The
Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to change VA materials and the VA website, which currently
promote "spirituality."
FFRF
makes this request to support the 23.1% of men and women in the
military who identify as atheist, agnostic, or as having no religious
preference.
FFRF
Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Eric Shinseki on July 29 requesting the VA stop promoting
religion and spirituality to veterans, thereby alienating nearly
one-fourth of veterans.
The
"Spiritual Healing and Connection" section of the VA website violates
the Constitution and pushes religion and "spirituality" on veterans,
FFRF charges.
"Not
only are they arbitrarily told that something is wrong with them, they
are prescribed 'prayer and reading scriptures' as one remedy," Elliott
wrote.
The
federal website endorses assertions from a VA chaplain that health
providers should treat "mind, body and spirit" saying, "Holistic health
is a three-legged stool. If one leg is missing, the stool isn't stable."
The website also encourages veterans
to visit VA chaplains. The military has refused to accept humanist or secular chaplains.
The
VA and its website imply that the nonreligious men and women serving in
the military are somehow incomplete, and demonstrate the lack of
resources and support available to them.
"The
VA is a secular branch of a secular government and has no business
interfering with the private religious views of its veterans," Elliott
wrote.
FFRF
sued the Department of Veterans Affairs over its integration of
spirituality into healthcare in 2006. The case was lost not in its
merits but on taxpayer standing in
2008.
FFRF
is a national nonprofit that works for the separation of state and
church and has 19,000 members, a quarter of whom are veterans.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Rabbi Impersonating a Cop (Allegedly) Redux
Couldn't he have just prayed instead? As reported in The New York Post on 7/19/2013:
In the space of about 19 hours ending yesterday, a Westchester County rabbi was arrested or arraigned on three separate charges of impersonating a cop.
In each case, Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski was angered when other motorists drove too slowly or cut him off, police say. So he allegedly flashed a phony badge and tried to get them to pull over.
The rabbi’s unusual case made headlines after his first arrest, and the story gained momentum as others came forward to tell authorities he tried to stop them while driving.
The latest arrest stemmed from an encounter in Yonkers in April when “what appeared to be minor road rage escalated,” State Police Investigator Joseph Becerra said yesterday.
He said Borodowski angrily waved a badge at a driver who cut him off on I-87. “Words were exchanged,” Becerra said. The other driver and his passenger “felt they were intimidated by this individual, and he was purporting to be a police officer.”
The passenger videotaped some of the encounter, he said. The footage is not being released.
Borodowski surrendered yesterday at a State Police barracks in Hawthorne and was charged with the misdemeanor form of criminal impersonation. He is due in court July 29
The rabbi’s lawyer, Andrew Rubin, said Borodowski suffers from bipolar disorder.
Yesterday’s arrest came just a few hours after Borodowski pleaded not guilty in Mamaroneck Village Court to the same charge, stemming from a June incident in which Borodowski is accused of pulling his Camry alongside a woman’s car, flashing a badge and shouting “Police! Police! Pull over!”
Cops said he told them, “That girl was driving too slow, and I hate when people do this.” He denied posing as a police officer.
Prosecutor Diana Hedayati reduced the charge to a misdemeanor because the rabbi did not commit another crime while allegedly posing as an officer.
Judge Daniel Gallagher ordered a psychiatric evaluation and adjourned the case to Sept. 12.
Borodowski did not speak during the proceeding and refused to answer questions outside court.
On Wednesday, Borodowski was arrested in White Plains. A driver there complained the rabbi had confronted him in a rage in May, claiming to be an officer and displaying a badge.
The driver said it appeared that Borodowski wanted him to drive faster.
Borodowski is still listed as the leader of a congregation in Larchmont.
Now Even Frum Jews Can Safely Go Down Under
According to The New York Post,
A West Coast manufacturer of personal lubricants says it’s become the first company to have its slippery stuff blessed for use by religious Jews.
Trigg Laboratories announced yesterday that the Rabbinical Council of California had certified 95 percent of its “Wet”-brand products as kosher after an intensive, two-year review.
As part of the process, the company said it submitted its entire 52,000-square-foot plant in Valencia, Calif., to strict “kosherization” procedures.
