In the "Of Ants and People" article you said several times that Christians are not under attack. Reread this article, you personally attack them several times. Hypocritical?

That Ants thing was written during the height of the Dover School Board kerfluffle about sneaking creationism into science classes. I did a bunch of entries about that issue, seeing as Dover is part of my home county. Not sure why or how Nick found that particular one; maybe it's got an awesome Google score.

Anyway, my response was:

You make a very common mistake: the majority attacking a minority is never the same thing as the minority attacking the majority. Christians like to pretend they're "under attack" because it helps them gloss over the centuries of lies and oppression that has been committed in their name.

But since teeny little Shoutboxes really aren't suited for this sort of thing, I thought I would expound upon it here. On Christmas Eve. This is a discussion I never shy away from.

Nick asks if it is hypocritical to insult Christians mere sentences away from decrying that they are not under attack. Obviously, I never said that they weren't under attack by me, and it would be ridiculous to assume that, as a staunch atheist, I am blind to the efforts of many to expose and eradicate the Christianist agenda. Perhaps my verbiage was too simplistic; my point was that, after centuries of attempting to re-create the world in their image, modern Christians do not get to call themselves victims. Non-Christians are the victims in their every scheme, from the co-opting of the holiday we celebrate December 25th, to minimizing the advancements of science and logic because it calls their beliefs into question.

Moreover, when Christians control the US government, when Christians control the entertainment media, when Christians have factionalized meetingplaces every few blocks... what's a non-Christian supposed to do? Throughout history, we've been killed. We've been marginalized. We've been made silent. Striking down the 2005 Dover School Board's petty proclamations, getting Ten Commandments sculptures out of public offices, letting co-workers and elected officials and family members know that "Christian" is not the default state of all of humanity... that's all more about equalizing than attacking.

Sure, I can see how a Christian, inside the mighty fortress, watching an atheist work to get "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, could see that as an attack. That Christian should get out from under the veil and see how things have looked to us for centuries.

When suffragettes marched on Washington DC, they were mocked and barricaded by the men who disagreed with them, including the local police. Today we consider it an inborn given that women have the right to vote, and any history to the contrary is embarrassing and backward. Modern Christians getting all whiny about the "War on Christmas," for example, is no different than the way those men acted towards the marching women in March 1913. It is the majority oppressing, subjugating, intimidating and/or dehumanizing the minority... who are merely calling out for equality and fair representation.

The habit of referring to all pro-atheist movements (or any non-Christian action) as a "war" or an "attack" is a semantic play to obscure the real issue. Despite having been told for years that we're going to Hell, that our voices don't count, that we're neither citizens nor patriots, we acknowledge that this country protects all beliefs (and non-beliefs) and should therefore provide equality to all. Our goal is to remove the legacy laws and social structures that place Christianity above all else. It is not to kill all Christians and burn down the churches... which, history shows, is a far better deal then most non-Christians received at the hands of Christians in less enlightened times.

However, that is a long way off. The reality is that Christianity still holds the reins of our entire society. Even the atheists' best efforts just bounce off. I find it difficult to consider our legal rows and political skirmishes an "attack" of any strength on that unassailable hull.

I mean, seriously. We're out there trying to defend the scientific method and getting treated like loons... and the opposing team is giving PR jerks headaches because Wal-Mart says "Happy Holidays" for a month instead of "Merry Christmas."

Enjoy Saturnalia.