American Atheists Missouri

Edwin Kagin, Legal Director for American Atheist, will be the guest tonight on Fox Business Channel talking about the AA lawsuit challenging the so-called WTC “cross.” Edwin will be on “Follow the Money” with Eric Bolling. The program is on the Fox Business Network channel, which is different from Fox News Channel, check your local listings.

An atheist group is filing a complaint on  Monday in an effort to
block display of the “World Trade Center Cross” which  is schedule
to be part of a memorial display commemorating the 9/11  attacks.

The “cross,” one of many thousands of t-joints in the  WTC
construction, is part of the debris found at Ground Zero. From  the
moment it was “discovered ” in the rubble, the cross has  attracted
devoted followers and worshipers who offer various  supernatural
interpretation of its significance.

Plaintiffs in the  state court lawsuit include American Atheists
and four New York City  residents. The attorney for the action is
Edwin Kagin of Union,  Kentucky.

Dave Silverman said that any government enshrinement of the  cross
was an impermissible mingling of church and state. The  ”cross,”
which had been displayed appropriately at a church, was moved  to
the 9/11 memorial on July 23, 2011.

“The WTC cross has become a  Christian icon. It has been blessed
by so-called holy men and presented as a  reminder that their god,
who couldn’t be bothered to stop the Muslim  terrorists or prevent
3,000 people from being killed in his name, cared only  enough to
bestow upon us some rubble that resembles a cross. It’s a  truly
ridiculous assertion.”

Mr. Silverman added, “This cross is now a  part of the official WTC
memorial. No other religions or philosophies will be  honored. It will
just be a Christian icon, in the middle of OUR memorial. As  a public
accommodation, the memorial must allow us (and all other  religious
philosophies) to include our own display of equal size inside  the
museum, or not include the cross. Equality is an all-or-nothing
deal.”  More information, including the complaint filed on Monday
morning, is  available at atheists.org

Atheists celebrated the full spirit of July 4 th  yesterday,
including their campaign to achieve full social equality  that
featured an armada of flying banners declaring:

“God-LESS America  - atheists.org” and “Atheism is Patriotic -
atheists.org”

Planes  featuring the provocative banners took off in 26 states.

“This campaign  would have been unthinkable just a few years ago,”
said Dave Silverman,  President of American Atheists. “Non-believers –
atheists, freethinkers,  humanists — are in the fastest growing
demographics in the United States  .”

“There’s still a dark side here, though,” Mr. Silverman added.  ”We
tried hard to have our peaceful banner campaign in all fifty  states,
but we encountered companies that refused our business, and  pilots
who said they were either afraid to fly planes with an  atheist
message, or simply refused to do so on sectarian religious  grounds.”

Blair Scott, Communications Director for American  Atheists,
observed that despite successes like pride events, conventions  and
the popularity of atheist-themed books, “we still face a  serious
uphill battle in being accepted as ‘worthy’ Americans.”

“Polls  show that regardless of qualifications, more than fifty percent
of Americans  would not vote for an atheist candidate running for
public office. So, it’s  no surprise that some companies do not want
our money, or that even pilots  would refuse to do their job.”

“Imagine if an atheist openly refused to  do business with, say,
a Catholic or Jew or black person. There would be a  justifiable
public outcry!”

Dave Silverman added that one criticism of  the banner campaign
included accusation that atheists took a “belligerent”  or
“in-your-face” approach.

“That’s very strange,” said Silverman.  ”When religious groups
advertise their events or express their opinions, it’s  ’freedom
of speech.’ When we do the same thing, a double-standard  takes
over We’re accused of being obnoxious or ‘insulting  believers,’
which is not what we’re trying to do.”

“Anyone who insists  that atheists don’t have the right to speak
out should get used to our  campaign to win full public acceptance,”
said Mr. Silverman. “We have a lot  of other interesting publicity
campaigns in the works. We’re just getting  started.”

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends  civil
rights for non-believers; works for the total separation  of
church-mosque-temple and State; and addresses issues of First
Amendment  public policy.)

As Americans head for  vacation spots or fire up their backyard
grills this weekend to celebrate  Independence Day, they will be
seeing more than fireworks when they look  up.

Planes trailing banners will be flying throughout the nation  with
messages like:

God-LESS America — Atheists.org and
Atheism is  Patriotic – Atheists.org

“The purpose of the banners is to highlight the  fact that atheists
are everywhere, in every parade, on every beach, and in  every state,
city, and town,” said Dave Silverman, President of American  Atheists.
“Atheism is alive and growing in the U.S. “.

“Over 45  million Americans profess ‘no religion’ according
to studies like the  American Religion Identification Survey,”
Silverman added. “Many of us use  terms like atheist, freethinker,
secularist, or humanist to describe our  philosophy; and most of us
agree on the necessity to separate church, and  State.”

Blair Scott, Communications Director for the group, says  that
planes will be flying the banners in 26 states. “Our goal was
to have  this promotion in all fifty states, but some airplane
advertisers  declined.”

Still, said Scott, the airplane banners are “the next step” in  a
campaign which has included a series of controversial billboards  ,
including one last December erected at the entrance to New York’s
iconic  Lincoln Tunnel.

“We know that some people think we should not have the  right to
broadcast our message,” added Mr. Silverman. “But what better  time
than Independence Day weekend to speak up peacefully and  declare
‘Yes, we’re all Americans”

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a  nationwide movement that defends civil
rights for non-believers; works for  the total separation of
church-mosque-temple and State; and addresses issues  of First
Amendment public policy.)