[Vision2020] vandals strike again

Paul Rumelhart godshatter at yahoo.com
Fri Nov 6 07:25:54 PST 2009


There is no "goal of Atheists".  They are defined simply by their lack 
of belief in something.  They have nothing in common other than that.  
Most people around here don't believe in Zeus.  With respect to Zeus, 
almost everyone around here is an Atheist.  That doesn't mean they have 
a common goal to root out Zeus-worship.

The billboard is a reaction to the very demonization you are displaying 
here.  They aren't trying to anger anyone, they are just trying to make 
people aware that some people out there you might run into aren't 
religious and seem to get along fine without religion.  They make no 
mention of what religious people should do.  They are just hoping that 
people will remember that not everyone believes as the majority does, 
and stop trying to force their religious views on them.

As for atheists advocating for the trashing of the Earth, Atheists don't 
believe there is a better world waiting for them after they are dead.  
That means that this world is more important to them as a consequence.

Paul

Donovan Arnold wrote:
> Selina,
>  
> Just because the Supreme Court of the United States says it is 
> morally correct doesn't make it anymore so. It also says the death 
> penalty and abortions are correct. It also suppressed the rights of 
> Blacks, Woman, and now Gays and Lesbians.
>  
> To say that it doesn't disturb people, is factually incorrect, as 
> people are destroying the signs. For every one person that vandalizes 
> a sign, there has to be a 1000 more that wish it so.
>  
> My argument has more to do with littering the highway with big trashy 
> billboards. Which the Earth itself rejects.
>  
> If the goal of Atheist are to anger the general public while trashing 
> the Earth, I think they have achieved their goal.
>  
> Donovan Arnold
>
> --- On *Fri, 11/6/09, Selina Davis /<selinadavis at hotmail.com>/* wrote:
>
>
>     From: Selina Davis <selinadavis at hotmail.com>
>     Subject: Re: [Vision2020] vandals strike again
>     To: "Vision 2020 List" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>     Date: Friday, November 6, 2009, 1:13 AM
>
>     Donovan,
>
>     US Supreme Court precedent dealing with the First Amendment
>     would tend to differ with your conclusion.  The message conveyed
>     by the sign simply does not fall within any of the categories of
>     speech (true threat, incitement, hate speech, defamation,
>     commercial speech, purely prurient obscenity, or speech that
>     invades the subject's privacy) that may be regulated, prohibited,
>     or punished based on content.
>      
>     After two and a half years of parenting a pre-schooler who's now
>     in first grade, I'd say that dealing with the occasional awkward
>     conversation seems to come with the territory.  I doubt that any
>     literate child would be troubled, let alone traumatized, by that
>     sign, particularly if his or her parent could provide a calm and
>     rational response when the child asks, "What does that mean,
>     anyway?"  I can also honestly say that my belief in God was not
>     shaken in third grade, when my then-best friend shared that she
>     and her mother were atheists.  I just found it curious.  For what
>     it's worth.
>      
>     - Selina
>      
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 16:22:50 -0800
>     From: donovanjarnold2008 at yahoo.com
>     To: bear at moscow.com
>     CC: vision2020 at secure.fsr.com
>     Subject: Re: [Vision2020] vandals strike again
>
>     Wayne, that is remarkably simple.
>      
>     Communities should get to decide what is appropriate content for
>     the general public to have unwillingly thrust in their face and
>     the eyes of their children and where it is appropriate.
>      
>     Donovan Arnold
>      
>
>
>     --- On *Thu, 11/5/09, Wayne Price /<bear at moscow.com>/* wrote:
>
>
>         From: Wayne Price <bear at moscow.com>
>         Subject: Re: [Vision2020] vandals strike again
>         To: "Donovan Arnold" <donovanjarnold2008 at yahoo.com>
>         Cc: "<vision2020 at secure.fsr.com>" <vision2020 at secure.fsr.com>
>         Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 11:08 PM
>
>         Donovan,
>
>         The problem is WHO gets to decide what is an appropriate
>         context?  
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>         On Nov 5, 2009, at 3:04 PM, Donovan Arnold wrote:
>
>             That's funny. I think all roadside billboards should be
>             taken down, they make American Roadways ugly and cause
>             accidents. Or at least it should be legal to have big
>             bushy mustaches drawn on their faces, unless it is
>             Geraldo, then you would have to paint over the mustache. :
>             V| D
>              
>             I don't think billboards announcing that Santa isn't real,
>             or how to use a condom is appropriate either, because
>             children can read those signs, and they do, and a parent
>             may wish to censor what ads and information their children
>             receive.
>              
>             Case and point; A child is coming home from their
>             Grandmother's funeral or a school shooting funeral. They
>             tell the child grandmother or friend are with God. Then
>             they read a sign saying, there is no God.
>              
>             I am for free speech, but always in an appropriate context.
>              
>             This is ironic too, maybe the Humanists can pray their
>             signs won't be vandalized. Or find a more appropriate  way
>             of expressing their point of view.
>              
>             Donovan Arnold
>
>
>             --- On *Thu, 11/5/09, Wayne Price /<bear at moscow.com
>             <http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=bear@moscow.com>>/*
>             wrote:
>
>
>                 From: Wayne Price <bear at moscow.com
>                 <http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=bear@moscow.com>>
>                 Subject: Re: [Vision2020] vandals strike again
>                 To: "Joe Campbell" <philosopher.joe at gmail.com
>                 <http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=philosopher.joe@gmail.com>>
>                 Cc: "<vision2020 at secure.fsr.com
>                 <http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=vision2020@secure.fsr.com>>"
>                 <vision2020 at secure.fsr.com
>                 <http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=vision2020@secure.fsr.com>>
>                 Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 3:58 PM
>
>                 Once the Humanists  get the sign redone, and I really
>                 hope they do, would it be that hard to REMOVE the
>                 ladder leading up to the platform?
