Group of atheists has filed a lawsuit

My own community had a similar situation. There was a Ten Commandments display in a public park. None of the atheists in the community, including myself, had a problem with it. Then came the crazy people. They wanted to put up a plaque which Matthew Shepard's picture on it (the homosexual kid who was killed because of his homosexuality) and a verse from the Bible stating how homosexuality was evil. It was a completely disgusting display. Even worse, due to the openness that you state above, they had every right to erect the plaque in the park. Instead of allowing this, the city decided to move the Ten Commandments display out of the public park and ban all religious material from the park.

Frankly, I could care less. If christians need an idol to worship in order to feel better about themselves then go for it.What really bothers me is the hypocracy. Remember the mosque that was being built near "Ground Zero"? If christians want the benefit of religious tolerance they should try to exercise it first.

If my constitutional knowledge is accurate, this would only be the case if they only allowed christian iconography in a public space, or only subsidized christian monuments.

I never stated that I had a belief one way or the other. If muslims do try and put muslim iconography at the site and are prevented from doing so then there is a very obvious violation of constitutional rights. However, I don't see free expression on public lands as a problem, as long as everyone has the same access to free expression.

Overall, I think that is a solid argument, even as an atheist.At the same time, I think it is important for atheists to bring this subject to the forefront from time to time, although they probably picked the wrong battle on this one. Not everyone remembers that atheists are as much a part of the community as christians are.But we all need to recognize that personal expressions of religious belief or disbelief are part of our history, and that we need to record that history accurately.Edited by Taq, : No reason given.