Atheists Threaten to Sue Over Sign

[Shades]

Atheists are becoming more annoying and ignorant than the religious nuts (generalizations ftw!)

New York City has chosen to honor the memory of seven fallen heroes – firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice on 9/11 – by naming the street that their fire station is on “Seven in Heaven Way.” Should this be a constitutional crisis?

As this street sign honoring the fire fighters’ sacrifice made its way through the approval process, no one complained. But now, after the sign’s unveiling, a group called New York City Atheists has threatened to file a lawsuit if it is not removed.

The group’s president declared, “We’ve concluded as atheists there is no heaven.” Another atheist leader added, incorrectly, that, “Heaven is a specifically Christian place.”

Because he has “concluded” that there is no heaven, the rest of us cannot recognize the ultimate sacrifice these brave first responders gave for our liberty with an honorary street sign that mentions the word “heaven” without handling a lawsuit?

Thankfully, the atheists have little chance of succeeding in court. As the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently stated, reaffirming Supreme Court precedent, mere “hurt feelings” do not give one standing to sue. America is replete with religious references in the naming of our cities, parks, and streets.

The president of American Atheists, David Silverman, chimed in by repeating the same tired arguments against the mention of anything with religious meaning by the government. Silverman said, “The attacks on 9/11 were an attack on America. They were an attack on our Constitution and breaking that Constitution to honor these firefighters is the wrong thing to do.” I challenge Silverman to cite any Supreme Court precedent to backup his claim that using “heaven” on a city sign violates our Constitution.

In America, heaven has come to symbolize the memory of those we love, our family members, and those who have made great sacrifices. Memorializing these heroic individuals in this way is not an act of religious divisiveness, but patriotic honor.

Publically attacking this tribute to seven American heroes, only to make a point that you do not believe in heaven, is insulting and outrageous.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...1NhH_blog.html

Speaking through a spokesman, another city official, Sara Gonzalez, noted that the seven firefighters “have long been known as the ‘Seven in Heaven.’ That’s something that we didn’t have any hand in, it is the way the community and their families chose to remember them. So if that is their desire then we are happy to continue to remember them in the way that their family and fellow firefighters prefer to call them.”

Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice said, “The claim that somehow ‘Seven in Heaven Way’ violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment is absurd. Acknowledging religion is not an endorsement of religion, and to suggest that this street name somehow crosses the constitutional line of establishing a religion is nonsense.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/21...ing-11victims/

[pylon]

That is asinine. And I say that as an Atheist.

Would this name make the atheists happier. "7 rotting corpses in a box, who's ultimate sacrifice mean nothing in the big scheme of things, since there is no afterlife anyway Way?"

Sometimes you have to just embrace the spirit of the cause, regardless of your beliefs.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Shades

Atheists are becoming more annoying and ignorant than the religious nuts (generalizations ftw!)

Speaking through a spokesman, another city official, Sara Gonzalez, noted that the seven firefighters “have long been known as the ‘Seven in Heaven.’ That’s something that we didn’t have any hand in, it is the way the community and their families chose to remember them. So if that is their desire then we are happy to continue to remember them in the way that their family and fellow firefighters prefer to call them.”

Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice said, “The claim that somehow ‘Seven in Heaven Way’ violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment is absurd. Acknowledging religion is not an endorsement of religion, and to suggest that this street name somehow crosses the constitutional line of establishing a religion is nonsense.”

Brutal. Yes, they are being petty, and it's becoming a lot more common.

[Shades]

Originally Posted by pylon

That is asinine. And I say that as an Atheist.

What would make the atheists happier. "7 rotting corpses in a box, who's ultimate sacrifice mean nothing in the big scheme of things, since there is no afterlife anyway Way?"

Sometimes you have to just embrace the spirit of the cause, regardless of your beliefs.

I'll ignore your thoughtful comment and continue to paint all atheists with the same brush as petty and ignorant because it fits better with my short-sighted view of the world

[flylock shox]

I always thought one of the major benefits to being an atheist was not having to deal with the annoyances of being part of an organized group.

There are so many better battles these guys could be fighting in that country of theirs...

[Reggie Dunlop]

Well to be fair, the fellers that flew the planes into the buildings are in heaven too.

[Shades]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Well to be fair, the fellers that flew the planes into the buildings are in heaven too.

To clarify, does being an atheist entitle one to be an incompassionate d-bag?

[Ben_in_Canada]

WOW, really? Let them take it to court, let them lose, and let them pay all the associated costs of being an idiot in 2011.
You can't really help but feel insulted that someone would want to deny a tribute like this.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Well to be fair, the fellers that flew the planes into the buildings are in heaven too.

Not if they were true Muslim's. They broke about every tenant in the book, they're getting their necks broken every 10 minutes by a 300 pound surley 72 year old virgin.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Shades

To clarify, does being an atheist entitle one to be an incompassionate d-bag?

Being religious does, so I don't see why not.

Anyway, this lawsuit nonsense is ######ed. Could they have picked a more sacred cow? Leave the 9/11 stuff alone folks.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Shades

I'll ignore your thoughtful comment and continue to paint all atheists with the same brush as petty and ignorant because it fits better with my short-sighted view of the world

I am colorblind, so I will assume that is green text... kinda looks like brownish / red to me.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by Shades

To clarify, does being an atheist entitle one to be an incompassionate d-bag?

Sometimes. When we're not too busy eating kittens.

I'm not sure how Christianity equates with heroism in this case. If it were six dead firemen, or eight dead firemen, officials would have had to come up with another clever rhyme.

[Shades]

Originally Posted by pylon

I am colorblind, so I will assume that is green text... kinda looks like brownish / red to me.

It should be green. At least that's what I see.

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Sometimes. When we're not too busy eating kittens.

I'm not sure how Christianity equates with heroism in this case. If it were six dead firemen, or eight dead firemen, officials would have had to come up with another clever rhyme.

I hope your belief in evolution doesn't rest solely on your reading comprehension skills.

Speaking through a spokesman, another city official, Sara Gonzalez, noted that the seven firefighters “have long been known as the ‘Seven in Heaven.’ That’s something that we didn’t have any hand in, it is the way the community and their families chose to remember them. So if that is their desire then we are happy to continue to remember them in the way that their family and fellow firefighters prefer to call them.”

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by Shades

I hope your belief in evolution doesn't rest solely on your reading comprehension skills.

Evolution isn't a belief. Is gravity a belief?

And the words "seven" and "heaven" rhyme.

[Shades]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Evolution isn't a belief. Is gravity a belief?

Of course it is.

And since you mentioned it:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/sc...13gravity.html

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

I'm not sure how Christianity equates with heroism in this case. If it were six dead firemen, or eight dead firemen, officials would have had to come up with another clever rhyme.

Why does it matter? It has been, and now these athiests are being petty and stupid about it, and are causing grief for people because of it.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Shades

Of course it is.

[Stormchaser]

Here is some more Atheist fun!

A self-confessed atheist, Mr Alm says he belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a light-hearted faith whose members call themselves pastafarians.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14135523

[D to the iddy]

This question came to mind while reading this thread and I don't know where else to ask it. What's the difference between a group of atheists who believe in the same thing (For example, the "American Atheists" mentioned in the article) and organized religion?

I'm not trying to cause an argument, I'm honestly curious.

[Stillman16]

Originally Posted by Shades

To clarify, does being an atheist entitle one to be an incompassionate d-bag?

He's just stating a fact that they believe what they did pleased their god.....shows how easily people can be manipulated.