Atheists to put up ‘Jesus Myth’ billboards in U.S.
“American Atheists are planning to put up more holiday ‘Myth’ billboards… this year, the group’s planning to erect signs featuring images of Santa, Jesus, Poseidon and the devil next to the message: ’37 Million Americans know MYTHS when they see them.'”
Thirty-seven million Americans agree with me? So, why have there been atheists attacking me over the years – and extremely obnoxiously and viciously at that, precisely like rabid religious fundamentalists? In fact, some of these “atheists” have teamed up with Christians just so they can bash me. Others have “borrowed” my work and presented it as their own, while still others have sabotaged my work behind my back. Not to mention the stream of hate speech and falsehoods about my work, and the failure to admit error on the part of critics who have been demonstrated to be mistaken.
The fact is I’ve been online since 1995 providing evidence that Jesus is a mythical figure, and for two years before that I was circulating offline my “Origins of Christianity” article doing likewise. My book The Christ Conspiracy – which I am currently revising – was published in 1999 and has been read by tens of thousands.
Since that time, I’ve been assailed by both theists and atheists for my research. But apparently the concept of Jesus as myth is good enough to get a rise out of people during the holidays. Fortunately, there are other atheists who have been mythicists themselves and/or supported my work, and here we see another effort by the American Atheists organization to point out the obvious truth: To wit, the figure of “Jesus Christ” in the New Testament is a fictional compilation of characters and sayings from antiquity.
As but one example, in 1994, American Atheists’ then-president, Jon Murray, was quoted in LIFE magazine thus:
There was no such person in the history of the world as Jesus Christ. There was no historical, living, breathing, sentient being by that name. Ever. The Bible is a fictional, non-historical narrative. The myth is good for business.
That article was published a year after I began circulating my “Origins of Christianity” essay essentially saying the same thing. I read this quote when it first came out and believed that American Atheists therefore must be a mythicist organization. One of their publications was Dr. John Jackson’s Christianity Before Christ, which I used in my research. While apparently no one in the atheist community objected to Jackson’s research, when it was filtered through me, it became highly objectionable to some.
In the meantime, while my believing and nonbelieving critics have been carrying on thus, I have continued to do the difficult but important and fascinating research and to make it available as widely to the public as I possibly can – all without help from groups who apparently agree with my viewpoint.
American Atheists Holiday ‘Myth’ Billboards To Go Up In New Jersey, Ohio, Florida
American Atheists are planning to put up more holiday “Myth” billboards this year.
Last year, the atheist organization’s “Myth” campaign featured billboards with phrases such as: “You Know It’s A Myth. This Season, Celebrate Reason,” the Christian Post reports.
But this year, the group’s planning to erect signs featuring images of Santa, Jesus, Poseidon and the devil next to the message: “37 Million Americans know MYTHS when they see them.”…
Note the “protesting too much” from the Christian pastor in this Huffpo article:
Only the most dense and simple-minded person would put [Jesus] in the same category as the other three. Clearly, even those who lack a personal commitment to Jesus recognize that there was in fact some historical figure by this name–religious leader and teacher–around 2,000 years ago.
It is a fact how? For the past more than two hundred years, hundreds of scholars and researchers in America, Europe, Russia and elsewhere have put together an immense body of literature in a variety of languages, using sources dating back to remotest antiquity, logically and rationally demonstrating that Jesus Christ is as mythical a figure as is the Greek son of God Hercules. This massive body of literature within the field of what is called “mythicism” emanates from some of the most erudite individuals in history and has been appreciated by some of the most admired human beings the world has ever produced.
Since there is no credible, scientific evidence for the contention of a historical Jesus having walked the Earth 2,000 years ago, we are supposed merely to accept the word of individuals such as the pastor above, whose only “argument,” it seems, is to insult and ridicule us into submission to the extraordinary claims that have no extraordinary proof. “Most dense and simple-minded” for putting Jesus into the category of myth? Early Christian fathers such as Justin Martyr and Tertullian themselves put Jesus into that category with their comparisons of him with the “sons of Jupiter,” i.e., the Greek and Roman gods.
