Saturday, September 23, 2006

Shocking!

Conservatives, PZ, and I all actually agree on something! Sub-zero temperatures predicted for Hell.
Promoting a secular view of the way the world works does not mean we are obligated to censor references to mythical entities. I think "VeggieTales" is tedious dreck, and my kids were never into it, but some kids and parents are…and they should have the privilege of watching it. Reducing what children watch to inoffensive pablum, where every possible controversy and opinion is eradicated so that the boring message they all get is a toothless "be nice", is not how we want to improve the boob tube...

Puréeing television content is going to hurt the minority views most of all. That kids don't get to see some talking broccoli thank God on NBC doesn't mean they aren't going to be saturated in religious messages in the home and church, but it does mean that spineless television executives will point to this decision as a rationalization for removing any atheist or non-Christian expression from their shows, too.
Like PZ says, this is not what secularism is about. Unlike one of the Big Lies told by the Religious Wrong, we aren't out to eliminate all mentions of deities and other mythical entities from the world. People like me just don't want those mythological beings having influence in a inherently coercive institution like a government.