Jeff's Lunchbreak

I don't often simply post links to news stories, and this one was already mentioned on Pharyngula, but it happened close to home, so I figured I'd include it here.

The latest attack by militant atheists in the war on Christmas has been carried out in Bryan, Texas. The Atheist Vuvuzela Marching Band had the gall to participate in a Christmas parade, playing Christmas carols on their horns, wishing people a 'Merry Christmas', 'Happy Hanukkah', or 'Merry Kwanzaa'.

Some residents were upset by this:

"Wasn't exactly happy about the Christmas Parade this year, I spent many years teaching my children to love and respect other people and to love the fact that they were children of God and I don't feel that they should be influenced in any other way especially not at a Christmas parade," said Tina Corgey, who is a lifelong Bryan resident.

Corgey brings her three kids to the B/CS [Bryan/College Station] Christmas Parade every year.

She said she was disgusted by what she saw on Sunday.

"If you have younger children they weren't going to understand but I have older children, a teenager, 8-year-old and they were curious and they asked questions and it was hard for them to believe and understand that there are actually people out there that don't believe in God," Corgey said.

And from a little later in the article:

Tina Corgey believes the paraders performed in bad taste.

"It just, I think it could have been done somewhere else," Corgey said.

Apparently, some people are offended just by the very existence of atheists.

Oh well, a bit of perspective is needed. The article only quoted one resident who didn't like the atheists participating in the parade. So, there's no way of knowing just how controversial it was. My guess is that most people didn't really care too much (except for the fact that they were playing freakin' vuvuzelas), and this was just a reporter trying to make a story.

The article also plays a bit fast and loose with its quotations. The actual quotes by Corgey don't put her in the best light, but they're not too horrible. The statements that she was disgusted, and that she thought the performance was in bad taste, weren't direct quotes. So, was that really a paraphrase of what she said, or the reporter's interpretation?

So, it is disappointing to see someone with the views of Corgey, but to quote a single resident of a town who's upset about something isn't really all that shocking.

Added 2010-12-10 Well, I just happened across another article on the parade from the local newspaper, The Eagle. There's a short mention of the atheists in that one, and it doesn't indicate that there was a lot of controversy over their participation. There are a few negative remarks in the comment section of the article, but that's what people have come to expect in a comments section. So, just like the whole War on Christmas, this appears to be mostly a manufactured controversy.