Approved “Wet” lubes will now be stamped with a “K” to show they meet the standards of Jewish dietary law, known as “kashrut,” which prohibits the consumption of certain animals and requires the ritual slaughter of those deemed edible.
In touting the certification, company founder Michael Trigg lifted a line from an old Hebrew National commercial for its kosher hot dogs.
“We’ve always maintained the highest standards of production and quality control for our entire line of premium products,” Trigg said. “The ‘K’ imprint on our packages says that we maintain the highest standards of purity and answer to a higher authority.”
The Rabbinical Council of California didn’t return a call for comment, but Trigg spokesman Dean Draznin said its review included checking the company’s manufacturing methods and suppliers of raw materials.
He said the certification ensures that none of Trigg’s products contain ingredients derived from pigs or shellfish, and that any other animals used to create the joy gels were treated humanely.
Draznin also said Trigg sought the certification because it plans to start selling its “Wet” products in Israel, where “its a given that if it’s sold, it needs to meet kosher laws.”
According to the Web site of the Orthodox Union, which calls itself “the world leader in kosher certification,” only three lubricants are currently certified kosher. But all three are industrial products for greasing hydraulics and machinery used in food preparation.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of the best-selling book “Kosher Sex,” hailed yesterday’s announcement.
“It’s nice to see that rabbis are not shying away from addressing sexual aid, which will facilitate great excitement in the bedroom,” he said. “People misunderstand Orthodox Jews, in that they believe that they have sex through a sheet with a hole in the middle, that Orthodoxy is profoundly prudish. Nothing can be further from the truth.
“Orthodoxy is profoundly passionate. Orthodox couples have great sex lives, they’re encouraged to. . . . Anyone who portrays Orthodoxy in a different light and . . . believes that Orthodoxy encourages sexual repression really knows nothing about the Jewish religion.”
An Orthodox rabbi who works as a kosher supervisor — but who didn’t want be identified due to the subject matter — said the newly kosher lube should glide off the shelves.
“There’s probably a market for it,” he said. “I’m sure for some people it’s better to have something that’s kosher than something that isn’t.”
Rabbi Impersonated a Cop To Speed Up Traffic
As reported by Associated Press on 7/15/2013:
Some drivers in the suburbs north of New York City were
startled when they saw a man waving his arms, honking his horn and
flashing a silver badge in a frantic effort to get them to pull over in
traffic.
Even more surprising was who was suspected of doing it: a respected rabbi.
Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski has been arrested in one case and is being
investigated in at least two more in which authorities say the apparent
reason for trying to pull people over was to rage at them for cutting
him off or driving too slowly.
"That girl was driving too slow and I hate when people do this," the 49-year-old Borodowski told investigators after he was charged with impersonating a police officer in June, when he allegedly pulled his Camry alongside a woman's car in Mamaroneck, flashed a badge and shouted: "Police! Police! Pull over!"
The woman, whose name has not been made public, did not pull over. According to her lawyer, Richard Clifford, the rabbi "just laid on the horn and started screaming at her" as she obeyed a 20-mph limit in a school zone. "She was so freaked out with the horn honking and the screaming that she called police immediately. ... I believe my client was in danger with this guy and if she had gotten out of her car it could have escalated."
Borodowski denied to police he was trying to impersonate an officer, saying he was telling the woman only that he would be "calling the police."
Police confiscated the badge, which read: "Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Officer 1338." Judie Glave, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the bridge and tunnel authority, said the badge is "totally fake."
Borodowski's lawyer, Andrew Rubin, acknowledged that the rabbi's behavior has been "manic" and said he's suffering from bipolar disorder. The lawyer said the rabbi will plead not guilty in court this week. A previous hearing was postponed because the rabbi was hospitalized.
The rabbi has been fired from a position at prestigious Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, one of the world's largest Jewish houses of worship. He also leads a congregation in Larchmont.
The odd saga of the rabbi has grabbed headlines in the car-centric suburbs and gained momentum after his arrest, when other drivers came forward saying he had tried to pull them over, too.
When Peter Moses' wife saw the story on the TV news, "She shouted, 'Oh my God, the guy who stopped us did it to someone else — and he's a rabbi!'" said Moses, a public relations consultant in White Plains.
