“At this season of THE WINTER SOLSTICE may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

— a sign in Olympia, Washington Legislative Bldg., soon found lying in a ditch after it was removed

Link to the story here.

As a mostly secular, agnostic Jew with (non-Hollywood) kabbalistic leanings, there is much I sympathize with there: no afterlife, an appreciation and awe of and for the wonder and beauty of the world and nature, and an understanding that the myths and superstitious practices and traditions that are a part of all religious belief can harden the hearts of humanity and trap their minds. But by that very token an atheistic look at the world, in my view, is very bleak, and does not have any space — a needed one — for a deeper understanding of the spiritual world and what it can offer.