Olbermann's Worlds Worst: NYC Atheist Bus campaign's donor

June 30, 12:28 PMBoston Atheism ExaminerJacqueline Lavache

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Last night Keith featured the New York City atheist bus campaign as part of his “Worst Persons” segment. The reason? The donor of $10,000 to the campaign wished to stay anonymous, which contradicted the message of the bus to encourage people to come out and stop hiding their atheism.

Keith Olbermann Said: Tonight’s worst persons in the world. The bronze: To the person who donated the scratch for ten thousand dollars worth of ads on the sides of buses in New York City, promoting atheism. They read, “You don’t have to believe in God to be a moral or ethical person.” The hope, from President Ken Bronstein of the group NYC Atheists, is to get people to stop hiding their non-belief — to stop hiding it. No complaint about the message — however, while Bronstein says, “We want to get atheists to come join us, to get out of the closet,” unfortunately the donor who made the ads possible is keeping his identity anonymous.

On the point that it is somewhat hypocritical for an anonymous donor to donate such a large sum of money for a message that encourages coming out but refuses to do so himself, I get it. I wish the donor would be more open as well, however, I always maintain that coming out is a personal choice and no one should be forced to do something that can have serious negative consequences on their life. Despite this point I appreciate the donor’s willingness to support a message that doesn’t only promote coming out, but a sense of community for those who may lack it due to their non-belief.

While Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Persons” is largely hyperbolic, the tone of his statement implies hypocrisy on the part of the NYC atheists for accepting anonymous money, which to me shows that Keith Olbermann does not understand the serious issues that can arise from coming out atheist. As Greta Christina says:

There are some realities about living as an atheist that you may not know about, Mr. Olbermann. Coming out as an atheist can have serious real-world consequences. Parents get denied custody of their children for being atheists. People get harassed and vandalized by their neighbors for being atheists. Teachers get suspended for being atheists. Teenagers get harassed and suspended from school for being atheists. Politicians whip up anti-atheist fear to try to get elected. (And that’s just in the US. I’m not even talking about parts of the world where atheism is a crime, punishable by imprisonment or death.)”

By focusing on the anonymity of one donor, Mr. Olbermann ignores and seems to mock the very difficult situation atheists are in. As Hement Mehta states from Friendly Atheist:
 

In most other cities, money for the ad campaigns came from hundreds of anonymous small donors.
 

“In NYC, the money came from one large donor. (It’s not that they couldn’t get tons of small donors, but if someone wants to give you all the money for the ad, you take it.) Had the person *not* remained anonymous, I suspect much of the publicity they’ve received would’ve focused on the donor and why he/she wanted this message heard.
 

“With the anonymity, the focus has been on the message itself. Just as it should be.
 

“There’s also a possibility that the donor feared being associated with atheism (it could cost him/her a job or a spouse) but wanted the message to go out regardless. Some people don’t come out because of the stigma associated with the term “atheist.” You can still urge others to come out even if it may not be the right move for you personally.”
 

Considering I have just written an article on how coming out as an atheist can be harder than coming out gay, it is upsetting and disappointing to me that a news reporter whom I have always appreciated would belittle the struggles of atheists. I would hope that Mr. Olbermann had the integrity to realize that the anonymity of the donor does not make the message of these bus ads any less important and vital for the atheist community and the promotion of positive atheism. Sometimes other people have to be out for those who can’t and maybe, just maybe, help change the stigma that prevents people from coming out and eventually make it possible for them to join the ranks of outspoken atheists.

On a final note, plans are in the works for a bus campaign here in Boston. Hopefully Boston Atheists will soon join the ranks of all the other cities that have followed the London atheists in reaching out to people in our community.