An Atheist Group Asks, Should New York Be in the Pope Business?

[edhopper]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/nyregion/should-new-york-be-in-the-pope-business-an-atheist-group-asks.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ur_20150920&nl=nyregion&nlid=8415216&ref=headline

When you call the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis., and you are put on hold, a recording of a song written by one of its founders, Dan Barker, performed to the melody of the “Battle of Jericho,” begins to play. (“I’ve heard about your hero Joshua who’s not so great/But there’s none like Thomas Jefferson and his battle between church and state.”) For 37 years, the organization has espoused the causes of atheists, agnostics and skeptics fighting laws that make days of religious observance state holidays, practices that leave public schools with pictures of Christ hanging on their walls and town councils that appropriate public money for, to cite one example, the repair of church steeples. In many instances the foundation’s work has been successful.

Is NYC spending to much to support a religious event?

[Cartoonist]

1. I have no problem with this.

I'm sure NYC spent a lot of money when the Beatles hit town.

[gwheezie]

2. Atheist here

I can only speak for myself and I don't care.

[rug]

3. Somehow, I think Barker in Wisconsin has little knowledge of what makes NYC tick.

Maybe he attended a Billy Graham Crusade in Yankee Stadium before his epiphany.

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Ahem.

This sounds familiar.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027135590


BTW, the answer to your question is YES.

K and R

And double BTW: I'm not fanatical on the topic of atheism/agnosticism.

But I can tell when church and state are making ..... uummmm.... *love*.

[Sanity Claws]

5. Question presumes NY is involved in a religious event

NY is involved in crowd control and protection of a foreign dignitary. The foreign dignitary just happens also to be a religious figure, like the Dali Lama. If the Dali Lama drew crowds like the Pope, my guess is that NY would treat him the same.

[edhopper]

6. The foreign dignitary of a country with a population

of 500? Sure it's not the religious organization of a billion he heads that is the reason for this.
You can say it's okay, but don't avoid what it is.

[edhopper]

7. Just to clarify

I am not happy with the mess and logjam this will make of NY, but I don't think the City is overstepping. I am actually more pissed that they support the Homophobic St. Patrick's day Parade.

[Igel]

8. NYC should be in the "deal with public spectacle" business.

Because every city has to be.

If an atheist figure that attracted 500k people at a single event was arriving, if that figure wasn't atheist but was Muslim, if that figure wasn't religious but was a chemist or a proctologist that would attract a crowd of 500k, the answer would still be "yes."

Because ultimately the city reflects in some practices not an ideology but the population, the demos. In having this as a practice that's applicable to all comers it's clear that this isn't support for a particular religion or even religion in general but for the people.