The Liverpool Daily Post reports “Atheist accused of leaving insulting religious images in Liverpool’s John Lennon airport prayer room” (March 3, 2010 AD)
A MILITANT atheist left allegedly insulting religious images in an airport prayer room in honour of his “hero”.
Harry Taylor is accused of placing a series of “grossly abusive and insulting” photographs and cartoons depicting Christian and Muslim figures in the multi-faith room at Liverpool’s John Lennon airport.
Well, what is the problem? It is a “multi-faith room” and the atheist is expressing his particular and malicious “faith.” It was, after all, at an airport named for the man who wrote the atheists anthem “Imagine” which calls for everyone to convert to atheism in order to “live as one.”
On the other hand, some atheists—some—need to set aside their all consuming anthropocentrism and realize that it is not all about them.
Am I way off in my “what is the problem?” statement and reference to John Lennon? This is what Harry Taylor stated,
…he told Liverpool crown court he was just practising his own religion of “reason and rationality” in the hope of converting people to atheism. Taylor added: “The airport is named after one of my heroes and his view on religion was pretty much the same as mine. “I thought it was an insult to his memory to have a prayer room in his airport.”
Taylor, who also claimed the controversial images were “satire” and would not offend anyone, even recited the lyrics from Lennon’s track Imagine.
His “satire” that “would not offend” and expressed his chosen “faith” and hero worship consisted of your typical adolescent references to sexuality, priest pedophilia, excrement this, Pope that, etc. This, by the way, coming from a 59 year old.
John Lennon, the hero of the story, stated (March 4, 1966 AD interview with Maureen Cleave for the London Evening Standard),
Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.
He is only one of a long, long line of people from very powerful world rulers to mom’s basement bloggers who have expressed likewise sentiments.
As for Harry Taylor,
He admitted being strongly anti-religious, but said people’s faith would have to be “very weak” for them to be offended.
Great point! And he, for one, would be exhibiting “very weak” atheism as anti-religion where he to be offended at being called to task for his childish shenanigans.
The point is: he will be utterly abusive towards you and if you react to his abuse then he will put you down for being weak—this is psychologically fascinating as it is tantamount to the characteristics of someone engaging in domestic abuse.
This is yet another case of what the atheist, Allahpundit, referred to by stating:
…wherever there’s an opportunity to antagonize an innocent believer, we’ll be there…
In case you’ve ever wondered why, even in a post-9/11 world, atheists rank below Muslims in terms of traits the public dislikes in a politician, wonder no longer.
See the posts “Porn For Bibles” and How “Atheists Devise Creative New Way to Alienate People” and “Atheist Activist” – driving a wedge between decent people and road side memorials for more along this line.