“William J. Kelly, a Chicago Republican, is suing the Illinois Secretary of State for allowing an atheist sign to be placed next to a nativity scene in the state capitol.
The sign read: “At the time of the winter solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is just a myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds,” according to the federal complaint filed last Thursday.
Kelly, who is running for the Republican nomination for state comptroller, tried to turn the sign face-down when he saw it during a visit to the Capitol on December 23, 2009, but Capitol police escorted him from the building, banned him for the day and filed an incident report, according to a CBS 2 report. ”
Read more at Huffington Post
Man, I can see how the atheists are kinda stuck by the law… But, as it’s root is to do with freedom of thought, then I don’t see how Kelly will win. And why do these guys get so damned terrified and upset about these things anyway? I guess they want to still believe in Santa and their world will fall apart if they don’t get to leave the carrots out for Rudolph…
“At the time of the winter solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is just a myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds,”
Is the sort of thing the Athiest Bus signs should have said, rather than the spineless PC slogans they went with.
(though they were still better than nothing, and more than i’ve done ofc)
that would be some long bus, mike!
i thought hate speech was defined as inflammatory speech inciting others to violence. this doesnt seem to qualify. wonder if the ku klux klan still holds its parades up there?
I see more to celebrate here in so far as, the capitol’s authoritees detained the guy for trying to deface the message.
Everything that upsets anyone in america ends up in court. I’m sure the Athiests will win this one too. Making it a double victory.
That said, some people put alot of eggs in the faith basket, and I know from especially tragic times in my family that faith has helped certain generations face the ‘unfaceable’. I respect the hope people get from their false belief in some all loving/all damning deity, and so I don’t really agree with the public condemnation of their traditions.
Why are Christians so scared of atheist propaganda? It’s about as effective in influencing people as all the signs outside churches telling us that ‘Jesus is the way’.
It’s a sad day when people stoop to using the law to force people to respect their beliefs. People should have the right to respect anything that they deem to be worthy of respect.
I know I am probably going to get a lot of stick for this but i don’t really think that atheist sign should have been placed NEXT to a nativity scene. I am an atheist and I like the fact that such signs exist, if I saw it on a billboard I will generally be pleased and likewise if I saw a nativity scene on a billboard it wouldnt really have any direct impact upon me. I think the sign makes a very valid point but of course its going to get a reaction. Religious freedom is part of democracy but don’t create some sort of religious signage death match in order to get your point across.
Would it be equally okay to provide another placard this year that states:
At the time of the winter solstice, let faith prevail. There is a god, devils, angels, heaven and hell. More than only our natural world. Atheism is just dangerous, hardens hearts and enslaves minds.
If so, then I see no issue. If not, then surely, that is not fair?
I’ve been thinking of getting an ‘A’ necklace because these crosses are quite annoying. As for doing an ‘A’ hand gesture that’s quite difficult. I do reckon the sign should have been used as a large back drop for this play but I suppose I am lacking respect and tolerance. Best not turn into a fundementalist.
an A just isn’t as good as a cross. With crosses, you can get all cutesy or as goth as fuck if you want. You can be a metalhead and have spiky bits all over it or you can be new-agey or anthropology-y and have Celtic cross or something. You can even have it really small and sleek and classy and make it look executive and tasteful if you’re boring like that. What can you do with an A? Everyone will just think it’s your initial unless you explain it and then they’ll be bored.
Can’t remember who said this, but freedom of speech doesn’t imply the right to a megaphone. As Jo Jo says, it matters that this sign was placed next to a nativity scene, just as it would matter if a “Jesus Saves” sticker were plastered on the door of a synagogue. It also matters that this happened, and was sanctioned, in the building of the state government. It also matters (though slightly less) that the sign was idiotic.
Rich has the right idea; just applied the logic the wrong way. They nativity scene is completely idiotic and offensive to many. If you want to put such a ridiculous display in your front yard, you have very right. However, the constitution specifically prevents government from recognizing one religious faith over another. So if the state capitol is dumb enough to allow one (Christianity) it must allow any faith (or non-faith) equal time. The secular sign states what the 30 million non-theists in this country know to be as fact. More importantly it stands as a clear message to the over 50 million non-Christian Americans (Jews, Hindu, Muslim, Shinto, etc. – and non-theists) that the Christians have no right claim privilege over anyone else. Time to turn down the Christian megaphone.
Kosmic — US constitutional law doesn’t appear to be on your side: http://bit.ly/d2HuR6.
I accept that US politics has a stronger Christian influence than UK politics does, and that might need to be resisted in some cases. But if cribs in foyers are starting to look like a major problem then people need to get out more, and if someone engages in schoolyard name-calling and spoiling tactics they should expect civil society to restrain them.
He’s a politician, this is free publicity.
He doesn’t care about free speech, he wants to get re-elected.
It doesn’t matter if he loses the case, he’s won votes.