Last year, atheists at the University of Texas instituted a program entitled the “Smut for Smut campaign,” in which Bibles and religious paraphernalia were exchanged for pornographic materials. They asserted that pornography was no worse than the “smut” found in religious texts. Apparently the campaign was so successful that the same group elected to reinstitute the program this year.
The Examiner reports, “A student atheist group, the Atheist Agenda (logo, left), located at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), is once again engaged in their annual ‘Smut for Smut’ campaign, in which they offer pornography in exchange for Bibles, or other so called ‘holy’ texts.”
Kyle Bush of the UTSA explains the campaign: “It is to send a message that the stuff in the Bible, and the Quran, and the Torah, and all that sort of thing is, in our case worse, in our opinion, than pornography.”
The Examiner did not miss the opportunity to take its own stabs at the Bible in defense of the atheist group:
“Members of Atheist Agenda are quick to point out that the Bible and other religious texts are just as obscene as any pornography. According to the group, the Bible contains all sorts of misogyny, violence, torture, and questionable sexual practices. Indeed, the Bible, the Koran, and other religious texts are often filled with the most disgusting, degrading images: genocide, infanticide, incest, and the sexual abuse of children.”
Besides representing an unbelievable misunderstanding of the Christian Bible, the Examiner’s assertions indicate the unfortunate success that atheistic groups have had on the undermining of Christian faith in recent years.
Last year’s “smut for smut” campaign coincided with the $100,000 erection of a number of atheistic billboards by the United Coalition of Reason. The coalition defended its billboards contending that they were merely trying to increase the visibility of atheists within local communities, and the overall peaceful message on the billboards were ultimately defensible. The “smut for smut” campaign, on the other hand, is clearly antagonistic in nature, part of the systematic attempt on the part of atheists to undermine the teachings of Christianity.
Unfortunately, the campaign to chip away at Christianity has been successful. Today, Christians continue to comprise a majority of the American population, approximately 75 percent. In 1990, however, the number was far larger, with 86 percent of Americans proclaiming themselves to be Christians.
Commenting on the surge of atheistic sentiment that continues to gain momentum in the United States, blogster Ben Witherington wrote, “I mean when is the last time you found people ranting and raving for so long about something or someone who, according to them, doesn’t even exist? I don’t see people writing angry diatribes shouting, ‘Unicorns aren’t real-get over it!’ In fact, I don’t even see many Grinches writing best sellers entitled ‘Santa Claus is a myth.’ ”
Understandably, Christians are angered over the “smut for smut” campaign at the University of Texas. Last year, the campaign prompted such fierce opposition that police presence was required on campus after angry Christians attempted to tear down signs and verbally attacked the atheists. In the end, school officials asserted that the group maintained the right to continue their campaign as a right to freedom of speech.
David Gabler, a spokesman for the UTSA, was pleased with the University’s decision. “As long as students are not violating laws or violating the Constitution, they have the freedom of speech and assembly.”
As the student group maintains that it will only provide the pornographic material to students 18 years or older, the group has not engaged in illegal activities.
