Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a believer? To put the mythology before reality, place higher regard for fiction over fact? This clip shows a ‘man on the street’ interviewer with a desperately poor couple, begging for money in front of a big box retailer. The interviewer offers them $20 dollars if they cross the word “god” off their sign.
They refuse. Their belief in the sky fairy and what would happen if they went against them directly affected their immediate physical future. Apparently, a hot meal for little Timmy, is not worth hazarding god’s wrath. Watch now and see how holding delusional beliefs are dangerous not only to you, but those around you.
This is why we campaign so strongly here at DWR against the purulence that is christianity and religion in general. Sacrificing the welfare of your child for your belief in magic is unconscionable. Make no mistake, it is religion that is at fault here and it should be done away with as soon as possible.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
22 comments
October 4, 2011 at 9:48 am
The Intransigent One
I find this really upsetting. Mr. Antagonist was being a total privileged douche, and I don’t think he was making the point he thinks he was. Seriously: dude makes a poor person go through all sorts of demeaning contortions for a sum of money that means little to him but everything to his victim, and then goes home to his house full of electronic gear? Not cool, Mr. Antagonist.
Also, not a particularly good way of making his point. If Mr. Antagonist had been in a similar situation, would he have taken $20 to add a pro-religion sentiment to his sign? Is there an income level below which you are expected to sacrifice your principles for short-term survival?
Mr. Antagonist’s contempt and lack of empathy are the kind of thing that gives the rest of us a bad name.
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October 4, 2011 at 10:26 am
Alan Scott
I find the speaker put the Christian family in a no win situation . He blasts them for not taking the money, then blasts them for taking it. He is not as smart as he believes himself to be .
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October 4, 2011 at 10:29 am
renetascian
Uncompromising faith = Foolhardy to the Nth degree. No one ever realizes that it’s not God they are accepting, but another fellow man’s talented, deceptive work of fiction. How quickly we forget about how easily fiction can effect the minds of the unwaveringly faithful and gullible souls like the War of the Worlds (radio drama), and a similar television drama in the 90s proved that a perfect orchestrated drama with “realistic news” sources could make people believe so wholeheartedly that they called the authorities for real. If science fiction has taught us anything, it is to question everything you see. Unquestioning faith is a blinder to the colder harsher reality of the world. Did you see the resentment of the couple, who according to their Bible would be showing “righteous anger” though deep down they might have very well hated him in a quite unchristian way.
The look in the husbands eyes said it all. “I’d rather starve to death and watch my family die, than submit my beliefs (my righteousness) for the benefit of those I claim to love. I would rather condemn my family with me for the sake of a fable I believe without question.”, was shown in his eyes. If that isn’t tyrannically deluded to drag others down with you for the sake of a belief, then I don’t know what is. And people wonder how terrorism is possible; well, you are looking at it in the eyes of that man. Blind faith could condemn us all to the same fate, if we let it. When we value obstinance, unwavering and uncompromising, and unapologetic ignorance we are doomed to failure, the uttermost, despairing and irrevocable kind. It is to stand in the face of change, which is a speeding locomotive against which you lack mass and momentum to halt. Change will continue with or without you, each of us it rightly insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe.
Such ways of thinking fly in the face of reality; however, it is futile because reality always wins over fiction. Believing a bullet will not kill you will not spare your life. The “Delusions of Grandeur” facilitated by religion should be cause for concern, not complacency.
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October 4, 2011 at 10:58 am
renetascian
I would add though that I don’t condone the “Religious Antagonist’s” behavior, anymore than I condone blind faith as an excuse to cop out either. The religious antagonist did compromise in the end, rather than continuing to use his position over them. However, I don’t consider blind faith a virtue, and have no sympathy for it as a principle. To do so would be utter lunacy to me, and condones harming others for the sake of religion. What he points out though is a valid point, though his behavior is ludicrous. However, I believe all people have the right to their principle rights which was not respected by the religious antagonist’s approach. If someone offered me $20 when I was desperate, in exchange for sex I’d hold to my principles because their are fates worse than death. However, the principle in question here wasn’t their bodies, but their blind devout faith is. But, we are all victims of that system, and many of us were victims of it at some point. I have sympathy for that, but not for the father or the mother’s uncompromising behavior. Plain and simple. Ignorance and faith are not virtues.