In Chapter 21 of his First Apology, entitled, “Analogies to the History of Christ,” Justin remarked:
And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-born of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propounded nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter.
Are Justin Martyr and Tertullian “dense” and “simple-minded?” Napoleon, Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson – all of whom appear to have dabbled in Jesus mythicism – are “dense” and “simple-minded?” How about the numerous clergymen and people with PhDs who have done likewise – they are “dense” and “simple-minded” too?
Once again essentially proving that the religion business is all about insulting people into accepting implausible and impossible doctrines without any hard evidence…
Further Reading
The Jesus Myth
Christ Conspiracy Articles
Freethought Nation Forums
Christian Terrorism and the Atheist Inquisition
13 thoughts on “Atheists to put up ‘Jesus Myth’ billboards in U.S.”
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It’s good to see that more and more people are acknowledging that Jesus Christ was a fictional character.
Thanks, folks.
Someone on Facebook asked the following question concerning this post and the ill-treatment I’ve received:
“Any misogyny aside, why do think this has been?”
Not sure you can toss the misogyny aside, as it appears to be rampant. The “boys club” behavior within the atheist movement is anything but rational and enlightened. It is frankly bigoted. Just as priests, pastors, rabbis and imams work so hard to keep women out of their field – such women like me, for example, so easily able to shred their fictional and delusional cults – so too do nonbelieving cultists not want a woman to have unraveled the biggest religious and philosophical mysteries on Earth. A woman not only free of male-dominant religious dogma but actually able to see that dogma even clearer than many of the supposed top thinkers on Earth – oh no!! We can’t have that now, can we? It’s all about ego, conceit and making a name for oneself – knock down the perceived “guru” so you can have her “followers.” Wait – “HER?!!!”
I’ve never been a member of any CULT, whether believing or nonbelieving. And my standing up to bullies began at a young age. After that time, I became the lightning rod for bullies. There are jealous, loudmouthed bullies in every field. And there are equally jealous nerds – especially in academia – who are gleefully rubbing their hands together as they exact their revenge.
In any event, the fact that I’m not just ranting and hating on religion and the concept of God certainly have something to do with it. That’s the cult behavior one must follow to fit in, apparently. Unlike these rabid ranters who seem to hate humanity’s religious and mythological creations, I see these creations as cultural artifacts to be appreciated as part of the fascinating human experience over the past several thousand years.
Instead of just trashing religious ideas and denigrating their creators or perceivers as unenlightened savages and primitives, I investigate their hidden meanings, revealing the wisdom and intelligence behind some of these perceptions. Apparently, it’s okay to denigrate the ancients and other cultures by just chalking up all religious and mythological creation to stupidity and ignorance – at least, that’s what these loudmouthed, conceited and arrogant bullies would like us to do, evidently.
I notice that not a few of these most rabid “atheists” wanted to be Christian pastors, and they are now extremely angry at themselves having been so “stupid” to fall for the Christ myth. Therefore, they have to defend their “baby Jesus” – how else can they explain how they were duped originally, to the point of wanting to push their “historical” son of God on everyone else?
Instead of being fascistic Christian preachers dictating everyone’s lives, these “atheist” preachers are now doing likewise within the nonbelieving cult.
Unlike the lemming poseurs, I’m a REAL rugged individualist – always have been, since the days when I played in the sandbox at the edge of the woods by myself – not a cult follower, whether believing or unbelieving.
Many “atheists” are as sociopathic as religious fanatics, and their “vision” of a religion-less future is as visionless as that of fundamentalists. I frankly do not want to see a world populated by bullies of any kind, whether theist or atheist, who insist we all think the same. These are NOT enlightened individuals, and they should not be treated as such or deferred to. They are actually harming the “atheist movement.” They are one of the reasons why atheists are so widely hated.
Atheists the most mistrusted minority in the U.S. ([url]http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releases/2006/UR_RELEASE_MIG_2816.html[/url])
Research finds atheists most hated ([url]http://newsjunkiepost.com/2009/09/19/research-finds-that-atheists-are-most-hated-and-distrusted-minority/[/url])
They are frankly lucky to count me among them in the sense that I am not a religious believer. Otherwise, I wouldn’t want to be associated with the most hated, mistrusted group of people in the U.S.