Moses said that in May, a motorist tailgated him on a drive from Scarsdale to White Plains, "obviously trying to make me go faster" than the 40- mph limit. Instead, Moses slowed, and the driver passed him and then blocked his path.
"He's shouting, 'I'm a police officer, pull over!' and he's got this little badge that he's waving at us. I told my wife, 'That's not a police officer,'" Moses said.
"Then he's out of his car and he's screaming: 'I can arrest you! I can have you arrested!' I said, 'Fine, call the police,' then he storms back to his car and drives off."
Moses said his wife asked him not to report the incident but changed her mind when they learned of the arrest in Mamaroneck. "What we want is for the rabbi to get the emotional help he so obviously needs," he said.
Yet another driver handed State Police a video of a confrontation in late April on Interstate 87 near Yonkers. The man told authorities that he swerved in front of a driver who then flashed a badge and demanded that he pull over.
Police are not releasing the video, but a still image from it obtained by The Journal News shows a man who looks like Borodowski sticking his head out of his car window, his wispy graying hair blowing in the wind, who appears to be shouting and waving a silver badge in a leather case.
"He was holding up this tiny badge, and I knew the guy could no way be a cop in any sense of the word," the driver, whose name has not been made public, told the newspaper. When he challenged the man, he drove off.
The three complaints prompted the trustees of Temple Emanu-El to dismiss Borodowski as executive director of the Skirball Center for Jewish Learning "in the best interests of the congregation," said Mark Weisstuch, administrative vice president.
Borodowski was still listed as rabbi on the Web site for Congregation Sulam Yaakov in Larchmont. A call to the synagogue there was answered by a man who said: "No comment. That's his personal life."
The synagogue
of Congregation Sulam Yaakov in Larchmont, is depicted on Friday, July
12. The congregation's rabbi, Alfredo Borodowski, is charged with
impersonating a police officer by flashing a badge and ordering a fellow
motorist to pull over, angered by her slow driving.
Even more surprising was who was suspected of doing it: a respected rabbi.
"That girl was driving too slow and I hate when people do this," the 49-year-old Borodowski told investigators after he was charged with impersonating a police officer in June, when he allegedly pulled his Camry alongside a woman's car in Mamaroneck, flashed a badge and shouted: "Police! Police! Pull over!"
The woman, whose name has not been made public, did not pull over. According to her lawyer, Richard Clifford, the rabbi "just laid on the horn and started screaming at her" as she obeyed a 20-mph limit in a school zone. "She was so freaked out with the horn honking and the screaming that she called police immediately. ... I believe my client was in danger with this guy and if she had gotten out of her car it could have escalated."
Borodowski denied to police he was trying to impersonate an officer, saying he was telling the woman only that he would be "calling the police."
Police confiscated the badge, which read: "Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Officer 1338." Judie Glave, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the bridge and tunnel authority, said the badge is "totally fake."
Borodowski's lawyer, Andrew Rubin, acknowledged that the rabbi's behavior has been "manic" and said he's suffering from bipolar disorder. The lawyer said the rabbi will plead not guilty in court this week. A previous hearing was postponed because the rabbi was hospitalized.
The rabbi has been fired from a position at prestigious Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, one of the world's largest Jewish houses of worship. He also leads a congregation in Larchmont.
The odd saga of the rabbi has grabbed headlines in the car-centric suburbs and gained momentum after his arrest, when other drivers came forward saying he had tried to pull them over, too.
When Peter Moses' wife saw the story on the TV news, "She shouted, 'Oh my God, the guy who stopped us did it to someone else — and he's a rabbi!'" said Moses, a public relations consultant in White Plains.
Moses said that in May, a motorist tailgated him on a drive from Scarsdale to White Plains, "obviously trying to make me go faster" than the 40- mph limit. Instead, Moses slowed, and the driver passed him and then blocked his path.
"He's shouting, 'I'm a police officer, pull over!' and he's got this little badge that he's waving at us. I told my wife, 'That's not a police officer,'" Moses said.
"Then he's out of his car and he's screaming: 'I can arrest you! I can have you arrested!' I said, 'Fine, call the police,' then he storms back to his car and drives off."
