Starke, Fla--On Sunday, June 30th, a monument to Atheism was unveiled at the Bradford County Courthouse. The unveiling comes after an unsuccessful effort by atheists to remove a five ton granite slab that contains the Ten Commandments.
Atheists sued to have the Ten Commandments removed, but, during mediation on the case, they were told they could have a monument too. So the atheists took the stance that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
The monument was designed to be functional and has a bench for people to sit on. This is supposed to reflect the atheist focus on the real and tangible. The monument has several quotes by Madelyn Murray O'Hair, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams. It also has a list of punishments for breaking the Ten Commandments. The atheists made sure to point out that the punishment for atheism is death.
Atheists have hailed this monument as a victory for free speech and atheism. Local Christians see it as an intrusion of outsiders upon local values of those who live in the "Bible Belt." Freedom of Speech is granted to the atheist as well as the Christian, but I do wonder why atheists from Washington DC, have to go out of their way to put up a monument in Florida? It seems to me to be an in-your-face reaction to Bible Belt values. It is interesting that there are some atheists who do not agree with the approach of those who have erected the monument. I wish more atheists would take a less in-your-face approach and take a more humble approach to dialogue. I say the same for Christians, too. We need to be more gentle and respectful, as the Apostle Peter tells us (1 Pet. 3:15), when we give an account of the hope within us.
At any rate, I'm actually fine with atheists putting up monuments to their godlessness. Let atheists boldly portray their irrational belief in a materialistic universe so others can view for themselves how utterly nonsensical atheism is. If they want to be fools and say there is no God, let them be fools publicly. The public nature of their foolishness allows Christians, then, to publicly expose atheism as an irrational belief.
I am appreciative of one of the quotes on the monument from Benjamin Franklin, who was not an atheist. The quote says, "When religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its supporters are obliged to call for help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."
I see some wisdom in this quote. Christians need to remember that for over 2,000 years the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against the Church, and as far as Christ is concerned, the future doesn't look good for the gates of hell either. So when an atheist organization places their monument next to the Ten Commandments, we don't have any reason to worry. Let atheists erect their monuments to the fool. In the end, all their monuments will be ground to rubble, and all their foolishness will be exposed when Christ appears in glory.
