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Keep that Bible out of my room
The Times of Israel ^ | 5/21/2013 | KATE BRUMBACK and RUSS BYNUM

Posted on 05/21/2013 5:08:31 PM PDT by Former Fetus

An atheist, Buckner believes that no religious literature should be provided in government-owned lodging, and he presented that concern to management at the Amicalola Falls State Park.

Officials told Buckner they would remove the Bibles from all state park resorts while the state attorney general looked into the matter. Not long afterward, however, the AG issued a ruling saying the state was on firm legal ground because it hadn’t paid for the books. On Wednesday, Gov. Nathan Deal ordered the Bibles returned.

Deal argued that if the state didn’t pay for them, it can’t be seen as endorsing them. He also noted that any religious group can donate literature. But his action sparked a string of comments on social media and captured the attention of local news television stations. It also prompted some to question why this hasn’t been more of an issue in the US before.

Buckner is pondering his next move. One idea he is considering is to test the state’s offer to accept literature from other religions in state-owned lodging. He also said he would be willing to participate if an organization with similar beliefs decides to launch a lawsuit over the issue.

‘When you go into a state park cabin and the only piece of religious literature there is a Protestant Bible, that suggests the government’s endorsed that particular perspective’

(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...


TOPICS: Religion; Society
KEYWORDS: antichristian; antitheism; atheism; atheistsupremacist; bible; christianity; religion; trollalert
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To: Rightwing Conspiratr1

In the last century atheists have murdered (for at least partially atheist reasons) a large multiple of the innocents killed by religious folk of all varieties in the same period for at least partially religious reasons.

Christians have in the same period murdered (for ostensibly Christian reasons) almost nobody.

Yet atheists tout themselves as the protectors of the world’s people against those evil Christians.

To be fair, Christians of previous centuries had a much less blame-free record.


81 posted on 05/21/2013 8:56:20 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: whattajoke
Gravity is a theory.

LOL! Gravity is a fact, and a law. I don't hear too many folks arguing about gravity. Manmade Global warming on the other hand, is a theory. Bullshit, but still a theory.

BTW, are you posting on the right site?

82 posted on 05/21/2013 9:01:26 PM PDT by Doomonyou (Let them eat Lead.)
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To: Fester Chugabrew
"Meanwhile I note with interest the fear and loathing that attends to some who come into contact with a Holy Bible. Why is that?"

"the blade glows blue when orcs are near"

83 posted on 05/21/2013 9:02:14 PM PDT by mitch5501 ("make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things ye shall never fall")
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To: Former Fetus

[[An atheist, Buckner believes that no religious literature should be provided in government-owned lodging,]]

When he can show where it specifically states in the constitution that govenrment can NOT supportwhatever religion it wants as logn as it doesn’t ENFORCE a religion via penalty of law- then he can brign his case to court- until then he’s nothign mroe than an annoying whiner


84 posted on 05/21/2013 9:04:00 PM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: nickcarraway

[[How come he can push his religion on others?]]

Becasue liberals and atheists are ‘tolorant’ while conservatives and Christians are ‘hateful’- Liberals and atheists get to shove their godless propoganda down our throats (while denying their secularism is a ‘religion’) and they can shove filth, immorality and hedonism in our faces, but we’re not free to mention God in public apparently- they get to do whatever they like while denying everyoen else that same right- They think that our constitution was written to protecvt hteir fragile feelings- it was NOT- it was written to protect our RIGHTS- but htey are changign our constitution to mean that nooen shoudl be offended, ever (Unless you’re a conservative or Chrisitan of Jew)


85 posted on 05/21/2013 9:08:00 PM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: whattajoke

Not really sure what you’re doing on FreeRepublic. Did Dummie Underground kick you out?

“Preachers continue to steal from rubes and get away with it”

By your logic, the Red Cross also steals from rubes and gets away with it. Trust an atheist to forget all the charity work done by churches.

“Education and scientific gains are stifled by religious belief”

Spoken like a true socialist. Science would be much better without any beliefs coming into play. Dr. Josef Mengele was one of the leading thinkers in this department.

“Thousands of children are raped by the catholic church and all is well.”