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October 4, 2011 at 1:41 pm
The Unrepublican
Make no mistake, it is religion that is at fault here and it should be done away with as soon as possible
When you say, “done away with”, are you proposing that it should be made against the law?
Are you proposing this on the basis that you, and those who think like you, view modern day religion as a detriment to society?
What about the people who don’t see things your way? Do we need you, and the people who think like you, to tell us what we should or should not do, or should and should not think?
What about the people who view the crimes perpetrated by the followers of religion as something exclusive to human nature, rather than something exclusive to religion? I could after all make similar arguments against politics, considering the sorrows it has wrought upon this world.
The fact of the matter is, human beings tend to take things too far. Whether it be religion, politics, money, power, or prestige; the capacity for right and wrong lie with the individual.To claim that religion is somehow different than anything else, that religion is somehow inherently evil, or can only be used for evil, is to unwittingly validate the existence of something that transcends the capabilities of man.
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October 4, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Bleatmop
What a fuckwad that guy was. That was humiliating and this guy should feel ashamed of himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he kicked some kittens when he got home. That was outright wrong.
I don’t care if people believe in Yahweh, Allah, Buddah, FSM, IPU, or nothing at all when I give money to those in need. To me, that’s what being a humanist is all about, helping humanity. Yes, fight the corrosive effects of religion, but also make sure your target is religion. This guy wasn’t targeting religion. He was just being a bully to the weakest members of society. We already know that people who have faith beliefs are deluded, there was no need to kick these people when they were down.
Also, only $20 after all that??? He looks like he spends more than that on coffee a week. He may even spent half that on the commute to see those people and back to his home in fuel alone (assuming he lives in a major city). That’s like pouring salt in a wound. He could have talked with them, explained his viewpoint of why he thinks they were wrong, all AFTER giving them money they need to feed their child. Instead he makes them feel captive to his badgering… blah. Rant over, this guys was a jerk.
Also, this guy made me agree with Alan Scott for like the first time. Just bad news all around.
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October 4, 2011 at 2:16 pm
The Arbourist
I don’t care if people believe in Yahweh, Allah, Buddah, FSM, IPU, or nothing at all when I give money to those in need. To me, that’s what being a humanist is all about, helping humanity.
Well said. Helping should be about helping and not moralizing to a captive audience.
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October 4, 2011 at 2:47 pm
The Arbourist
This is turning out to be a controversial post.
It is obvious that the tactics used by the AA in this video are questionable at best (despicable at worst). Badgering the poor is certainly not commendable behaviour and I do not endorse such actions.
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October 4, 2011 at 2:57 pm
renetascian
I do agree. Help, don’t play the “Carrot Game”. However, the sort of self righteous religiously motivated look in his eyes was all to eerily reminiscent of some rather unpleasant experiences I had as a child with self-righteous family members. Then again there was privileged hooha on the behalf of the antagonist as well, so neither were right and the display was unnecessary. I think it’s a good message for what you SHOULD NOT do as an atheist. And yes you are right, religion does take the bad wrap when it is really people who are responsible for it regardless of in whose name. And he isn’t a jerk because jerks are nicer than he was. Asking people if they would give up religion for a moment in exchange for something they needed in a survey would be more appropriate, but somewhat less accurate. He used those peoples suffering to his advantage and that is deplorable, and you are right there is no need to kick them when they are down.
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October 4, 2011 at 3:48 pm
The Intransigent One
Another important point: the fact that AA is a douche, doesn’t mean that god exists, or religious faith is a good idea. All it means is that AA is a douche.
