Now I'm going to talk about the OTHER topic I rarely discuss openly -- religion. I'm prompted to do so because of an article I just read on CNN.

So in Washington state, a group of atheists were allowed to display a verbal placard alongside the nativity scene and menorah. The placard reads:

"At this season of the winter solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but a myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

I will be the first to admit that I have my own issues with religion. If you ask me if I believe in God, I will struggle with my answer. I was raised a Catholic, and I do attend mass mostly once a week. But my reasons for doing so are mostly because of my family, and not my own personal faith. I guess I can sum up my beliefs with the famous tag line from The X-Files: "I want to believe."

That being said, I view the words on this placard as a violation of my rights as an American citizen. Basically, these people are telling me that what I believe is wrong. What right do they have to tell me that? What right do they have to say, "No, what you believe in is wrong. You're being unreasonable." What happened to freedom of religion? What happened to my right to believe whatever I want to believe, without persecution?

This has nothing to do with me being a Catholic, or a Jew, or a Muslim, or an atheist. This is about the rights granted to me by the Constitution of the United States of America.

The group who placed the placard has stated they felt it was important to express their views alongside everyone else. They seem to be missing a very important fact here -- they aren't expressing any view. Instead, they are negatively saying that everyone else's view is wrong.

This quote really had me shaking my head at how ignorant this person is:

"If there can be a Nativity scene saying that we are all going to hell if we don't bow down to Jesus, we should be at the table to share our views."

Wow. Just wow. I know you're an atheist dude, but seriously, you should at least research what you're opposing before you start talking about it. Seriously now, has any rational person looked at a nativity scene and thought, "OH NO I'M GOING TO HELL! AUGH!" Give me a break. It's a baby in a manger, with his parents looking at him. That's it. Where's the fire and brimstone? Where's the text that says, "BOW DOWN TO ME OR SUFFER ETERNALLY IN THE FIRES OF HELL?" Show me. (You're going to struggle a bit with that one, because it's not there.)

The nativity scene is a symbol. The menorah is a symbol. They are used to celebrate the holiday. Now, THAT being said, I will agree that atheists should be allowed to display their OWN symbol to celebrate their OWN holiday. That's only fair, right? If I get to publicly display what I believe, they should also be able to publicly display what THEY believe.

But, they sort of find that difficult, don't they? I mean, atheism is based on the principle of believing in...nothing. So therefore, that's exactly what they should be allowed to display, in my opinion.

Or, if they are celebrating the "Winter Solstice", how about a picture of a snowman? Or the planet Earth?

But, a sign telling me that my beliefs are wrong is completely inappropriate.