The atheist movement needs to clean up its act, obviously.
“They are one of the reasons atheists are so widely hated”.
In the United States maybe.
But as the second article you linked pointed out, “This situation is not the norm for most of the planet”. Both East and South Asian countries, as well as Europe, are fine with atheists.
Also, speaking from personal experience, I have never experienced any anti-atheist bigotry in my home country of Australia, despite the fact that I make it no secret I don’t believe in any god.
Its sad to hear that America still has so much trouble with the concept of freedom of belief.
As I recall you yourself have pointed out before, people should learn to judge others based on who they are as a person rather than on what they believe or don’t believe in.
I’m all for atheistic thinking where it is appropriate, and for the freedom to perceive otherwise if one is so inclined, such as while sitting on top of a mountain, feeling the “glory” of the universe, so to speak. To me, freethought is just that: The freedom to think as you wish in any given moment. It is only when those thoughts spill out onto others in a deleterious fashion that we may object – and both rabid theists and atheists have been guilty of this objectionable spilling over, spewing hate speech and engaging in shady behavior.
My point is, of course, that having tyrannical atheists who go around sabotaging and trashing others is no improvement over the system we already have.
Fanatics are fanatics, no matter which side of the coin they’re on.
unapposed
It would be so refreshing to finally see someone taking this battle to them (the religious). I think that we should not only have these billboards all over the Country but the truth, the provable, undeniable truth should be taught in schools. I think that the religious have had free reign in this Country long enough, it’s about time we start teaching our children the facts that brought Religion to the point it is now; murder, torture, genocide, lies and many attempts at world domination. Televangelists should be outlawed. Religion should be taxed; incomes, properties, all of it.
Thanks for blogging that article, Acharya. I knew that you had been viciously smeared over the years by both theists and atheists but, I was unaware just how malicious they were towards you and your work until I read through those links above. It just shows that some atheists can also be every bit as fundamentalist as the worst theists.
[b]”First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”
– Mohandas Gandhi[/b]
I’m reminded of this blog you wrote awhile back entitled, Preachers, priests quietly embrace the Christ myth ([url]http://freethoughtnation.com/contributing-writers/63-acharya-s/326-preachers-priests-bishops-quietly-embrace-the-christ-myth.html[/url])
Keep up the fantastic work that you do. You are now winning as far as I’m concerned, Acharya!
My Opiniion
Fascinating thread.
In my ‘unbias’ research, I have come to the conclusion that there is only ‘one way’ that Jesus–named–‘The Christ’ could have existed as a Man of Literal History. True or False–It fits in nicely with the 50,000 thousand year old + ancient Sun God philosophy.
He would have been an “Hierophant Grand Initiator” into the Sacred Mysteries. He would have had his 12 followers, 72 followers, all Typed and Symbolized after the very Ancient Astral (Zodiacal) Doctrines. In which case, no one would “Ever” know “Historically” who the Man literally was. As each Intiate into these Mysteries, would never meet him until they passed “Many” degrees up the latter of “Full Initiation”. And that full intiation included a symbolic death of your ‘Inner Self’ and a crucification of your Carnal Lower Passions. (i.e.) Passion of The Christ. Thus you would become “Twice Born”; “Born Again”–A Full Initiate then let into all the very ancient Philosophies of the World.
You can clearly see the “Initiation” process “Symbolized” in Jesus’s Transformation. And everyone will only clearly notice this–once they let go of the “Literal Sense” and return to the “Mythical Sense”. Oddly–“The Mythical Sense” does not “Destroy” the message. It better expounds the Ancient message!
What about the rest?
I see that they are only going after the Christians and their belefs. Will we see a corresponding billboard debunking Muslim, Jewish, Buddist, or Hindu belief systems. Is there going to be a sign criticizing Muhammad put up at Eid in Dearborn, Michigan? That would take tremendous courage, something I fear that they may not have.
Now that’s a really good point, Jacob. I’d love to see these atheists also criticize Islam with an equal amount of passion as they do Christianity. Both ideologies deserve it equally and so do all the rest.