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October 4, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Alan Scott
renetascian,
” The look in the husbands eyes said it all. “I’d rather starve to death and watch my family die, than submit my beliefs (my righteousness) for the benefit of those I claim to love. ”
I love to tell you this, these people were not starving to death. And I am amazed at how much you can read from a person’s eyes .
You know almost nothing about these people, yet you attack their entire philosophy of life from 5 minutes of video. This same 5 minutes of edited video allows you to attack an entire religion. You don’t even know if this episode is real or staged.
You are truly an amazing person .
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October 4, 2011 at 5:54 pm
renetascian
Contempt is contempt is contempt, the look is always the same no matter how much or how little of it is there. It’s the kind of look in someones eyes when they decline to medically treat their child’s cancer so they can pray it away. It’s the attitude that makes men stand watch while their daughter goes into shock and dies from a preventable diabetic attack. The look that comes over the eyes of a terrorist as they push a button and condemn dozens if not hundreds of innocent people to death because the magical man in the sky told them to. I don’t attack their philosophy, or their lifestyle, I attack their arrogance and ignorance. I didn’t call them starving it was the analogy to his behavior, I critiqued his pompous self-righteous religiously driven attitude which is quite a far cry from the. The attitude is self serving because while people worship God believing they are endowed with “God’s Grace” they are really facilitating their own ego because the reality is this… They are GOD, because he is a delusion in their head. Acting on delusions, or repeating the same action expecting a different result is insanity.
However, you are quite right. The whole thing could be staged; however, I am inclined to believe it was not. Their acting was either really, really good, or it was just real. I can either assume it was an elaborate play without evidence, or I can take it as it is presented for what it presented. The simplest answer is often correct. AA has made many other videos like this, and given my own experience their reactions are very true to life. I don’t condone his methodology or behavior, but I also don’t condone indoctrination, or dragging children into your insanity any more than the prior. Contempt, arrogance, and self-righteousness are faces I know all too well. Body language, and emotional recognition through such is not a new art, one which I am also trained in. You can’t make inferences to my analysis that simply aren’t their. He wasn’t “defending God” he was defending a piece of paper with the word God on it, remember that before you think about anything else. AA didn’t ask them to renounce their faith or principle for $20, he asked them to edit the poster. When you realize the value of the object they defended it makes any point you had void. None of us can truly know him, but we can reasonably assert the dangers of the attitudes his beliefs represent.
So yes I can attack it knowing of the righteously imbued insanity of religion in regards to it’s own belief systems and the behaviors of it’s followers, though I’d do so regardless of the length of the video. You shouldn’t have to write God on a sign to gain someones compassion in the first place, and writing God on the sign says nothing about your moral character, your faith nor devotion, nor does it prohibit you from being the “Scum of the Earth”. God is a word with little value other than what you give to it, which is entirely subjective and pointless given my perspective on the matter. Which is more valuable; A word, or life? Life is worth living, but words aren’t worth the cost of the prior. As long as you live you can speak or write as any word you like as much as you like to your heart’s content.
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October 4, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Bleatmop
“Well said. Helping should be about helping and not moralizing to a captive audience.”
Agreed. That’s what the religious do. We should be better than that.
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October 4, 2011 at 6:00 pm
renetascian
Agreed. I think this issue was so charged that many of us were all typing comments simultaneously, because when I commented there were no other comments on my first go round.
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October 4, 2011 at 6:08 pm
renetascian
Ditto to both.
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October 4, 2011 at 8:15 pm
The Unrepublican
I actually agree with you on this one, even though I myself believe in God.
This guy was not being godly or spiritual by defending the poster, but rather he was being shallow and legalistic – the very thing Jesus (who BROKE the sabbath to pick corn) was not.
