Atheists offended by teddy bears...

[MrFun]

ooooohhhh


good point

[monolith94]

Hoenstly how many roadside crosses can maryland possibly have??? If I were to guess, I would say probably around 25...

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's under the 1st Amendement, the part about not being able to establish religions, which means no religious displays can be put up on public property.

Yes, yes, putting teddy bears and crosses were people were killed is a religious display and establishing religion....

Usually you are sane, che, but on this, you are an utter and total moron .

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Jamski
Nope, they're just pissed at seeing crosses EVERYWHERE, and people saying "God bless ____" and Xmas, and Easter, and St Patrick's Day. For an athiest its HELLISH having all this Christian stuff hanging around. If you are a Christian, imagine it the other way round - living as a Christian in an Athiest world. People would laugh at you for giving Xmas presents etc...

Walk a mile in the other guys shoes... (most atheists were brought up as Christians, so they have already seen the others side)

-Jam

Oh yea, lets just ban Christmas. Oh, and fine anyone who says "God Bless You" when you sneeze.

Atheist fundamentalism, a great term that was mentioned earlier. I agree, its gone too far.

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
[Q] Originally posted by MrFun

then organize mass prayer gatherings right outside their homes . . . . . .

And then you could burn them too.

Maybe they'll use some ******s for kindling too.

While Che's post was rather trollariffic, it does have a humorous irony to it that I'd like to point out. Cause I think its funny.

Besides homosexual, the original meaning for "******" is a collection of sticks and such to use for making fires. So Che unwittingly used that term properly, rather than bigoted, as was his intention.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Jamski
Nope, they're just pissed at seeing crosses EVERYWHERE, and people saying "God bless ____" and Xmas, and Easter, and St Patrick's Day. For an athiest its HELLISH having all this Christian stuff hanging around. If you are a Christian, imagine it the other way round - living as a Christian in an Athiest world. People would laugh at you for giving Xmas presents etc...

Walk a mile in the other guys shoes... (most atheists were brought up as Christians, so they have already seen the others side)

-Jam

Maybe it should be "Hellish" :hint:

Seriously, though, it isn't jack ****. If you or other evangelical atheists have problems with seeing Christian symbology, too damn bad if you're in the US. You don't have a right to not be offended. State endorsement of a religion is a far cry away from failure to hunt down and remove every possible sign, symbol, or mention of that religion in a public or quasi-public context.

Atheism is a simple belief there is no God. If you go beyond that, to having psycholigical issues with other people's beliefs, too damn bad.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
If you or other evangelical atheists have problems with seeing Christian symbology, too damn bad if you're in the US.

I don't care if somebody does it on his own property. But it's another story all together on public land. For starters, he has no right to do so.

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
State endorsement of a religion is a far cry away from failure to hunt down and remove every possible sign, symbol, or mention of that religion in a public or quasi-public context.

I agree, but why are some of the Christians got all steamed when it was suggested that public areas needed to be cleaned of such items?

[MrFun]

UR -- because individuals who express their religion in public schools, and other public places, such as road sides, is not involving any government's establishment of a specific religion.

Freedom of religion includes individuals having the right to express their beliefs in ways that does not infringe on other people's rights.

And no one has the right to be free from being offended. And if there are atheists out there that find some offense whenever they see someone expressing their religious beliefs, I wager that those atheists have some personal insecurity problems of their own.

[MrFun]

And if those atheists really insist on being obnoxious over a non-issue to satisfy their own insecurity, maybe I should rub it in for them some more.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by MrFun
UR -- because individuals who express their religion in public schools, and other public places, such as road sides, is not involving any government's establishment of a specific religion.

Certainly.

Still, an individual cannot just nail a cross at the end of a hallway in a public school and leave it there, right?

[OzzyKP]

Maybe if someone was shot there.

And I'm with you MrFun. Maybe my avatar will raise some fundy atheist ire.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Certainly.

Still, an individual cannot just nail a cross at the end of a hallway in a public school and leave it there, right?

Nailing holes in the walls of public property by an individual who is not the owner of that property is illegal anyway -- jackass.

I'm talking about personal expression through an individual's clothing, speech, and so forth that does not infringe on other people's rights.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger

I don't care if somebody does it on his own property. But it's another story all together on public land. For starters, he has no right to do so.

Not necessarily correct. The land use "issue" needs to be examined on a case by case basis, and some of these are not on public lands, but private easements, or private FSA land holdings adjoining public lands. Even on public lands, some private uses are permitted, and some may not be significant enough or permannet enough to require an easement or other formal permitting process. The mere presence of a religious symbol is also not disqualifying, in and of itself.

I agree, but why are some of the Christians got all steamed when it was suggested that public areas needed to be cleaned of such items?

Is there really such a "need?" I've yet to see any that constituted a real safety hazard, or interfered with driving on or maintaining the roadway. And I've seen quite a few.

I don't look at it from a Christian standpoint - for example, I think it was perfectly correct that the 5000 lb Ten Commandments sculpture needed to be removed from the 'Bammy state supreme court rotunda, due to the intent and prominence given it. There is a question of scale, and some of these "atheist organizations" (seems to be an oxymoron, how / why do you form an organization on the basis of what you don't believe in?) give the appearance that they'll do anything for publicity and/or to attack religious symbology anywhere they can. Nutbags draw a response from other nutbags, but sometimes they also draw a response from people who are just tired of nutbags with an agenda, but no sense of perspective.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
It's under the 1st Amendement, the part about not being able to establish religions, which means no religious displays can be put up on public property.

Crosses have been specifically forbidden by every court ruling for the past 30+ years.

Actually, I'd say it was protected by the 1st amendment, under "freedom of speech".

You know -- the most important one?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Still, an individual cannot just nail a cross at the end of a hallway in a public school and leave it there, right?

At the last public high school I attended, in good ol' liberal coastal northern California, the official campus Jesus-freak group had regular meetings after class. Nobody got bent, and it was perfectly legal, because they had no more nor less standing than any other officially recognized student group that met after school. There was no pressure to join from staff, no disapproval from staff towards the 99% or so who didn't bother, and I didn't get in any more trouble for punching out the leader* of the student group than for any other student I wailed on.

* In his proselytizing to me and a bunch of other kids, he went on about how great God was and how God intervened in everything in his life, so that when he was preaching to some gang member (we didn't even have such a thing then, but that's beside the point), the kid wanted to punch him, and tried, but couldn't, because God prevented him.

I luaghed in his face and said that if it wasn't total BS, the kid stopped because he didn't have the heart to punch out some little **** who stood there and wouldn't even defend himself. The moron insisted it was God protecting him because he was saving sinners. A discussion ensued, whereupon he told me God wouldn't let me hit him either... The first time, I pulled the punch, because the arrogant little **** was just gonna stand there, arms outstretched, and take it. Then he told me "see, God wouldn't let you hit me" so I told him "it wasn't God, it was me, you dumbass" and I knocked him on his ass.

I started the obligatory march towards the assistant principal's office, and when the kid was summoned, his explanation was that it wasn't a fight, it was from a religious discussion, and that God had used me to punish him for his arrogance.