Comments on: Illinois Comptroller Candidate William J. Kelly Vandalizes Atheist Sign

By: muggle

muggle — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:25:58 +0000

Short and pithy? My favorite quote — Margaret Sanger: “No gods, no masters”. Short, pithy and kind of says it all.

I like the FFRF sign, always have and always will. Can we please stop kissing ass in the culture wars before we PC ourselves straight into oppression? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re a lot less free than we were 30 years ago. The time has come to take a hard stand.

By: The Skeptic: Blog » Weekly News and Blog Roundup

The Skeptic: Blog » Weekly News and Blog Roundup — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:36:43 +0000

[...] expressing his disgust for those with no religious inclination. Illinois comptroller candidate William Kelly took it upon himself to vandalise an Atheist sign that stated that “Religion is but myth and superstition”. Fortunately his ‘what would Jesus [...]

By: Staceyjw

Staceyjw — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:19:31 +0000

I may be in the minority, but I LIKE the sign. How often do we get to say something like this while so many others are listening- and they have to allow and protect it!

Besides, we ALL know that it doesn’t matter what it says, xtians will bitch about it regardless. This douchbag would have donesomething regardless of the wording, because its the fact that we are vocal at all that bothers him.

Yes, I get the honey vs vinegar thing, but public atheist messages take the “high ground” and strive not to offend 99% of the time, I am celebrating the one occasion we said something very critical (and TRUE).
Staceyjw

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:39:42 +0000

I doubt the reason for wanting to remove the sign has anything to do with being disagreed with.

By: Vas

Vas — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:55:12 +0000

The state capitol building also has a aluminum Festivus pole, for the second year running. It could be fairly said that this pole mocks Christmas as well.
Jokejustice just may be correct as to the strategy of the sign, I think it is an attempt to rid our government buildings of vile displays representing a belief system that does mock mankind, and yes nativity scenes do mock mankind and the notion of autonomy and the government displays do alienate all non xtians. I don’t really like the sign much, and many don’t, it is brash and mocking and unpleasant, (and I believe a statement of fact). It is free speech as a weapon, it is protected, it has a proven track record and I support it’s deployment in the culture wars.

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:18:17 +0000

Of course, the real crime is butchering a Cheap Trick classic. Rick should have wacked him over the head with one of his guitars, when he had the chance.

By: richer

richer — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:35:14 +0000

during the season of yule, is an opportunity to come together as people. This requires not only reason but compassion and respect for others. Conflict usually drives humans away from reason toward emotional reaction and more conflict… not a good choice of words by the ffrf

By: science101

science101 — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:45:10 +0000

I’m not a big fan of the sign myself but no matter what language is used, someone or some group will take offense.

By: Sue D. Nymme

Sue D. Nymme — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:35:02 +0000

pergrine:

We’re very good at long, thought-out rationalizations, but we suck as short and pithy.

Well put.

It is a verbal attack on religion, at a time of year when I for one would rather promote setting differences aside, and cooperating with believers for the mutually shared goal of peace, understanding, and goodwill.

Also well put.

(by the way, nice hat)

By: Karl Withakay

Karl Withakay — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:03:04 +0000

It sounds like he pussied out of destroying the sign

It seems obvious he wanted to avoid the possibility of any criminal charges and was just out to get the publicity he got. I would have preferred the police waited to see what else he did before escorting him away. It would have been amusing to see him standing there after turning the sign face down and not knowing what to do next when the police took no action. He’d have to choose to either vandalize it to get his “incident” or walk away, knowing the sign would be righted as soon as he left.