I don't even bother clicking remember me anymore.

I don't know if I'll go through with wearing my pirate costume or not. Its a really puffy shirt. I'll feel absolutely ridiculous in it...of course, it IS halloween, you're supposed to be absolutely ridiculous looking right? It don't matter, its the only costume that goes with a doo rag, and I'm always looking for a legit reason to wear a doo rag. There's only one day a year that a guy can wear a doo rag and not suck. *sigh* its not the 90's anymore.

So I read a thing by Ben Stein on my sister's blog. I figure I'll post my protest here, cause people who don't give a damn about my opinion won't bother coming here to see it, and people who do give a damn, and still don't like my opinion still like me well enough to deal with it.

Stop reading here if you're easily irritated by opposing opinions, because as a former atheist, I have a rather strong opinion on this, and it has nothing to do with belief in god, or non belief thereof.

The problem with Ben Stein's point of view is that its short-sighted and selfish. I wonder, what Mr. Stein would think about a recently sacrificed goat lying in a pentagram on the courthouse steps? Fact is, that if you are *for* placing a manger, then you must also be *for* allowing other religions to place their stuff in public places as well.

If you disagree with seeing a savagely slaughtered goat lying on your public courthouse steps, then you are a) either admitting that you are close-minded to other religions that don't fit your ideal idea of a religion, or b) soley interested in only spreading your religion to the world, and intend to use public places as a means to do that.

That being said, I have no wish to see bloody dead goat carcii lying about in the streats next to mangers, or manorahs, or meditating monks. Everybody is free to practice religion in their own home, and even in dedicated worship places in America. My question to the religious camps is, why is it so important that you display your artifacts where everyone must see them? A courthouse is neither a private place, nor is it a place of worship. Its a public building designed to accept america's wide diversity of citizens.

Should we place a yin-yang next to the 10 commandments on the wall? Should we place the satanic version of the 10 commandments next to that? If you are pressing for the right to place a manger in front of a court house, you are also pressing for the right to place a christmas tree next to it in its true form -- covered with dead rabbits and other small animals hanging from the limbs. Be careful what you wish for.

This is too often billed as an "atheist vs theist" debate, but its not that at all. Sure, it was brought to light by atheist groups who were sick of their children being forced to see religious artifacts outside of public places, but flip the coin for a second. If it were dead animals lying in front of the courthouse, it would have been the religious groups of america protesting and seeking to have it removed long before the atheists ever had a crack at it.

This argument also applies to our coins and our pledge of allegience. I wonder what the evangelicals would be saying if our coins said "In Bhudda We Trust", and our pledge of allegience contained the words "one nation over satin"? Would you still hold that we shouldn't be trying to remove religion from america's schools and governments, or would you join in the fight to have things that were counter to your point of view removed from these things? Think about it honestly for a second. In a school, where your children were forced to utter the words "one nation over satin" every single day, taking everything you worked hard to teach them and having to explain to them why their school's pledge of allegience was implying something other than what you taught them.

This is the true nature of this argument. Those that think otherwise should take a second and consider what their feelings would be if the tables were turned.