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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 20242
[Civil]
Date Posted:
12/5/2008
4:10:11 pm EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 3,656
RSS: 17,910
Comments: 13
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Missing Atheist Sign Found In Washington State
Author: Mallory Simon Source: CNN
Title: MISSING ATHEIST SIGN FOUND IN WASHINGTON STATE
An atheist sign criticizing Christianity that was erected alongside a Nativity scene was taken from the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington, on Friday and later found in a ditch.
An employee from country radio station KMPS-FM in Seattle told CNN the sign was dropped off at the station by someone who found it in a ditch.
"I thought it would be safe," Freedom From Religion Foundation co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor told CNN earlier Friday. "It's always a shock when your sign is censored or stolen or mutilated. It's not something you get used to."
The sign, which celebrates the winter solstice, has had some residents and Christian organizations calling atheists Scrooges because they said it was attacking the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth.
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Community Thoughts: There are 13 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Gods Bless Them Atheists | Dec 8th. at 10:07:28 am EST
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John the Alchemist (Francestown, New Hampshire) - Email Me
A little sympathy for the Atheists, if you please. They have it rougher than the rest of us. When a Pagan explains his or her beliefs, he/she can do so without reference to any other faith. When the Atheists state their beliefs, however (a belief in reason) , it doesn't distinguish them - everybody believes in reason, or thinks they do. So the Atheist is left with negative arguments, stating what it is that they don't believe. In doing this they are forced into contrasting their beliefs with the predominant religions around them. It's tough to do this without coming off as strident at best and mean spirited and hateful at worst.
Fact is, the Atheists do all of us a great service. By approaching the world with their typical hard-nosed skepticism, they force all of us to examine our own beliefs and think about exactly what we believe and why. This is a good thing for all of us (although those who stole the sign obviously disagree) .
With that in mind, I extend season's blessings to all, Atheists, Christians, fellow Pagans and all others. We're only here for a very short time. Enjoy each other!
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| The Fine Line | Dec 7th. at 4:57:00 pm EST
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Tenryu (Manchester, Connecticut) - Email Me
It seems legally speaking, both of these groups do have a right to express themselves, although there is an issue of how you would express yourself. I think both sides are acting pretty nuts in this- if you have religious beliefs, I find it's best not to hide them, but also don't run around telling others that they are wrong, even if you think they are. Approach with an open mind, be able to accept that others may think differently from you, and real dialogue can occur. This knee-jerk fear response so prevalent among Christians, (although not all of them fall in this category) is an unfortunate by-product of fear.
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| Try A Little Tenderness | Dec 7th. at 12:40:38 pm EST
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AutumnFire (Macomb, Illinois) - Email Me
It seems that the operative word in this and many other cases is fear. The American population is changing with people from many non-Christian countries coming here to escape poverty, fear, political ,and religious persecution. Our ability to peek into the homes of people on the other side of the world by way of the internet brings us into contact with very different ways of living, thinking, and believing. Not all of us, or them, think it's a good idea to be so intimate in our interchanges and as a result, fear of the Other increases. Something as innocuous as putting up a sign next to a Nativity Scene or as horrendous as an attack on a building in which business is done around the world, is an expression of the same sentiment. Can we afford to be so blatant in our provocation of each other?
My Tupence
AutumnFire
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| Confusing | Dec 7th. at 5:41:10 am EST
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Hadriana (Rome, Georgia) - Email Me
I thought the sign was hateful too.
My reason prevail and stop there and that would have been better, IMO.
But the whole thing confused me - why do athiests even feel they need a sign in a religious type display if they have no God? Is reason their God? Is this not proselytization?
I don't think it should have been taken and thrown in a ditch, but I thought it was hateful and denigrating of others, as if ONLY the atheists have 'reason.'
I see no difference in that and "ONLY WE ARE GOING TO HEAVEN."
Whatever.
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| Don't You Love | Dec 6th. at 2:58:42 pm EST
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Rev. David C. Andrews (Salisbury, Maryland) - Email Me - Web
when someone complains about their rights as they bash anothers right? I'm not a christian but I would have taken the sign, to remove the hated spreed by it. So what if someone is christian, Muslim, atheist, or whatever, so many people seem to forget that a large majority of citizens are religious in some fashion or another and by putting up that sign, are doing exactly what they claim is being done to them....But least us not forget 90% of the people we deal with everyday are Christians and we never know except by the good they do around them. If we are going to decry tolerance than it MUST be tolerance for all.....Until they hurt someone as this sign does in its highest degree.
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| Do You See What I See? | Dec 6th. at 1:05:19 pm EST
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Greenman (Columbus, Indiana) - Email Me - Web
At the end of the article, Barker admits that when he looks at the Nativity scene, what he sees is "hate". To paraphrase an old saying, "Hatred is in the eye of the beholder".
I admit that when I think of the Church, many bad memories come back to me, as well as accounts of history that detail the Church's cruelty and violence throughout history.