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October 5, 2011 at 6:03 am
Alan Scott
renetascian,,
I find this whole video a deplorable stunt . This guy takes advantage of a poor family to make an ideological point. A religious group would have tried to get this family or even an Atheist one into a program to help all of them. The $ 20 could have been spent so much better .
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October 5, 2011 at 11:30 am
unprevailing
To be honest, I couldn’t sit through more than a minute before turning away in disgust. The entire premise reeks of a privileged whiteboy conducting a little “social experiment” at the expense of others. A smug, hipster douche thinking he has the world figured out. I’m an atheist and often have a difficult time understanding believers, but this crosses a moral line. And that’s the thing: so many believers vilify atheists and agnostics because they consider us amoral, incapable of knowing right from wrong without faith in God. I wonder how they come to that conclusion.
Something tells me that this pretentious wanker hasn’t struggled for anything before.
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October 5, 2011 at 12:22 pm
renetascian
Agreed, Unprevailing and Alan, the video is deplorable and neither theist nor atheist should be condoned doing such things. I only wish there were more churches who would step in and help, but unfortunately Alan, it all depends on where you live. There are places were if you are an atheist they will turn you away. Part of the Christian mentality that if you aren’t “saved” that you deserve to suffer. But I know that not all Christians are bad, nor are all atheists good. Our belief systems may separate us though the didn’t always, but we are no different, no less capable of doing great good, or great evils. The video can serve as an example for all of us, to be learned from and avoided. Life is full of such lessons, both lessons worth endorsement, and lessons with pity or disdain.
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October 5, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Alan Scott
renetascian,
I totally dispute everything you just said. But I don’t live where you do, so maybe you see things I don’t. I personally know a shelter and a group of Churches that will take homeless men and homeless families and try give them food, shelter, and counseling to help them turn around their lives.
Of course they will try to save the souls of these folks, but it is not heavy handed .
I would suggest to you that you support however you can , charities that do the same thing without the religion. I would guess that there are non religious groups which do this work .
But it is difficult . Many of the homeless have mental issues and substance problems . No matter what you do a certain percentage will relapse and fail. I support some of this financially when I am able. The people who do the work personally are the heroes.
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October 6, 2011 at 12:31 pm
renetascian
I agree, the people who do that work are the heroes regardless of their religious or non-religious backgrounds. I donate where I can, but I am not well off myself. If not for my medical retirement from the military I’d be shit out of luck. I don’t consider myself disabled, but some days I can barely walk to the store less than a mile away. Religion is hardly the only “criteria” I have seen people rejected help for before. However, I’d argue there are a lot of charitable groups not doing that sort of “selective helping”. The people who are turned away are always minorities, and visibility is really low on this issue. Their are still to this day numerous minorities that have trouble finding shelter, although I’d argue you can easily dodge the religion issue. Being religious or non-religious doesn’t prevent prejudice that leads to discrimination, but religion can fuel some of that, and it does happen whether we see it every-time or not.
Homelessness is an issue in America as 5 million, almost 2% of our population faces that every year. Minorities are particularly hard pressed in these situations, some more than others. If you are white, under 50, able-bodied, and male, your probably better off than most; however, the more you deviate from that the harder it gets. That probably varies from area to area, but the treatment of minorities in shelters has been an issue for years. In some areas the white, under 50, able male is the minority, in general though it’s still better for this group. However, as a whole that specific demographic is provide more opportunity for employment, and more opportunity to change his situation and is less likely to be a “high volume” demographic in the shelters. Church-supported shelters are no less subject to the same discrimination that occurs other places, and as I said are many times worse about discriminating against certain groups.
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October 6, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Alan Scott
renetascian,
I live in Pennsylvania, 80 or so miles North of Philadelphia. While there is definitely prejudice among individuals, I almost never see it in organizations. If you see discrimination everywhere , I can’t dispute it.
What I understand is that some homeless are able to be helped and some you just can’t do anything with. The over all problem that all charities face is lack of money . They are always fund raising.
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