In an op-ed for the Huffington Post, transhumanist and “presidential candidate” Zoltan Istvan argues that atheists should have the right to skip airport security entirely, because atheists “aren’t attracted to terrorism.” (RELATED: HuffPo Op-Ed Defends Michael Brown’s Stepfather: Jesus Incited Riots, Too!)
In the op-ed entitled “Is it Time for Fast Track Atheist Security Checks at Airports?,” Istvan says the idea occurred to him as he sat frustrated in an airport line. As he looked around, he realized that a turban-clad Sikh (gasp!), a Muslim woman (gasp!) and a Catholic priest (double gasp!) were all stuck in line with him.
“I couldn’t help but wonder if I really had to wait in hour-plus lines since no atheist — so far as I could discover — has ever been accused of bombing or highjacking [sic] a plane,” he writes. “Atheists aren’t attracted to terrorism since they’re too level-headed to believe they know all the answers to the universe.”
“However, numerous aviation terrorist attacks have been committed in the name of religion–many during peacetime,” he continues. “And it’s not just Muslims that are doing it, either. Christians have done it, as well.” (RELATED: Huffington Post Can’t Decide What’s Worse: Beating Women Or Being Pro-Life)
“I envision a fast track line for atheists at all commercial airports, with only visual screening from a distance by TSA personnel. To use such a line, a traveler would simply have to publicly check that they’re an atheist when getting ticketed, and then off they’d go through security with no wait.”
While many high-profile hijackings involve religion, hijackers have been motivated by financial gain, political beliefs and mental illness as well. And anyone can lie about being an atheist.
“For atheists like myself, to wait in dreaded airport security check lines for about five hours in the last month, is unacceptable,” he complains. “There must be better methods to move secular society forward, and it could start with a conversation about fast track atheist lines that force people to think about religion’s true social and economic cost.”