But unlike Barker, when I see the Nativity, I don't always see the Church's darkside. Sometimes, when I have looked into the creche, I can see the Sun Child being born, giving us hope.
Religious symbols mean different things to different people. It is often what is inside of us that we project onto a symbol.
So it is good to ask ourselves: when we attack others, are we figthing our enemy or are we fighting a battle that is within ourselves? Sometimes the answer is "no", but all too often, if we are honest, the answer is "yes".
blessed be,
Cern
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| "Civilized" For Some -is Only A Veneer.... | Dec 6th. at 11:14:28 am EST
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
I'm with Shrek on this one. When he was asked what the problem was with him, he replied that he had no problem with the world-- but it was the World who had a problem with him.
Our problem isn't who starts the argument or who finishes, it with those who insist on keeping it going. While I am more than happy to let them be, I wish they would be equally as content to do the same.
But until they are, we-and others will have to deal with this nit-picking vandalizing barrage of hatred thinly disguised as "peace and love" that they do so well.
Usually, these people that do these things one couldn't call "good christians" either, but are usually the kind one finds in a holding cell after the usual barfight or domestic disturbance.
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| ... | Dec 6th. at 9:22:00 am EST
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
The primary duty of the xian is to "spread the word to everyone." What makes those loonies think that there are still people out there who haven't heard of their mythological Jebus? Is their faith truly that weak?
By the way, I would love nothing more than to be able to bullsh*t with xians...if the conversation didn't ultimately turn into a conversion attempt like it usually does.
My favorite dialogue relating to "why not tuck the pentacle under your shirt" comes from X2: X-Men United:
Nightcrawler: Excuse me? They say you can imitate anybody, even their voice.
Mystique: [in Nightcrawler's voice] Even their voice.
Nightcrawler: Then why not stay in disguise all the time? You know, look like everyone else.
Mystique: [back in her own voice] Because we shouldn't have to.
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| I'm With Indira | Dec 6th. at 4:42:38 am EST
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Errapel (Lowestoft, England) - Email Me
Why couldn't the sign have celebrated atheism without bashing religion? I mean I personaly found the sign offensive, in the same way I'd have found a Christian sign saying "Repent ye now sinners!" offensive. Why? Because it makes the implication (or in some cases flat out says) that "If you don't believe what I believe you're an idiot/bad person." Quite frankly I believe that's rude no matter what your religious standpoint.
Sure they had the right to say it, and the theives were wrong for stealing it. But couldn't they have had a nice message that didn't call religious people hardhearted and brainless? Like:
"This Winter Solstice, may logic and reason prevail. May we all spread good cheer for goodnessake, and celebrate the end of the old year."
(Not a poetical masterpiece, but you get the idea.)
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| Why Can't People Just Be Nice? | Dec 6th. at 3:23:35 am EST
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Indira (Niles, Ohio) - Email Me
After reading that sign, I feel a bit of sympathy for the sign-stealers. No, it wasn't right or nice of them to steal the sign, but the sign itself was rather mean-spirited. Instead of merely celebrating Atheism and the season is a positive light, it was a mean, negative attack on anyone that believes in *any* religion, not just Christianity (though it did use some examples of Christian mythology, it did not focus solely on that religion) .
Why can't we just celebrate Winter Solstice, Kwanza, Yule, etc and "being good for goodness' sake" without criticizing another religion? I'm sure some people will answer that "they've criticized us in the past!". Well, I'm sorry but I believe in leading by example, not 'stooping down to their level.' Especially during a season that by most accounts is supposed to promote kindness and giving and other 'warm fuzzy feelings'.
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| ... | Dec 5th. at 7:03:28 pm EST
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
Celebrating who's birth? Last time I checked, the mythological Jebus was nothing - NOT ONE THING - more than a haphazardly-constructed work of plagiarism.
In other news, welcome to the land of persecution from ignorant xians, atheists.
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| A House Divided? | Dec 5th. at 6:40:09 pm EST
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
I'm glad they found the sign. They aren't the first to have their emblems and messages desecrated by xtian types who regularly preach love and tolerance and yet practice neither.
While the sign is viewed by some as a bit heavy handed, they still had a right to speak their minds, and I agree with their sentiment. christianity- is- the intruder. Atheists are not scrooges, it is xtian fundies that seem to display the hardest hearts in many matters, especially when confronted by an opinion they find distasteful. These are a people who seem to seek to make enemies of their fellow americans for not bowing down to their narrow ideas of worship or lifestyle.
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| Missing Atheist Sign... | Dec 5th. at 5:15:03 pm EST
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Lady Blackrose666 (Los Angeles, California) - Email Me
How sad there is so much intolerance in the world today that people resort to stealing and dumping a sign expressing an opinion they don't like!
Granted, I feel the wording of the atheist group's sign was a little heavy-handed; even so, for someone to throw it out just because they didn't agree with it? How childish!
I'd like to see how much these christians would protest and yell if someone tore down a sign of theirs!
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