Some of you may have heard about a group of New York Atheists objecting to the naming of a street, “Seven in Heaven Way” because they see word heaven as a religious term and the agreement by the State to allow the name on public property as a violation of the U.S. Constitution under the “separation of church and state” clause of the 1^st amendment to the United States Constitution.

Let’s begin by reading the 1^st amendment to the United States Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Next, let us look at the definition of heaven:

heav·en

1. The sky or universe as seen from the earth; the firmament. Often used in the plural.

2. Christianity

a. often Heaven The abode of God, the angels, and the souls of those who are granted salvation.

b. An eternal state of communion with God; everlasting bliss.

3. Any of the places in or beyond the sky conceived of as domains of divine beings in various religions.

4.

a. Heaven God: Heaven help you!

b. heavens Used in various phrases to express surprise: Good heavens!

5. The celestial powers; the gods. Often used in the plural: The heavens favored the young prince.

6. A condition or place of great happiness, delight, or pleasure: The lake was heaven. I long to go to a place free of earthly pain and suffering.

Now, let’s look at the idiotic remarks made by Ken Bronstein, president of the New York City Atheists:

Next, David Silverman, president of American Atheists, agreed with Mr. Bronstein:

You can read the rest of the story by clicking on the following link: http://tinyurl.com/3vjt69xif you are so inclined. For now, let’s go back and examine the wording of the 1^st Amendment and apply it to the alleged violation as perceived by these atheist groups:

Question one: Does the sign violate the prohibition against the “establishment” of religion? The answer is clearly no. Religion, in the general sense, has already been established and is an integral part of society’s fabric at present.

Question two: Does the sign violate the principle that the state should not respect an established religion over others? Again, the answer is clearly no. All of Christianity believes in heaven and hell. I think that is a given. Even though the Torah makes no mention of heaven, most Jews believe in eternal justice and an eternal afterlife: http://tinyurl.com/6udtm. Moslems also believe in an eternal afterlife or heaven: http://tinyurl.com/4232l4t as well. Hindus have the most diverse set of beliefs. One can also be an atheist and a Hindu. There is only one truth and so all perspectives are accepted. Most belief that life is a cycle that begins with birth, life, death and rebirth. It is also accepted that after several cycles of rebirth, that eternal pleasure can be achieved by becoming one with the cosmos (heaven). Of course, there are more examples of other religions that also believe in some form of heaven, but the point is clear: this street sign and the government’s approval of it does not represent the government “respecting the establishment of religion” and that by approving the use of the sign, it is keeping its duty to ensure there is no “prohibition of the free exercise thereof”.

More people are moving away from the mysticism of religion and more toward the one tool man possesses that distinguished him from the lower life forms on earth – the power of the mind. The mind is used to perceive reality through our senses, to use those percepts to form concepts and to use concepts to develop and to pass along knowledge that betters our chances for survival and the survival of our progeny because we have the ability to pass it along for them to develop even further. Our mind is the only tool we have to survive the terrors of the natural world. We have no claws, no formidable teeth, minimal speed and agility in comparison to most animals and we are born naked; devoid of protection from the elements. Only the reasoned activity of the mind protects us and allows us to be the dominant species on this planet.

For atheists to indulge in nonsensical behavior such as fighting to have signs removed because of the mere mention of “heaven” only strengthens the resolve of many mystics to hold onto their reliance on a witch doctor at the expense of logic, reason, philosophy, ethics and science. To be effective, atheists should concentrate more on highlighting the strengths of this latter group of principles and sciences. They should work to compare and to contrast then against the weakness and the historical tragedies that come with relying upon faith alone as the ultimate means of defining and directing man as he goes about living on earth.

As an atheist who believes strongly in principle in general and the principles of Objectivism specifically, I have one message for Messrs. Bronstein and Silverman and those they represent: use your mind and work harder to grow up and to function as reasoned rational beings. You’ll accomplish a lot more and damage atheists like me less. The manifold problems religion imposes on man through fear and intimidation will not be overcome or swept aside in a lifetime. Our founders, through their acceptance of the early stages of the Age of Enlightenment, have set us on a course toward better lives and living standards by freeing us of the dual tyranny of both kings and churches – the Regnum/Imperium and Sacerdotium – the dual swords that still force some segments of mankind to bow down to and to serve two masters often with conflicting world views and laws. We are more than two centuries away from the birth of our founding documents and have made little progress in terms of moving people, government and society toward the justice of logic, reason and science and away from the whimsy of witch doctors and mystics. What makes you think that hyper-aggressive activism will give you what you want any faster, especially when such activism is baseless, irrational and built upon false premises?

Our founders have left for us, instead, a peaceful but long path to maximum liberty and minimal subservience to others and the means to accomplish it without feeling the end of the whip of authoritarian force. It is up to us to decide to keep and to build upon the freedoms we were left by setting a rational, prudent and steady pace that helps us toward our goals. The alternative is to lose the battle, and to ultimately sit in an open field with our superstitious brethren and pray that the tornadic whims of a few won’t rip from us our dreams, our fortunes and our humanity. Trying to fight fire with fire only ends when the entire city is burned to the ground. Choose wisely.