Atheist group to rip Bible pages in Huntington Beach pier

[lilwriter85]

http://www.ocregister.com/news/bible-31 ... |order%3A4

 

 

Quote

By JAIMEE LYNN FLETCHER / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

 

Members of a grassroots atheist group say they will tear out pages of the Bible at the Huntington Beach pier Saturday to point out what they say is immorality in the book many Christians base their faith on.

 

Backyard Skeptics members plan to rip out pages with specific passages of the Bible that they say portray immoral biblical law, organizers say.

 

 

“We’re not there to burn the Bible or desecrate,� Bruce Gleason, director of Backyard Skeptics, said. “There are plenty verses in the Bible that if you did any of those things today, you’d be thrown in jail immediately.�

 

Group members will rip out verses in the Bible such as Deuteronomy 22: 14-31, which says if a man finds his wife not to be a virgin, the community can stone her; or a later verse in the same chapter the Backyard Skeptics say can be interpreted to say that virgins who are raped will be forced to marry their rapist.

 

Backyard Skeptics gained headlines and some community criticism in May when they posted a billboard in Westminster that read: “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.�

 

The billboard is the one of a handful raised in Orange County, including one put up in August in Santa Ana, Gleason said. The group has plans to put up another one in Garden Grove off the 22 Freeway and one on Chapman Avenue in Orange on Sept. 29.

 

Ray Comfort, who often open-air preaches in Huntington Beach and has an evangelical ministry television show with actor Kirk Cameron, said he and Gleason are “friendly enemies� who often discuss religion.

 

“I would seriously like to supply them with a Koran and maybe something Hindu,� he said. “If he wants to make a statement about God, he should spread it around a little and not pick on Christians.�

 

Comfort added he believes Backyard Skeptics targets Christianity because Christians are taught to “love their enemies.�

 

Gleason says the demonstration is based loosely on Thomas Jefferson’s Bible – an 86-page book that omits huge chunks of the New Testament, according the Religion News Service.

 

Jefferson’s Bible, which the Smithsonian National Museum of American History is restoring, chronicles Jesus’ life but leaves out the Resurrection and all miracles the Bible says Jesus was a part of.

 

“We will have copies of the Jefferson Bible (on Saturday),� Gleason said. “Out of 1,100 pages he only kept (86) of them. This is one of our Founding Fathers.�

 

Gleason said the Backyard Atheists generally pass out pamphlets and information at different places in Orange County to try to reach residents interested in atheism, but Saturday’s event is more of a demonstration.

 

He said he doesn’t expect there to be any conflict at the event because it is more about delivering a message rather than being disrespectful or engaging in arguments.

 

“We want to make this a better world for secular and humanistic values,� Gleason said. “We don’t believe prayer works. We don’t believe religion adds anything except a sense of false hope.�

 

The group will meet at 2 p.m. at the Huntington Beach pier. Their demonstration will also be live streamed on UStream.com.

 

I wonder if Comfort will show up at the event.

[Witsec6]

I am really offended by this demonstration. As much as they say they're not desecrating anything, they are.

I don't see what it will accomplish except showing that Backyard Atheists are disrespectful.

Edit. I'm so mad I can't get my thoughts in order.

[xReems]

Wow, they're hypocrites.

How does that make them any different than those Fundamentalist Christians, going around, and claiming we're all going to go to Hell if we don't love Jesus?

[Swamptribe]

Ya know, other atheists need to show up and protest their protest.

[Jessica]

Stoo. Pid!

[Bella99]

In my mind, its just a book. Other people will see it as a desecration of the sacred word of God. They would do far better not going out of their way to offend people. All this does is make atheists (like me) look rude and disrespectful.

[Witsec6]

In my mind, its just a book. Other people will see it as a desecration of the sacred word of God. They would do far better not going out of their way to offend people. All this does is make atheists (like me) look rude and disrespectful.