Except most of those victims were not actually “children”, they were post-pubescent. People often are stupid enough to refer to this scandal as the “Catholic pedophile scandal”, when it was really just the “Catholic homosexual statutory rape scandal”. A lot of Phy-ed teachers and coaches have also been rapists. Maybe they should be outlawed too.

“It’s high time we get past the nonsense as humans.”

I get the impression you’ve been watching a few too many Lenin speeches.


86 posted on 05/21/2013 9:12:40 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: RegulatorCountry

The intent was clear when you take into account the times. The head of the Church of England was the king. They didn’t want the head of state being the head of the church as well.

Atheists are a lot like liberals. They see things in the constitution that aren’t actually there.


87 posted on 05/21/2013 9:15:59 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: Viennacon

It wasn’t strictly the Church Of England that motivated the Establsihment Clause, it was all the interminable wars on the European Continent driven by a State Church as well, but point well taken otherwise.


88 posted on 05/21/2013 9:19:31 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry

I always tend to view these constitutional arguments (especially on social issues) like this.

How would the Founders feel?

If anyone thinks the Founders would have cracked down on states putting Bibles in in such places, they would have to be delusional. It’s like the people who say the Founders would have wanted crosses taken down in towns, or any religious symbols removed from crests and emblems.

We’re talking about the Founding Fathers here, from the 1700s. Not the Belgian government, today.


89 posted on 05/21/2013 9:26:27 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: whattajoke

Why do you have hostility towards Islam? Why do you have hostility towards Christians? Maybe if you lived your life without hostility, and minding everybody else’s business, you’d be happier in your own life. Sure, there are a lot of people out there each of us won’t agree with, but if you stop policing everyone else, maybe your own life will flourish.


90 posted on 05/22/2013 12:08:23 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: whattajoke

>> Thousands of children are raped by the catholic church and all is well.

And if you’re a man, people of your kind are largely responsible for raping children. If you’re a woman, people of your kind are responsible for slaughtering millions of nascent human beings.

Your issues with Christianity and the Catholic Church are more related to your DNA than the tenets of Christianity.


91 posted on 05/22/2013 12:59:07 AM PDT by Gene Eric (The Palin Doctrine.)
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To: Rightwing Conspiratr1

“Every picture has a story” and every name has a string of crimes, including genocide.


92 posted on 05/22/2013 2:51:15 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("Christus vincit. Christus regnat. Christus imperat.")
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To: Former Fetus

I think that atheists are risking their souls. If it is all fake as they say, so what? Religion makes people feel good and most likely makes people make good judgements. If God is real, then the atheists are screwed. I would rather be on the side of believing and find out it was all a good read than finding out it was real and not believe. The believers are better off!!!!!


93 posted on 05/22/2013 4:12:17 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Santorum-Bachmann 2016 for the future of the Country!)
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To: nickcarraway
Why do you have hostility towards Islam? Why do you have hostility towards Christians? Maybe if you lived your life without hostility, and minding everybody else’s business, you’d be happier in your own life. Sure, there are a lot of people out there each of us won’t agree with, but if you stop policing everyone else, maybe your own life will flourish.

Because during my adult life, it has been Islamists who have done the majority of killing and repression in the name of their particular interpretation of their Bronze Age myth. And furthermore, the billion or so "good Muslims" are nowhere near as vocal as they should be denouncing such murderous assholes.

Policing? Hardly. I joined a random discussion in General Chat on FR. I live my life quietly and richly; happily married with two beautiful children. I contribute to society, volunteer, have friends, and pay taxes. I'm not sure where you get the idea I'm not "flourishing," but at the risk of sounding overly defensive, I'm doing just fine, thanks.
94 posted on 05/22/2013 4:59:44 AM PDT by whattajoke (Let's keep Conservatism real.)
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To: Gene Eric
if you’re a man, people of your kind are largely responsible for raping children

I am a man and you're right. Perhaps that's why it sickens me so much and why I feel the need to speak out about it. And when like-minded pedophiles have been hiding behind The Church and its secrecy, sorry, I have a problem with that.
95 posted on 05/22/2013 5:00:53 AM PDT by whattajoke (Let's keep Conservatism real.)
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To: PieterCasparzen
For someone who could care less you're spending an awful lot of time here on FR bothering Christians about them.

