DISCLAIMER: I am an atheist. I have nothing against the Christian faith or any other specific religion. I have something against people who insist on pushing their faith on people who don’t want it, especially when they try to use fear based tactics. Please don’t view this post as some sort of attack on religion but as a commentary on loud obnoxious religious people who are (luckily) the extreme minority in most faiths.
I’ve always seen images and stories on the internet about those ever so amusing minority of Christians who insist on “spreading the word” by telling everyone that if they sin they will go to hell. Today I saw my very first one (okay, pair) on my way to class in the morning. It was an elderly couple with a nifty double backed sign and a clear message, “If you praise death, you wil die twice *dramatic pause* IN HELL!” That’s verbatim, by the way.
Repent and Live!
The man was the only one who actually did any talking. When people (like me) inevitably took pictures of them, he scoffed, saying something along the lines of Jesus having photographic evidence of your mockery of his faith. Huh? First off, just having a photo taken of you doesn’t mean you’re being mocked. The photographer could just as easily believe in your message and be supporting you. And second, why in the world would any sort of God need photographic evidence supplied by a lowly human? Did he stop being omnipresent at some point? Or does he just have a poor short-term memory? Either way, it sort of seems to take away from the whole, “repent or burn” message.
All Sinners Will be Destroyed!
After a while they had a pretty good crowd gathered around them. I really hope that it was people who thought they were being ridiculous, and seeing as MTU seems like a relatively liberal and atheistic place, that seems likely. My favorite part of the entire thing; however, was the chalk message that some more level headed Christian had drawn on either side of the pair. I’ll end this post with it, as it really sums up how I feel about people like them.
Apology
September 5th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Dude…they’re over there too? That’s like the same group that parades outside of one of the buildings I have class at on Tuesdays. Last week I didn’t see them but the week before they got in an arguement with one girl who was just sitting there.
And they have the same signs!
September 7th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
At some point after they left someone drew a massive pentagram on the ground where they had been. They showed up again the day after but were a lot quieter and left a lot sooner. Tee-hee.
September 9th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
As a Catholic raised person, the word “atheist” has such a negative connotation. Even though I have a difficulty with matters religious and particularly organized religion I still can’t help but wonder….how does it all work/happen in this world without some higher power in charge? How does an atheist make sense of it all? And is there no fear/concern about life after death? But, I agree with one thing for certain….I can’t stand these people who try to force their beliefs on you either!
September 15th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I kinda wish people like that would come to Beloit. The closest thing we’ve got is the guy who works in the print shop. He and various members of the student body exchanged a series of unfriendly editorials in the Beloit College newspaper, after he replied to an ad about the Women’s Center having free condoms to say that we were baby-killing sinners about to rot in hell. It went on for about six months, even after a series of “please, let’s just get along” editorials from the director of Spiritual Life. It was like a soap opera, only less believable and far more horrifying.
October 21st, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Godson Alex –
You ought to go see “Religulous” – the Bill Maher movie. I am. :)