Moses said his wife asked him not to report the incident but changed her mind when they learned of the arrest in Mamaroneck. "What we want is for the rabbi to get the emotional help he so obviously needs," he said.
Yet another driver handed State Police a video of a confrontation in late April on Interstate 87 near Yonkers. The man told authorities that he swerved in front of a driver who then flashed a badge and demanded that he pull over.
Police are not releasing the video, but a still image from it obtained by The Journal News shows a man who looks like Borodowski sticking his head out of his car window, his wispy graying hair blowing in the wind, who appears to be shouting and waving a silver badge in a leather case.
"He was holding up this tiny badge, and I knew the guy could no way be a cop in any sense of the word," the driver, whose name has not been made public, told the newspaper. When he challenged the man, he drove off.
The three complaints prompted the trustees of Temple Emanu-El to dismiss Borodowski as executive director of the Skirball Center for Jewish Learning "in the best interests of the congregation," said Mark Weisstuch, administrative vice president.
Borodowski was still listed as rabbi on the Web site for Congregation Sulam Yaakov in Larchmont. A call to the synagogue there was answered by a man who said: "No comment. That's his personal life."
Saudi Airlines Discriminating Against Israeli Citizens?!
I am not sure how this is news, but on July 15, 2003, The New York Post reported that "Saudi Arabian Airlines is discriminating against Israeli citizens by
refusing to fly them from US airports — even when passengers are simply
looking to transfer in Saudi Arabia to another country". Officially or perhaps unofficially, it wasn't only Israelis--no Jews are allowed to set foot in the kingdom. A long time ago, when I was working for Chase (now part of JP Morgan Chase), we had a Saudi client, the Bank of Ryiadh. Someone had to travel there to install the system, train the users, etc. My boss was very surprised to learn that I am Jewish (she naively thought that I was Russian), so I couldn't go. Neither could any other of my Jewish coworkers.
A simple Internet search yielded this article from 2 years ago. Like I said, how is this news?
A simple Internet search yielded this article from 2 years ago. Like I said, how is this news?
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Urge Google Execs to Stop Funding Sen. James Inhofe, Competitive Enterprise Institute
One
of the world's most powerful technology companies is giving tens of
thousands of dollars to politicians and special interest groups actively
engaged in misleading the public about the reality of climate change — and the Center for Inquiry wants you to tell them to stop!
Today (July 11) Google will host at its Washington, D.C. offices a fundraising lunch for
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma). Inhofe is no ordinary politician to be
lobbied—he's the most ardent climate change denier in Congress.
Spreading the notion that global warming is a "hoax" and a "conspiracy"
is Inhofe's marquee issue. He's even said that more CO2 in the atmosphere would be "beneficial to our environment and the economy."
And in June, Google was the
largest single donor to a fundraising dinner for the Competitive
Enterprise Institute (CEI), giving $50,000, according to the Washington Post.
CEI is an organization that denies the threat of global warming on
behalf of energy interests, and who infamously ran television ads
dismissing the fact that carbon dioxide (CO2) is a pollutant. ("They
call it pollution, we call it life," says the narrator.)
The Center for Inquiry is
shocked and deeply disappointed by Google's association with these
so-called "climate skeptics," and is urging is the company’s leaders to
examine their consciences and cease any further support or donations for those promoting harmful nonsense.
Click here to send a message to Google.
FFRF, ACLU to settle with Ohio school
July 11, 2013
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and individual plaintiffs have agreed to settle their lawsuit against the public school district in Jackson, Ohio, for displaying a large portrait of Jesus above the entrance to Jackson Middle School. The district has agreed to permanently remove the portrait.
Details of the global settlement of the issues will be released once they are approved by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley and by a probate court. Two of the plaintiffs are minors. The parties must file their settlement before the district court within 90 days.
Defendants are the Jackson City School District and Board of Education and Superintendent Phil Howard.
FFRF and the ACLU filed the suit Feb. 6 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio after FFRF sent an initial letter of complaint Jan. 2 to Howard, who stated “it would take a court order to remove the picture.”
