Saturday, July 26, 2014

Atheists to get their own TV channel. This is a GREAT idea, said no religious person ever.

Courtesy of The Telegraph:

 ....next week sees the launch of America's first dedicated TV channel for non-believers. Atheist TV launches in New York and will broadcast 24 hours a day via Roku, the internet streaming service that allows people to watch internet-based channels on their TVs. Roku only has seven million subscribers, but anyone can watch it streamed online at www.atheists.tv 

Free-thinkers, as atheists style themselves, remain almost bizarrely under-represented in American public life and discourse. There is not a single openly declared atheist among the 535 members of Congress, and it is conventional electoral wisdom that the President of the United States has to be a believer. 

The profile of atheism is very slowly starting to change, with an increasingly vocal atheist community, including high-profile adherents like Brad Pitt and Mark Zuckerberg. Even so, non-belief, is still a very long way from acceptance.

The channel is backed by American Atheists, the civil rights organisation founded in 1963 that takes a pretty confrontational approach to defending separation of church and state, including fighting a legal battle against the "9/11 miracle cross" being placed in the museum commemorating the September 11 attacks 

The organisers tell me the channel will broadcast 24 hours, mostly with licenses and pre-recorded content, such as documentaries by the Richard Dawkins Foundation as well as a talk show titled "Atheist Viewpoint" and a call-in show, "Atheist Experience". 

I don't know what I'm going to enjoy more watching more, interesting thought provoking programming featuring the likes of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and other freethinkers, or simply watching all of the conservatives and fundamentalist heads exploding.

I think they should dedicate an entire day to an "Inherit the Wind" marathon.

Another day could be dedicated to airing clips of religious apologists getting hitchslapped.

And perhaps yet another to  George Carlin comedy routines.

I'd watch that.

This may seem a trivial thing, and perhaps it is. But it is yet another sign for Atheists that it is starting to be okay for us to come out of the closet and proudly proclaim our emancipation from the chains of religious intolerance. 

24 comments:

  1. "But it is yet another sign for Atheists that it is starting to be okay for us to come out of the closet and proudly proclaim our emancipation from the chains of religious intolerance."

    What I've been saying for years! -- Athisism is the New Gay.
    If they can get their rights, so can we!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14 AM

      Rights?
      You have the right to believe what you believe. Maybe I'm not versed on discrimination against atheists. The latest polls show 85% of Americans are believers, so don't get to excited about some kind of enlightenment. I would hardly compare a chosen religious belief to a natural condition in human DNA.

      Delete
    2. Leland10:20 AM

      As much as it pains me to admit it, atheist acceptance is probably a pipe dream as long as such a large percentage of the world is religious.

      Technically, yes, it is in the same legal category and should be won the same way here. But considering the world's history of fear and hatred of atheists (not to mention the loud screaming from the religious right), there will probably not be a more difficult legal battle.

      Delete
    3. We are all born Atheists/

      Delete
  2. Anonymous9:55 AM

    Maybe we don't get respect because of the name athiest. Maybe we could rename ourselves "Reasonable People".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No! IN fact, fuck no!

      Allowing the conservatives to shame liberals, gays, feminists, and atheists into being afraid to embrace who they are, and what they stand for, has been going on for too damn long!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:06 AM

      Oh, sorry to upset you.

      Delete
    3. Sorry, a little pet peeve of mine.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous9:59 AM

    If that is even SOME of their content, I will totally watch it.

    ~Roku Owner

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roku has 429 channels under the heading of "Religion and Spirituality".

      Compare this to only 232 channels under the heading "Movies & TV".

      I think some balance is overdue.

      Delete
  4. I confess to having become completely nauseated at so-called Christian beliefs being thrown at me in virtually every medium and every context. It isn't the expression of religious belief so much as the ASSUMPTION that of course I "must" believe the same way, that this "Christian" world view is just the way things are.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nikogriego10:28 AM

    I would be interested to see how Christopher Hitchens gets on the show, and what he talks about, since he has been dead since December 2011.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Videotape is forever. At least if it is digitized and stored properly.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous10:30 AM

    What will Christopher Hitchens have to say when he is on the show? It will be interesting to find out, since he has been dead since December 2011.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry I was assuming that the visitors to this blog were intelligent enough to realize that I was referring to showing taped interviews with Hitch and debates where he demolished his opponents.

      And since we have discussed his passing here at IM several times, I did not think that was something which required pointing out yet again.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:40 AM

      Really? You were so proud of your ludicrous comment you had to post it twice?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:05 AM

      Christopher Hitchens is DEAD? For reals?I had no idea! Oh noes!
      Eyeroll.

      Delete
  7. Leland10:32 AM

    I was very sorry to see Pete Stark lose last year's election. But the "conventional wisdom" says he lost because his opponent convinced voters he was "out of touch", NOT due to his being an atheist.

    After all, he was a Democrat in the House for 40 years.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous10:41 AM

    Now were talking!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Phyllis10:45 AM

    There was an atheist in Congress up until he lost his primary in 2012.
    Democrat Rep. Pete Stark of California served from 1973 until 2013.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think the should play Cosmos, both of them.

    I'd love to see all of James Burke's "Connections" series rebroadcast too.

    There are plenty of science and history documentaries that are non-thiest in nature.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous11:47 AM

    G -

    This is good news - wonder if I will be able to get it. Sure you will run some of it from time to time.

    OT - Crooks and Liars has posted an article, "Sarah Palin's Oddball Speech In Denver Sounds Downright Inebriated".

    Pat Padrnos

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous11:59 AM

    Any pictures of Todd in a church? Is he is a closeted Atheist?

    But on the other hand ...Sarah says Dog opens doors for her; and we have seen Todd open doors for her. Todd may be Dog!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anita Winecooler7:25 PM

    Thanks for the heads up. I'm getting ROKU so I can Tivo it.
    It's about time. Mrs OHare was so right about the monkey on the back analogy.
    I hope it makes it to more mainstream stations as well.

    ReplyDelete

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