No, I certainly have not jumped upon the charging of hate speech bandwagon, but am simply playing off of Canada’s judicial tendency towards charging those with whom they disagree with hate speech.
A friend was actually concerned about this when I traveled to Canada in order to debate an atheist on the issue of morality (find video here).
The Centre for Inquiry – Le Centre Pour l’Enquête is the latest atheist activist group to waste money attempting to show how clever they are whilst not helping those in need during trying times.
They describe themselves thusly:
We are an educational charity with a legal mandate to educate and provide training to the public in the application of skeptical, secular, rational, and humanistic enquiry…and to develop communities where like-minded individuals can meet and share their experiences. We focus on three broad areas: 1. Religion, Ethics and Society, 2. Pseudoscience, Paranormal and Fringe-science claims, 3. Medicine and Health
FYI: “skeptical, secular, rational, and humanistic” means “atheism” by any other name. This is further evidenced by the fact that their number one concern is “Religion”: they are an anti-theism support group.
Atheists such as those “like-minded individuals” from The Centre for Inquiry – Le Centre Pour l’Enquête have a LOT of money to spend (read, “waste”), especially during the holidays. This group has wasted money on bus ads:
A new “skepticism campaign” is aiming to roll out on Toronto’s [Canada] transit system in 2011, taking on “well-known and widely believed claims”…they would…read “Extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidence” and then list a variety of things the CFI says are not backed by science, including UFOs, homeopathy, Zeus, Allah, Christ and God.
The campaign’s website says: “Why is belief in Bigfoot dismissed as delusional while belief in Allah and Christ is respected and revered? All of these claims are equally extraordinary and demand critical examination.”
Justin Trottier, executive director of the CFI, says it would be wrong to simply call it an “atheist campaign,” since they also call out alternative medicine such as homeopathy. “While Toronto doesn’t hold the same beliefs of literal conservative-style religion that are stifling in the U.S….Toronto is home to many purveyors of extraordinary claims, such as homeopaths and psychics. These claims are not trivial, and their practitioners are peddling unproven practices which parents often use on their children.”…The Centre was involved with the atheist bus campaign last year, featuring the bus ad stating “There’s probably no God so stop worrying and enjoy your life.” [which was dissected here]…he notes. “We are just asking for evidence, asking people to think critically.”
The very premise of the ads is faulty as extraordinary claims only require adequate evidence.
Also, there is no logical of theological correlation between Jesus, Zeus, or for that matter the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Invisible Pink Unicorns (a point that is elucidated here).
Obviously, appealing to the “extraordinary” is a loophole-escape-clause. No matter what evidence one may provide for, let us say Jesus, they mere have to say that it does not meet the self-serving standard of “extraordinary.”
This is merely a baseless system whereby they attempt to make evidence for God simply impossible.
When it comes to strict inquiry (and not atheistic cynicism in disguise), I am all for it: “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 1:18), in the New Testament the Bereans are considered more noble (or more “fair minded”) for double checking everything that Paul told them (Acts 17:11), Thomas asked for the evidence which the others had seen and had merely retold to him (John 20:24-30), Jesus stated, “Love the Lord your God with all your…mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:36-38). We are clearly called to discern, test, and judge, prophets, spirits and all things: “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1st Corinthians 14:29). One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is “discerning of spirits” (1st Corinthians 12:10). “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1st John 4:1). “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1st Thessalonians 5:19-22). “you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly” (Deuteronomy 13:14).
Etc., etc., etc.