An atheist group is putting up signs that say God is "a myth" -- and they're making sure that Jews and Muslims will see them.
American Atheists announced on their website that two signs, one in Hebrew and one in Arabic, will go up in Brooklyn and Paterson, New Jersey, this Monday.
The Hebrew sign will go up near the Williamsburg Bridge, where there is a large orthodox Jewish community, CNN reported. The other, written in Arabic and English, will go up just a few blocks from a Paterson mosque, the Islamic Center of Passaic County.
The signs feature each faith's word for God in large lettering next to the message "You know it's a myth... and you have a choice."
I was somewhat unpopular for defending the Danish cartoonists and Madonna's allegedly "sacreligious" stage number (which happened at roughly the same time) against censorship. I realize that these sorts of provocations make people angry and are often unnecessary. (Certainly, when one is occupying a country in which burning their sacred book is considered to be a unparalleled insult, it's extremely bad policy for government agents to do such a thing.) But in America there is no more obvious test of our willingness to apply the Bill of Rights without prejudice to all comers. It's fundamental to our civic culture.
At a time when the right is pushing a new definition of religious liberty --- insisting that the right to religious freedom belongs to institutions, not the individual believers --- it's a good idea to keep this sort of thing out here. It's not comfortable for anyone, but the Religious Right needs to understand that the whole point is that they don't get to decide which religions apply --- or whether any religion applies. Social conservatives have a very hard time in general with the definition of freedom --- they think it means they have the freedom to require others to adhere to their beliefs. But they need to be challenged with things like this, no matter how provocative, so they understand that their beliefs aren't universal --- and that the constitution protects people who believe different things than they do.