>                 Carrying a can of paint at night is one thing, but
>                 paint and a ladder?  Perhaps  the creeps could be
>                 caught that way.
>                 Or, perhaps  a camera, so the creeps could be
>                 identified and prosecuted?
>
>
>
>                 On Nov 5, 2009, at 7:47 AM, Joe Campbell wrote:
>
>                     This is against free speech, against property
>                     rights, and against religious freedom.
>
>
>
>                     On Nov 4, 2009, at 2:38 PM, keely emerinemix
>                     <kjajmix1 at msn.com
>                     <http://us..mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kjajmix1@msn.com>>
>                     wrote:
>
>                         I wish whoever is doing this would knock it
>                         off.  If the most courageous stand you can
>                         make for your faith in God is to deface a
>                         billboard, you've really got some spiritual
>                         inventory to examine.
>
>                         Keely
>                         www.keely-prevailingwinds.com
>                         <http://www.keely-prevailingwinds.com/>
>
>
>
>
>                         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                         From: london at moscow.com
>                         <http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=london@moscow.com>
>                         To: vision2020 at secure.fsr.com
>                         <http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo..com/mc/compose?to=vision2020@secure.fsr.com>
>                         Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 12:13:55 -0800
>                         Subject: [Vision2020] vandals strike again
>
>                         Humanist Billboard Vandalized in Moscow,
>                         Idaho…Again
>
>                         (Washington, D.C, November 4, 2009) An
>                         individual or individuals have
>                         defaced a billboard in Moscow, Idaho… again.
>                         The billboard originally
>                         read "Millions are good without God" but was
>                         partially obscured with
>                         blue paint to now read “Millions are good with
>                         God”. It's the second
>                         time the American Humanist Association
>                         (AHA)-sponsored billboard has
>                         been vandalized in two weeks. In the first
>                         instance the word "without"
>                         was completely blacked out, after which the
>                         AHA quickly replaced the
>                         billboard. The advertisement, which was
>                         originally placed
>                         mid-September, is part of an American Humanist
>                         Association advertising
>                         campaign to spread awareness about being good
>                         without God. It's the
>                         third billboard advertisement the organization
>                         has displayed in the
>                         Moscow area and similar ads have been put up
>                         around the country.
>
>                         A picture of the vandalized billboard can be
>                         found here:
>                         http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/29/1225/Picture_002.jpg.
>                         The billboard can be found on Highway 95, just
>                         south of Moscow near
>                         the Sweet Avenue cross street, facing
>                         northbound traffic.
>
>                         "The irony here is worth noting," said David
>                         Niose, president of the
>                         American Humanist Association. "Some
>                         individuals are committing
>                         criminal acts while apparently claiming that
>                         their religious view of
>                         the world leads to good behavior. It's not a
>                         very convincing argument
>                         on their part."
>
>                         "This is not just vandalism, it is religiously
>                         motivated vandalism
>                         which attempts to silence a minority
>                         viewpoint," added Niose.
>                         "Everyone, not just humanists, should be
>                         concerned about such acts."
>
>                         The Moscow Police Department notified the AHA
>                         this morning. They
>                         believe the ad defaced between 1 and 3 am. The
>                         AHA has alerted the
>                         billboard company who leased the space, Lamar
>                         Outdoor, who said they
>                         will start leaving the lights on round the
>                         clock. The AHA will be
>                         replacing the billboard but hasn't yet decided
>                         whether to go with the
>                         same design.
>
>                         "I’m disturbed that this happened again," said
>                         Roy Speckhardt,
>                         executive director of the American Humanist
>                         Association. "Two
>                         consecutive crimes in a town where the last
>                         incidence of billboard
>                         vandalism was years ago makes it obvious that
>                         humanists and our
>                         message are being targeted.”
>
>                         The American Humanist Association
>                         (www.americanhumanist.org
>                         <http://www.americanhumanist.org/>) advocates
>                         for the rights and viewpoints of humanists.
>                         Founded in 1941 and
>                         headquartered in Washington, D.C., its work is
>                         extended through more
>                         than 100 local chapters and affiliates across
>                         the United States.
>
>                         Humanism is the idea that you can be good
>                         without a belief in God.
>
>                         ###
>
>                         Contact:
>                         Karen Frantz
>                         202-238-9088
>                         cell: 703-725-4112
>                         kfrantz at americanhumanist.org
>                         <http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kfrantz@americanhumanist.org>
>
>                         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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