Yeshiva U. Hit With $380M Suit Over Sex Coverup
By Rich Calder for the New York Post (7/9/2013):
Yeshiva University was slapped with a $380 million lawsuit yesterday by 19 ex-students of its prestigious all-boys high school, who allege that honchos there covered up decades of sexual and physical abuse.
The scathing 148-page suit, filed in White Plains federal court, alleges the university willfully turned a blind eye while two of its rabbis sexually assaulted then-teenage boys at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy in Manhattan between 1969 and 1989.
“It is time for these men to get the justice that they were denied as children,” said Kevin Mulhearn, a lawyer for the victims. “They feel they were robbed of their dignity and respect.”
Three of the plaintiffs allege they were attacked by Rabbi Macy
Gordon, a former teacher who is accused of sodomizing one victim with a
toothbrush during a violent attack in a school dorm room. The suit
alleges that the victim and his father reported the attack to the school
in 1980 — but that officials failed to report it to authorities and
that Gordon sexually brutalized at least one other boy.
The remaining 16 plaintiffs claim they were attacked by Rabbi George Finkelstein, a former principal at the high school.
Mulhearn said his clients opted to come forward decades after the alleged incidents after learning “they were not alone” following a December 2012 story in the Jewish newspaper The Forward in which then-Yeshiva University Chancellor Norman Lamm acknowledged both rabbis were allowed to leave quietly after students accused them of sex abuse. Lamm retired on July 1.
“To a man, these assaults have negatively impacted their lives, whether it’s some who suffer severe depression or others who have trouble having relationships with women,” Mulhearn said.
The victims range in age from mid-30s to mid-50s and reside as far as Israel.
Yeshiva University declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Yeshiva University was slapped with a $380 million lawsuit yesterday by 19 ex-students of its prestigious all-boys high school, who allege that honchos there covered up decades of sexual and physical abuse.
The scathing 148-page suit, filed in White Plains federal court, alleges the university willfully turned a blind eye while two of its rabbis sexually assaulted then-teenage boys at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy in Manhattan between 1969 and 1989.
“It is time for these men to get the justice that they were denied as children,” said Kevin Mulhearn, a lawyer for the victims. “They feel they were robbed of their dignity and respect.”
A lawsuit alleges the university willfully turned a blind eye while two of its rabbis sexually assaulted teenage boys.
The remaining 16 plaintiffs claim they were attacked by Rabbi George Finkelstein, a former principal at the high school.
Mulhearn said his clients opted to come forward decades after the alleged incidents after learning “they were not alone” following a December 2012 story in the Jewish newspaper The Forward in which then-Yeshiva University Chancellor Norman Lamm acknowledged both rabbis were allowed to leave quietly after students accused them of sex abuse. Lamm retired on July 1.
“To a man, these assaults have negatively impacted their lives, whether it’s some who suffer severe depression or others who have trouble having relationships with women,” Mulhearn said.
The victims range in age from mid-30s to mid-50s and reside as far as Israel.
Yeshiva University declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Friday, July 5, 2013
FFRF’s July 4 Ad Counters Hobby Lobby Disinformation
http://ffrf.org/images/FFRF_GodlessConst_NYT_11x21.jpg
The
Freedom From Religion Foundation is running a full-page ad celebrating
“our GODLESS Constitution” in a number of U.S. dailies on July 4.
FFRF,
a state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., serves as the nation’s
largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics).
The
ad is a direct response to a series of July 4 ads sponsored annually by
Hobby Lobby since 2008, which shamelessly promote the myth that the
United States was founded on God and Christianity. The large craft store
chain’s ads of disinformation appear to run in hundreds of dailies.
Although
FFRF can’t compete with Hobby Lobby by running ads in virtually every
daily, it is undertaking the single most expensive ad campaign in its
history to counter the Religious Right message. The ads quote U.S.
Founders and Framers on their strong views against religion in
government, and often critical views on religion in general.
The
ad features two revolutionaries and Deists, Thomas Paine and Benjamin
Franklin, and the first four presidents: George Washington, John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The ad documents that not only is
the U.S. Constitution godless, but that there was no prayer during the
Constitutional Convention, and that the Constitution’s primary
architect, Madison, came to oppose government days of prayer,
congressional chaplaincies and even “three pence” of tax dollars used in
support of religion.
