Theists and Atheists tend to get into plenty of spats here at DailyKos. Emotions start running high, people start getting angry, and then we've got a full-blown meta pie fight on our hands.
But what I want to highlight, right now, is the unity and respect with which most atheists and theists are treating each other. Yes, there are comment wars going back and forth, and some insulting things are being said. I won't bother to link them, you'll find them easily enough yourselves.
I do, however, want to highlight the Atheists who are standing up for our plural and secular society.
I've read your stories. I know how many of you have been harmed by the abuses of people within one religious institution or another. Yet, you continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the believers here, like me, who want a society where church and state are separate.
Yes, there are institutions, organizations, and laws that link the two, dangerously. But where we find right wing political interference with our liberties based on thinly argued religious appeals, we will eradicate them. When the right attacks reproductive rights, we will stand against it. When the right prevents progress on marriage equality, we will march to victory.
Where we find the vestiges of puritan control, where we find civil religion, we will see it eradicated, together. Theists, and non-theists, together.
Because that's what a secular, plural society ultimately means.
So, while we will continue to have our debates and our disagreements, I want to say thank you.
Because almost everything I want to say in response to the two diaries on the reclist, and the comments within them, has already been said.
And as a believer, my heart is warmed by the fact that most of it has been said by my progressive atheist and non-theist allies.
Thank you.
It is my hope that we can soon put this debate behind us for a time, and work together to prevent the ascendancy of a right wing that seeks to undo a century of secular progress.
7:11 PM PT: Reclist?
Thanks, Kossacks.