atheist himself, Mr. Appignani will only feel validated when when everyone else agrees with him.