The
ad includes a website link that not only documents the quotations, but
takes the reader to the original script in most cases!
FFRF’s
ad will run in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Arizona
Republic, Seattle Times, Albuquerque Journal, Chicago Tribune, Denver
Post and Columbus Dispatch.
Most
of the ads are in black and white, but a color version will run in The
New York Times and a few other dailies. The ad is also scheduled to
“play in Peoria.”
Taking its message of “In Reason We Trust” to parts of the bible belt,
FFRF has also contracted to run the ad in the Huntsville Times, Ala.;
Orange County Register, San Diego Tribune, Colorado Springs Gazette,
Orlando Sentinel, Louisville Courier Journal, Jackson Clarion Ledger,
Miss., Charlotte Observer, Tennessean (Nashville), and Oklahoma City’s
Daily Oklahoman. (Hobby Lobby is based in Oklahoma City.)
Atheists Unveil Monument Near Ten Commandments In Florida
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON:
STARKE, Fla. — A group of atheists unveiled a monument to their nonbelief in God on Saturday to sit alongside a granite slab that lists the Ten Commandments in front of the Bradford County courthouse.
As a small group of protesters blasted Christian country music and waved "Honk for Jesus" signs, the atheists celebrated what they believe is the first atheist monument allowed on government property in the United States.
"When you look at this monument, the first thing you will notice is that it has a function. Atheists are about the real and the physical, so we selected to place this monument in the form of a bench," said David Silverman, president of American Atheists.
It also serves another function – a counter to the religious monument that the New Jersey-based group wanted removed. It's a case of if you can't beat `em, join `em.
American Atheists sued to try to have the stone slab with the Ten Commandments taken away from the courthouse lawn in this rural, conservative north Florida town best known for the prison that confines death row inmates. The Community Men's Fellowship erected the monument in what's described as a free speech zone. During mediation on the case, the atheist group was told it could have its own monument, too.
"We're not going to let them do it without a counterpoint," Silverman said. "If we do it without a counterpoint, it's going to appear very strongly that the government actually endorses one religion over another, or – I should say – religion in general over non-religion."
About 200 people attended the unveiling. Most were supportive, though there were protesters, including a group from Florida League of the South that had signs that said "Yankees Go Home."
"We reject outsiders coming to Florida – especially from outside what we refer to as the Bible Belt – and trying to remake us in their own image," said Michael Tubbs, state chairman of the Florida League of the South. "We do feel like it's a stick in the eye to the Christian people of Florida to have these outsiders come down here with their money and their leadership and promote their outside values here."
After a cover was taken off the 1,500-pound granite bench Saturday, people rushed to have their pictures taken on it. The bench has quotes from Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the founder of American Atheists. It also has a list of Old Testament punishments for violating the Ten Commandments, including death and stoning.
"Some people think it's an attack simply by us exerting our existence. They put a monument on a public lawn that, if you put it in context, says atheists should be killed," Silverman said. "It is an attack, but it's an attack on Christian privilege, not an attack on Christians themselves, and not so much an attack on Christianity."
At one point someone in a car driving by tossed a toilet seat and a roll of toilet paper at the crowd. Neither struck anyone. At another point, Eric Hovind, 35, of Pensacola jumped atop the peak of the monument and shouted his thanks to the atheists for giving him a platform to declare Jesus is real. Atheists shouted at him, and he stepped down after about a minute. One man yelled that religion is a fairy tale.
"The problem is it's not a fairy tale," Hovind said. "We definitely have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."
Hovind and Tubbs did say they respect the right of the group to install the monument, even if they disagree with the message behind it.
And the atheists said they expected protesters.
"There always are," said Rick Wingrove, the director of a Washington D.C.-area office of American Atheists. "We protests their events, they protests our events. As long as everybody's cordial and let people speak. This is our day, not theirs. We're fine with them being here."
A call to the group that sponsored the Ten Commandments monument, the Community Men's Fellowship, wasn't returned. But the group gave Facebook updates on the legal battle with the American Atheists and praised the compromise that allowed them to keep their monument.
"We want you all to remember that this issue was won on the basis of this being a free speech issue, so don't be alarmed when the American Atheists want to erect their own sign or monument. It's their right. As for us, we will continue to honor the Lord and that's what matters," the group posted.
