I must admit that, as may appear obvious, find Dan Barker, of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, fascinating. Part of his allure is the fact that his self-appointed claim to fame, on infamy, is that he is an ex-preacher and yet he exhibits a stunning lack of knowledge of the Bible’s contents and I am not merely referring to theological minutia but to the most basic concepts.
Another alluring aspect is his propensity to make very, very odd statements. I find that these either leave me flummoxed as they are so peppered with Barkerian-gnosis or they seem to provide a very, very troubling window into his mind’s inner workings.
Dan Barker spends time thinking about how to assert that rape is not absolutely immoral (see here).
He states the following about beautiful human babies in the womb, “…a fetus that’s the size of a thumb that has, what, what would you put it in a little locket and hang it around your neck?” (see here).
He stated the following regarding ethics, “Darwin has bequeathed what is good.”
In any case, from the Barkerian-gnosis category comes the following statement, “people have been celebrating the winter solstice long before Christmas. We see Christianity as the intruder, trying to steal the holiday from all of us humans.”1
Are Christians not humans or are Christians not trying to steal holidays from animals or…? ? ? ?
Well, I certainly support Dan Barker’s right to celebrate the solstice and am eagerly looking forward to seeing how he will do it.
Will, he simply give lip service to the solstice and use it as a lucrative way to both besmirch Christianity and file lawsuits that will provide him job security for the rest of the year?
Or will he go all out primal pagan and conduct human and or animal sacrifices on government property?
Will he be true to his new-atheist-neo-pagan roots or will he water down the solstice to the point that a pagan will be forced to place a poster next to his and state, “people have been celebrating the winter solstice long before the Barkerian version. We see Dan Barker as the intruder, trying to steal the solstice from all of us humans.”
In 1870 President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas as a federal holiday. How sad that the President of these United States of America, the Congress and the government at large did not know the Constitution as well as Dan Barker. Dan Barker claimed that nativity scenes at state capitols “insults” non-Christian. This sounds like a personal problem.
But what is his answer? It is to slap back with an insult of his own, an insult which no nativity sense ever dreamed. Taking time, energy, and money during a time of joy, family, friends and merry making to express his personal malice – how very sad.