So just a little discussion about what happened at UTSA today...
The Atheist Agenda group were swapping pornography for people's bibles/religious texts today. There was a whole big whoopla and whatnot, obviously.
Now, I'm not really for either side. I'm pretty much neutral in this entire situation. It didn't affect me at all. I didn't even SEE the demonstration. One thing I DO agree on is that it was fairly tacky of the group to do this. But that doesn't take away from the fact that in the USA the group had every right to do this. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion (or lack thereof), Freedom to Assemble... you get the picture.
I knew there would be people taking offense, and I expected people to get riled up... that was the entire purpose of the demonstration. They wanted people's attention and reactions and they got it. What I DID NOT expect (although WHY I didn't I have no idea) was... people attacking me when I pointed out that they had the right to do this; as if because it didn't follow THEIR believes then they didn't deserve the same rights- and the outright dirty looks I got from people (which hurt more than people saying anything to my face because I think of these people as my close friends) as well as hearing about people discussing me after I had left.
I also heard this today: "People shouldn't mess with religion." I'm surprised by this, because nobody batted an eye when a Christian group passed out Bibles across campus last semester. I was personally affronted because it always feels like a slap in the face when people assume that everyone is Christian, and when people say America is a Christian nation, etc... But most people find it completely acceptable for a Christian group to spread their believes, but when other groups spread theirs... it's all of a sudden not okay to have freedom of speech. It's not okay for other people to have a different opinion.
I am normally not very vocal about my opinions because I dislike being treated as I was today. I don't debate because people make it personal when you don't agree with them and to be honest I don't feel as if I can always word what I think in the best of ways. But I decided to do something different today.
The Atheist Agenda group were swapping pornography for people's bibles/religious texts today. There was a whole big whoopla and whatnot, obviously.
Now, I'm not really for either side. I'm pretty much neutral in this entire situation. It didn't affect me at all. I didn't even SEE the demonstration. One thing I DO agree on is that it was fairly tacky of the group to do this. But that doesn't take away from the fact that in the USA the group had every right to do this. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion (or lack thereof), Freedom to Assemble... you get the picture.
I knew there would be people taking offense, and I expected people to get riled up... that was the entire purpose of the demonstration. They wanted people's attention and reactions and they got it. What I DID NOT expect (although WHY I didn't I have no idea) was... people attacking me when I pointed out that they had the right to do this; as if because it didn't follow THEIR believes then they didn't deserve the same rights- and the outright dirty looks I got from people (which hurt more than people saying anything to my face because I think of these people as my close friends) as well as hearing about people discussing me after I had left.
I also heard this today: "People shouldn't mess with religion." I'm surprised by this, because nobody batted an eye when a Christian group passed out Bibles across campus last semester. I was personally affronted because it always feels like a slap in the face when people assume that everyone is Christian, and when people say America is a Christian nation, etc... But most people find it completely acceptable for a Christian group to spread their believes, but when other groups spread theirs... it's all of a sudden not okay to have freedom of speech. It's not okay for other people to have a different opinion.
I am normally not very vocal about my opinions because I dislike being treated as I was today. I don't debate because people make it personal when you don't agree with them and to be honest I don't feel as if I can always word what I think in the best of ways. But I decided to do something different today.
"fairly tacky" dude. Hardcore tacky. And kind of offensive.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I totally agree with you. They have a right to free speech and they were expressing it. If the people listening didn't like it, they could have left.
I don't feel this exactly thing around A&M. It's such a Christian school that I honestly think any other religious group is slightly afraid to speak up. I do feel it politically though -- I cannot count the number of times I have been personally attacked for being pro-life or even slighty-less-than-conservative. Freedom of speech exists for the Republicans/Conservatives here, but not for anyone else.