While Silverman said he believes religion is wrong and teachings in the Bible are violent, he said he welcomes non-Christian religions to follow the atheists' example and put in their own monuments in free-speech zones.
"I will back them because it will be their right," he said. "This is one of the tricks that Christians have used, because they go up and call it a free-speech zone and then they're unopposed. They get their government legitimization because nobody else calls their bluff and puts something in."
STARKE, Fla. — A group of atheists unveiled a monument to their nonbelief in God on Saturday to sit alongside a granite slab that lists the Ten Commandments in front of the Bradford County courthouse.
As a small group of protesters blasted Christian country music and waved "Honk for Jesus" signs, the atheists celebrated what they believe is the first atheist monument allowed on government property in the United States.
"When you look at this monument, the first thing you will notice is that it has a function. Atheists are about the real and the physical, so we selected to place this monument in the form of a bench," said David Silverman, president of American Atheists.
It also serves another function – a counter to the religious monument that the New Jersey-based group wanted removed. It's a case of if you can't beat `em, join `em.
American Atheists sued to try to have the stone slab with the Ten Commandments taken away from the courthouse lawn in this rural, conservative north Florida town best known for the prison that confines death row inmates. The Community Men's Fellowship erected the monument in what's described as a free speech zone. During mediation on the case, the atheist group was told it could have its own monument, too.
"We're not going to let them do it without a counterpoint," Silverman said. "If we do it without a counterpoint, it's going to appear very strongly that the government actually endorses one religion over another, or – I should say – religion in general over non-religion."
About 200 people attended the unveiling. Most were supportive, though there were protesters, including a group from Florida League of the South that had signs that said "Yankees Go Home."
"We reject outsiders coming to Florida – especially from outside what we refer to as the Bible Belt – and trying to remake us in their own image," said Michael Tubbs, state chairman of the Florida League of the South. "We do feel like it's a stick in the eye to the Christian people of Florida to have these outsiders come down here with their money and their leadership and promote their outside values here."
After a cover was taken off the 1,500-pound granite bench Saturday, people rushed to have their pictures taken on it. The bench has quotes from Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the founder of American Atheists. It also has a list of Old Testament punishments for violating the Ten Commandments, including death and stoning.
"Some people think it's an attack simply by us exerting our existence. They put a monument on a public lawn that, if you put it in context, says atheists should be killed," Silverman said. "It is an attack, but it's an attack on Christian privilege, not an attack on Christians themselves, and not so much an attack on Christianity."
At one point someone in a car driving by tossed a toilet seat and a roll of toilet paper at the crowd. Neither struck anyone. At another point, Eric Hovind, 35, of Pensacola jumped atop the peak of the monument and shouted his thanks to the atheists for giving him a platform to declare Jesus is real. Atheists shouted at him, and he stepped down after about a minute. One man yelled that religion is a fairy tale.
"The problem is it's not a fairy tale," Hovind said. "We definitely have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."
Hovind and Tubbs did say they respect the right of the group to install the monument, even if they disagree with the message behind it.
And the atheists said they expected protesters.
"There always are," said Rick Wingrove, the director of a Washington D.C.-area office of American Atheists. "We protests their events, they protests our events. As long as everybody's cordial and let people speak. This is our day, not theirs. We're fine with them being here."
A call to the group that sponsored the Ten Commandments monument, the Community Men's Fellowship, wasn't returned. But the group gave Facebook updates on the legal battle with the American Atheists and praised the compromise that allowed them to keep their monument.
"We want you all to remember that this issue was won on the basis of this being a free speech issue, so don't be alarmed when the American Atheists want to erect their own sign or monument. It's their right. As for us, we will continue to honor the Lord and that's what matters," the group posted.
While Silverman said he believes religion is wrong and teachings in the Bible are violent, he said he welcomes non-Christian religions to follow the atheists' example and put in their own monuments in free-speech zones.
"I will back them because it will be their right," he said. "This is one of the tricks that Christians have used, because they go up and call it a free-speech zone and then they're unopposed. They get their government legitimization because nobody else calls their bluff and puts something in."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)