Religion
Related: About this forumRenowned atheist is hated, murdered, revived in new Netflix film
Jake Martin
April 04, 2017
The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. This is not just a lyric in a Lumineers song, but a universal truth that could be applied to loves sister in virtue: faith. The opposite of belief in God is not in fact that long despised enemy of godly people everywhere, atheism. The enemy of belief, rather, is run of the mill indifference. This notion is given credence by Tommy OHavers The Most Hated Woman in America, a recent film from Netflix. The film goes a long way in arguing that atheism isnt the converse of theism, but just another shade on the color wheel of belief, with all the pageantry and chaos which that frequently entails.
The film tells the (true) story of Madalyn Murray OHair (Melissa Leo), a woman who garnered notoriety in the early 1960s for suing the Baltimore public school systema move that ultimately led to a Supreme Court decision banning mandatory bible reading in the public school classroom. OHair then went on to found American Atheists, a national organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of atheists, while continuing to work toward ensuring the separation of church and state.
In the summer of 1995, OHair, along with her youngest son and granddaughter, was kidnapped and murdered by a former employee of American Atheist. Eventually it came to light that the murders were an attempt to seize the substantial amount of money OHair had laundered into offshore accounts throughout her time at American Atheists.
The films primary thrust is exploring the what, the why and the how of OHairs kidnapping and murder. Outside of the Supreme Court case that first brought OHair to the publics attention, OHairs activism on behalf of the atheist agenda is paid little heed by the filmmakers. The audience is left with a paint-by-numbers look at the seemingly inevitable corruption that bubbles to the surface when a grassroots movement turns into an organized institution.
http://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2017/04/04/renowned-atheist-hated-murdered-revived-new-netflix-film
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)I feel that atheism is just as much unprovable, thus a belief, as any theistic system.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)As an atheist, I have no burden of proof. So whether it's provable or not is irrelevant. I'm not the one claiming something exists.
There are a wide number of believers of various strips desperate to cast atheism as a faith itself, so as to either regain access to the halls of government, or banish 'secularism' from schools/government.
Gambit rejected. Have a nice day.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)And if unprovable, both require faith. Or belief, if you prefer.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)I'll just say 'you don't understand burden of proof' and have a nice day.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)"The film goes a long way in arguing that atheism isnt the converse of theism, but just another shade on the color wheel of belief, with all the pageantry and chaos which that frequently entails."
If the film does all that, I suspect it runs afoul of some Truth in Advertising law somewhere when it claimed 'true'.