 "Photo: Illustration by Christina Klein")
This week, the news outlets carried a seemingly frightening and alarming story regarding an atheist campaign taking place at the University of Texas-San Antonio.
The campaign, "Smut for Smut," encourages college students to trade in their holy texts (Bibles, Qurans, Book of Mormon, etc) for pornography. Perhaps you saw this and just thought it was some college kids looking to get a rise or gain some attention. Or perhaps you were like me and were considerably alarmed and offended.
Either way, actions taken by the group Atheist Agenda in their Smut for Smut campaign is deliberately and blatantly offensive to various religious groups and people.
I understand that we live in a nation that guarantees us the freedom of speech and religion. But I think there is a distinct line between freedom and respect. Just because a person has the freedom and ability to distribute porn on a college campus in exchange for Bibles doesn't mean that it is the appropriate thing to do. Nor does it mean that they can disrespect people's religion or faith by making it comparable to "Playboy."
I think we've gone off on a liberal tangent in the U.S. in the past 30 years in which we seemingly see the need to test the Constitutional waters with our actions. It started with the flag burning in the late 80s and continues on today with campaigns like Smut for Smut. But just because you have the freedom to do something doesn't mean you should.
In the U.S., we have the freedom to operate a motor vehicle with a certain blood alcohol level, but that doesn't mean that it is a wise choice to make. We also have the ability to drive the speed limit on the highway, but certain conditions would suggest that we drive slower in order to be safe.
My point is this: just because we have religious freedom does not grant us the right to diminish and disrespect other religions because we find them flawed. The Smut for Smut campaign not only crossed the line between religious freedom and respect, but it completely diminished it.
If a person truly wishes to convert another to their school of thought, it is best done by actions and character, not by abrasive and offensive messages and campaigns. It is certainly not done be passing out "Hustler" magazine to college kids.
We need to rethink our moral stand point as citizens. Yes, we do have the freedom to worship as we please. Freedom of religion is why the United States exists in the first place. But we need to have character and integrity in the way we conduct ourselves on a daily basis in our faith.
We cannot run around attacking people for their religious beliefs. This makes us no better than the terrorists who crashed jetliners into the Twin Towers on 9/11.
All I ask is that you kindly respect the religious beliefs that others hold to be true. I am not asking you to agree with them, nor am I asking you to convert to them. But just because a person believes that there is or isn't a God or that Creationism or Darwinism is factually correct does not open the door to a bombardment of obscenities and ridicule.
In the United States, we are all entitled to our own beliefs and thoughts without the threat of punishment. Let's keep it that way.
- Marshall Frey is a graduate student in chemical engineering. Please send comments
to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.
Dear no name. If the IF are a bunch of tools why don't you attend the meeting and try to interact in some lively debate. I don't see you trying to refute anybody at the meetings yet you all of a sudden say that IF are a bunch of TOOLS. Seriously grow up and have some courage to express your opinions in person instead of hiding behind this chat. Jaime
vvv
-- Thomas Paine, The Age of ReasonAs I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?
-- John Adams, letter to FA Van der Kamp, December 27, 1816I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved -- the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!
-- John Adams, letter to Thomas JeffersonMillions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.
-- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of VirginiaReligious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprize, every expanded prospect.
-- James Madison, letter to William Bradford, Jr., April 1, 1774
-Sam Harris