I would be almost as offended if they decided to rip apart copies of Atlas Shrugged (which I think is not only "just a book", it is "just a dumb book"). I say almost because this is obviously being done deliberately to "poke the hornets' nest" and not because they are questioning the Bible.

If Backyard Skeptics really was all about questioning, they wouldn't deface the books that offer the information they're questioning.

(still mad, sorry).

[Trynn]

I'd still be just as angry if it was the Koran(sp?) that they were ripping up. There is no point to this protest.

[maybeizfundie]

It's the same kind of snooty, snide ugly as the Koran burning stuff. That was offensive, and so is this.

I guess they think it's ok because they *say* they're just "bringing a message, not desecrating Scripture"? Whatever. I'm sure the "pastor" who wanted to burn the Koran also doesn't agree with what's in it, and doesn't believe it's Holy Scripture. Does that make it OK for him to do, now?

[flojo]

It's the same kind of snooty, snide ugly as the Koran burning stuff. That was offensive, and so is this.

I guess they think it's ok because they *say* they're just "bringing a message, not desecrating Scripture"? Whatever. I'm sure the "pastor" who wanted to burn the Koran also doesn't agree with what's in it, and doesn't believe it's Holy Scripture. Does that make it OK for him to do, now?

This

[GenerationCedarchip]

It's the same kind of snooty, snide ugly as the Koran burning stuff. That was offensive, and so is this.

I guess they think it's ok because they *say* they're just "bringing a message, not desecrating Scripture"? Whatever. I'm sure the "pastor" who wanted to burn the Koran also doesn't agree with what's in it, and doesn't believe it's Holy Scripture. Does that make it OK for him to do, now?

Yes. This. I thought it was disrespectful and ridiculous for that pastor to announce a Koran burning and I put this on the same footing.

[Terrie]

It screams "publicity stunt." They're entitled to do what they want, but I remain unimpressed.

[Witsec1]

This reminds me of the fundies burning Harry Potter books. Or Taryn taking a sharpie to the word "Magic" on her Magic Chef. Congratulations, Huntington Beach atheists, you have achieved 2.5 taryns on the WTF? scale!

[debrand]

Unless someoen proves to me that they don't deserve it, I try to treat people with respect. That means that if they hold something sacred, even if I don't' agree, I'll try and be respectful of their believes. IF I attended a Muslim Mosque, for example, I would take off my shoes. When my Christian friends pray, I usually bow my head. I'm not supporting their beliefs but I am showing that I respect my friends.

Atheists are not well loved in America. Statistics show that we are the least trusted group. This isn't helping us any.

To be honest, I dint' see the point. They could have put up a billboard with the offensive verses and attracted just as much attention. All their actions will do is to focus people in on the tearing of the bible not those particular verses.

[doe]

In my mind, its just a book. Other people will see it as a desecration of the sacred word of God. They would do far better not going out of their way to offend people. All this does is make atheists (like me) look rude and disrespectful.

My first experience with an atheist was with a kid in a writing class when I was in high school. He had a lot of issues, was very argumentative, and tried to turn every day into Why God Sucks class. He was a self proclaimed atheist that seemed to have a huge bone to pick with God. I never understood why he was so angry if he didn't believe God was real...

Ya know, other atheists need to show up and protest their protest.

+1

[doggie]

In my mind, its just a book. Other people will see it as a desecration of the sacred word of God. They would do far better not going out of their way to offend people. All this does is make atheists (like me) look rude and disrespectful.

Hey Christians have been desecrating the bible through out the ages come on now let someone else have a turn. :roll:

[pomology]

Offending people for the sake of offending people is totally obnoxious.

There are plenty of ways to express (both as a religious person and a non-religious person) that you think that there are passages in the Bible that are immoral or wrong. Having a protest and ripping them out is a stupid, offensive way to go about it.

[let-them-eat-cake]

This is exactly the same thing as when the Christian pastor and his little buddies said they were going to burn Korans.

