Nothing Says 'Loser' Quite Like...

[Teallaura]

...kicking over the other kid's sand castle. (I have a more colorful metaphor but this is a family show.)

Florida Atheists Scrub Away Highway Blessing

The latest fight between atheists and religious groups leaves one asking who really crossed the line.

Polk County, Florida, sits smack in the middle of the Sunshine State containing several highways drivers travel through to make their way between major cities in the state. Last year, area religious leaders formed a group, Polk Under Prayer (PUP), that decided to bless the Pasco-Polk county line along Highway 98. PUP’s director said the act was done so that “God would protect us from evildoers, mainly the drug crowd, that they would be dissuaded to come in to the county.”

This gesture has apparently offended area atheists deeply enough that they felt the need to organize an event Saturday to symbolically scrub away the holy oils used by PUP to bless the county line. Bay News 9 reports that the atheists, organized by Humanists of Florida, used “unholy water” to remove the blessing and wash the road because it made them feel uncomfortable:

Yep, losers. Although 'bigoted hypocrites' also comes to mind...











This is why I avoided other atheists back when I was one...

[JimL]

...kicking over the other kid's sand castle. (I have a more colorful metaphor but this is a family show.)

Florida Atheists Scrub Away Highway Blessing




Yep, losers. Although 'bigoted hypocrites' also comes to mind...











This is why I avoided other atheists back when I was one...

I'd be willing to bet that the Athiest retaliation was more of a symbolic gesture or political staement than it was about being uncomfortable about holy water. They are Athiests, they are not bothered by holy water since to them there is nothing holy about it.

[Leonhard]

Public purity rituals get the thumbs down from me

[Mountain Man]

I'd be willing to bet that the Athiest retaliation was more of a symbolic gesture or political staement than it was about being uncomfortable about holy water. They are Athiests, they are not bothered by holy water since to them there is nothing holy about it.

They were obviously bothered about something to make such a big show about scrubbing it off the highway.

[nickcopernicus]

...kicking over the other kid's sand castle. (I have a more colorful metaphor but this is a family show.)

Florida Atheists Scrub Away Highway Blessing
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Yep, losers. Although 'bigoted hypocrites' also comes to mind...
[...extra line breaks removed....]
This is why I avoided other atheists back when I was one...

Nick:
Perhaps their reasoning for knocking over the other child's sand castle was to demonstrate the inanity of building a sand castle in the first place, des ne?

Meh, I just found it amusing.

[Mountain Man]

Perhaps their reasoning for knocking over the other child's sand castle was to demonstrate the inanity of building a sand castle in the first place, des ne?

So they were just being jerks? Yeah, I could buy that.

[Nathan Poe]

So they were just being jerks? Yeah, I could buy that.

No bigger jerks than the people who "blessed" the highway in the first place. Tit for tat -- one meaningless gesture for another.

[mossrose]

No bigger jerks than the people who "blessed" the highway in the first place. Tit for tat -- one meaningless gesture for another.

If the first gesture was so meaningless, why did the atheists bother to even think about it? And to think about it so much that they had to "symbolically" wash whatever happened to be left there........

There is nothing in "holy oil". There is something in prayer, and that can't be washed away.

[Cow Poke]

I'd be willing to bet that the Athiest retaliation was more of a symbolic gesture or political staement than it was about being uncomfortable about holy water. They are Athiests, they are not bothered by holy water since to them there is nothing holy about it.

Jim,

If you're going to defend atheists, could you at least spell the word correctly? And it doesn't need to be capitalized (except at the beginning of a sentence), as it is a common noun, not a proper noun.

Thanks

[NeilUnreal]

Some people define themselves by positive and for something, some by being reactionary and against. In my experience, the former are generally happier, whether they are religious people or atheists.

-Neil

[princesa]

No bigger jerks than the people who "blessed" the highway in the first place. Tit for tat -- one meaningless gesture for another.

I thought it apparent the people who came together as a community to take action to do something symbolic as a stance against what appears to be druggies pervading their neighborhood, as a sort of noble thing. It wasn't a sort of Rambo action with guns blazing against the druggies b/c they likely sensed it would be dangerous, it was message, it was safe, it was positive light for the youth of that community.

With that said, it doesn't surprise me, but always leaves a pang, that some would call that type of attempt at positive reinforcement in a community to be the work of 'jerks'. The words "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world"....I see both powers were at work here.

I hold animals in higher regard than the subhuman species that actually took the time to get people together to tear down the positive message people were trying to get across against the druggies from all children, not just the Christian ones. I'm sure after they took those signs down "a great time was had by all". People who are quick to destroy any notes of encouragement that disagrees with their philosophy just b/c they can't see the bigger picture ahead remind me of the verse "Let the dead bury the dead". So many dead people breathing on this earth.

[Mountain Man]

No bigger jerks than the people who "blessed" the highway in the first place. Tit for tat -- one meaningless gesture for another.

I'm not sure why you consider the people who did the initial blessing to be "jerks". What was wrong with what they did, exactly, and why was it necessary for a group of atheists to go to such lengths to "undo" what you unconvincingly insist was a meaningless gesture?

I honestly don't understand the atheist mindset on this one.

[Xru]

I'm not sure why you consider the people who did the initial blessing to be "jerks". What was wrong with what they did, exactly, and why was it necessary for a group of atheists to go to such lengths to "undo" what you unconvincingly insist was a meaningless gesture?

I honestly don't understand the atheist mindset on this one.

Because he identifies with the atheists and is himself a jerk.

This is pure and simple a peeing contest. Territorial. You know that male thing. Testosterone.

I'd suggest taking a concrete cutter and cutting the words into the road.

It could get fun very fast.

[mossrose]

I remember a few years ago, I set up a table in the local grocery store to get some signatures on a petition to send to the Canadian government to take a harder stance against pedophiles.

The petition was from Focus on the Family. Almost everyone that came into the store were happy to sign the petition, and I got more than 500 sigs in less than 6 hours. And I live in a fairly small community.

The man I remember the most clearly is the one who picked up a pen to sign, then saw the Focus on the Family letterhead on the petition. He then refused to sign because it was a "religious" institution that had spearheaded the petition.

In spite of me asking him whether or not he cared enough about the issue of pedophiles getting a fairly easy ride in this country, he simply would not sign the petition. So, I had to assume he cares less about the issue OR the children affected than he did about where the petition came from.

I don't understand that logic. And this instance in Florida reminds me of the man who wouldn't sign the petition. If there is any sort of "religion" attached to something, no matter what the cause, some people are just blinded by their own stance.

[Mountain Man]

I have to wonder if these atheists would have felt so strongly compelled to "undo" the blessing if it had been performed by Muslims or Buddhists or Wiccans.