I suppose they go after Christianity more since that is the majority here in America but, I’d still like to see them go after Islam as well. I wonder, are they brave enough to do so or are they afraid to criticize Islam? Maybe somebody will send them an e-mail and ask them that question and I’d love to see their response posted here.
Hi Jacob and Penny. I can see where you’re coming from in asking the question of whether Atheist and Freethinkers would be willing to target other religious groups as they seem to do Christians. I’ve been personally asked this question by people I know who are aware that I don’t subscribe to Christianity – or any religious beliefs. They’ve asked me why do the non-religious seem to be against Christianity but never seem to go after any other religious groups.
Okay Jacob and Penny, now I’ll ask you the same question I’ve put to them, which is this: “Can you name any other religious group BESIDES Christian groups that seem to want to push there religious practices and beliefs upon ALL Americans?” Now remember, we’re talking about right here in America. What goes on over in the Middle East is their business. So can you answer that question? Well I can. The answer is NONE.
It’s Christian Fundamentalist who are trying to shove their religious beliefs down everyone’s throat. And while there are many who know it’s wrong to do so but still do it anyway because they have an agenda, for the most part many who go along with it have simply been mislead to believe that this Nation was founded on Christianity. While this indeed is a Nation full of Christians it IS NOT a Christian nation. THAT’S THE PROBLEM. This Nation was founded by Freethinking Revolutionaries who penned a Secular Constitution for the Nation to be ruled by. It was not the intent of the Founders that this Nation be a Church-State rule like it was in the Old Country. It’s simply not Muslims, Buddhist, Hindu’s, Hare Krishna’s, and any other religious groups found here in America that are violating the Constitutional principle of Church/State separation. It’s Christian groups – and you know it. Instead of asking why no one is putting up a billboard debunking Islam, Buddhist, etc., why not ask yourself, “When was the last time we heard about any Islamic, or Buddhist groups here in America trying to force other Americans to adhere to their beliefs by putting ‘In Allah we trust’ on all our money, or saying ‘One nation under Buddha’ in our pledge, or putting up the ‘The Commandments of Hare Krishna’ in publicly funded schools, or putting a Nativity scene of ‘baby Mohammed and the three wise Imam’s’ on the state capitol, and the like. Yes, instead of asking why don’t we, ask yourself why should we.
I’m also an atheist and 100% support your research. :woohoo:
Even certain atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett support comparative religion studies. They’re probably not aware about your research though.
You could try setting up an interview with TheThinkingAtheist on youtube. He’s kinda similar to TheInfidalGuy in terms of friendliness and patience if you’ve listened to his podcasts.
I just don’t know whats the problem with certain atheists having trouble with admitting that Jesus is a myth. It’s like they’re not even aware that the first section of Zeitgeist 1 is just a very brief summary of your research.
The mythicist position just makes a lot of sense if you put the pieces together.
I’m constantly justifying myself to people who ask me why I don’t believe the bible. I simply tell them the truth – we all were born into a ready made world. Everything most people believe about religion they usually accept without evidence. Unlike Freethinkers, most religious people have never looked at religion from both sides. Heck, most Christians have never even read at least half the bible. I don’t even believe in the bible and yet I am constantly amazed by how many people I meet who do believe in the bible that actually know LESS about the bible than I do. I’ve mentioned LOTS of things that are found in the bible that a lot of them didn’t even know were in that book. But that didn’t shake their faith though. As far as they’re concerned, the only thing that matters is Jesus. Yes, the stories of the bible are indeed myths. The problem is that here in the United States – of all places – the biblical myths are being forced upon everyone. Our government continues to give in to violations of separation of church and state. That’s why I’m glad to see Atheist billboards which proclaim that not all Americans believe in the biblical myths. And I’m glad that Freethinkers like Acharya and others are making secular truths concerning religion known to all so that those of us who choose to stand up for our right to be free of religious dogma in our lives can intelligently present our case when challenged or called upon.
To XMAS And Beyond!
Here’s Seth’s AKA TheThinkingAtheist latest video.
It mentions the Winter Solstice as the celebration of the metaphorical rebirth of the sun and touches comparative religion. Just needs a bit more research, but it clearly sends a calm and polite message. 😆
To XMAS And Beyond!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T8Y1-VLjGQ