Both groups are being offensive and exceedingly stupid. This accomplishes nothing and only makes people mad.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what Fundies want. Now they can point to these "atheists" (quotations because I know real atheists aren't as stupid as this group of people) and say, "See! See how evil they are! See how evil the world is! Why would you ever consider atheism?! Why would you even listen to a single word they have to say!". This gives them more fuel. These "atheists" are doing more harm than good.

[Lainey]

As an atheist, I think this display is stupid, pointless, offensive, obnoxious, and ridiculous. You just don't do that sort of thing and expect to be taken seriously. You just don't. There are many other ways they could point out the immoral parts of the bible without ripping it up. I have a big issue with ripping up/desecrating (because that's what they're doing) books, anyway. Any book.

[slickcat79]

Agreed that they could find a better way to draw attention to the ridiculous passages of the bible than staging a demonstration where they rip out pages. There's no reason to destroy a book, even if it is just a book. If they like Jefferson's bible so much, why not put together Gleason's bible or something like that, where they can only leave in the passages they consider moral and see how little is left.

Ray Comfort is still wrong though:

“I would seriously like to supply them with a Koran and maybe something Hindu,†he said. “If he wants to make a statement about God, he should spread it around a little and not pick on Christians.â€

Comfort added he believes Backyard Skeptics targets Christianity because Christians are taught to “love their enemies.â€

The only reason that they're "picking on" christians is that they're trying to make a point to their audience, which more likely to be made up of christians than anything else. People already hate muslims, or disagree with them, or think they're all terrorists. Christians do enough "picking on" other religions that the atheists don't really need to work that angle. Most americans probably wouldn't expect to find anything worthwhile in a koran or "something Hindu" because it doesn't mesh with their beliefs, so it doesn't provoke any kind of reaction to destroy those books. They're trying to point out that the bible contains horrible stuff too, and many people who identify as christian are unaware or unwilling to address those passages.

Backyard Skeptics probably targets christianity (or is targeting them in this instance) because they're more familiar with it than anything else. There are probably quite a few members who are former christians. I doubt it has anything to do with the fact that christians are taught to "love their enemies", because so many of them don't, and those that don't are unfortunately vocal.

[mirele]

To me, this is like burning a book. And the idea of burning a book makes my skin crawl. My religious temperament is pretty firmly agnostic these days and I really disagree with this action.

[Stickers]

Like the Koran burning, and the banana guy writing that introduction too Origin of Species I only care about two thing:

1. Did you buy the book, is it your book? Yes? Okay then.

2. But you know buying a book just to destroy is it a little dicky... to the environment. A tree had to die to make that book and then a truck had to use gas to bring it to the store. That's not good for our air. Just FYI.

And I'm not kidding. Pretty much my only issue with this is the wasted paper. In all these cases it's just a book, a book we have millions(billions?) of copies of, a book everyone who believes is important will have a few copies sitting in their house. Nothing is actually being lost (expect paper) and the *only* thing they're after is attention, so the best thing to do would be to just ignore them.

[Stickers]

This is exactly the same thing as when the Christian pastor and his little buddies said they were going to burn Korans.

Both groups are being offensive and exceedingly stupid. This accomplishes nothing and only makes people mad.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what Fundies want. Now they can point to these "atheists" (quotations because I know real atheists aren't as stupid as this group of people) and say, "See! See how evil they are! See how evil the world is! Why would you ever consider atheism?! Why would you even listen to a single word they have to say!". This gives them more fuel. These "atheists" are doing more harm than good.

If they say they're atheists they're atheists. There is no moral code one has to live by to count as an atheist. All it means is you don't believe in any gods.

[Austin]

This is just a stupid, pointless waste of time. Not to mention obnoxious.

[let-them-eat-cake]

If they say they're atheists they're atheists. There is no moral code one has to live by to count as an atheist. All it means is you don't believe in any gods.

I know, I just wanted them separated in my own mind from other atheists. You know, intelligent ones (which is most of them).