I do it about once a year. It's rare to have something like this in General/Chat where I can do it. If their faith is strong, I'm sure I'm nothing but a harmless gnat to swat away.
96 posted on 05/22/2013 5:02:31 AM PDT by whattajoke (Let's keep Conservatism real.)
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To: Viennacon
Not really sure what you’re doing on FreeRepublic. Did Dummie Underground kick you out?

No.

By your logic, the Red Cross also steals from rubes and gets away with it. Trust an atheist to forget all the charity work done by churches.


Quite a leap! If you are implying that every dollar that Creflo Dollar and Joel Osteen get goes to charity, then thanks for proving my point. Also, to be clear, many 10's of thousands of churches do incredible charity work and without volunteerism and charity, our country would crumble worse than it is.

Spoken like a true socialist. Science would be much better without any beliefs coming into play. Dr. Josef Mengele was one of the leading thinkers in this department.

You sure do like giant ridiculous leaps. Your second sentence is on point though.

Except most of those victims were not actually “children”, they were post-pubescent. People often are stupid enough to refer to this scandal as the “Catholic pedophile scandal”, when it was really just the “Catholic homosexual statutory rape scandal”. A lot of Phy-ed teachers and coaches have also been rapists. Maybe they should be outlawed too

Just so we're clear, you're apologizing for decades-long systematic child sexual abuse by men in position of authority. Have a lovely day.
97 posted on 05/22/2013 5:07:32 AM PDT by whattajoke (Let's keep Conservatism real.)
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To: PieterCasparzen

Gravity is a theory and a law. We’re not arguing here.


98 posted on 05/22/2013 5:08:58 AM PDT by whattajoke (Let's keep Conservatism real.)
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To: fr_freak; All
This will be my final response on this thread. Thanks to all for your lively conversation. Thank you for your reasoned response. First, you wrote, "You gave a good reason to hate Islam, but not religion in general. " I don't "hate" religion. I just find it absurd.

...is not, in the least, a reflection upon Christianity.

True enough. My parents are lovely, kind, giving Christians. I was raised with all the right values and am raising my sons with the same. There are well over a billion people who live "good Christian lives." But the One True Scotsman fallacy applies here, as every time someone "misinterprets" the bible, they are called "not really Christian." FTR, there are many atheists and non Christians who live perfectly good and charitable lives. Being a good person is not predicated on being Christian. (And of course there are many non-believers who are horrible people.

There is nothing in the Bible that commands people to go out and kill non-believers, or any other innocent person.

History disagrees with this. As you know, the OT surely disagrees with this, many times over. Now, most American Christians conveniently toss aside the multiple genocides of the OT for a variety of reasons - which is fine. Except they don't toss aside Genesis and they hold that the book is written by the hand of an infallible god. I can't reconcile that.

But let's pretend I can. And I stick to the NT and especially the Gospels. Matthew 5:17 tells me, quite clearly, that Jesus absolutely agrees with the OT text. ""Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." Sure, that can be interpreted different ways, but the most logical way is, "All that terrible OT stuff? I love it."

Furthermore, many Christians seem to enjoy the thought of non-believers burning in hell for all eternity. That's just weird.

By the way, I'd like to thank the FOUR FReepers who private messaged me about all this, noting that they agree with me. There are many more. I must work today and I fully recognize nothing I say will sway anyone here - and that is not my intent. Have a good one.
99 posted on 05/22/2013 5:50:00 AM PDT by whattajoke (Let's keep Conservatism real.)
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To: whattajoke

Almost every single thing you have written here about Christianity and the Bible is a lie.

Most people, including myself, don’t have the time to respond to each and every lie you’ve presented on this thread.

Once someone addresses one whole class of your lies in general, like the Old Testament displaying a God that is other than just, you simply respond with more lies that completely ignore everything the person responded with. When you’re given the answers, you IGNORE them and press on with more lies. This is an age-old process called rejecting God. You’re not trying to debate anything, you’re simply rejecting God and you’ll babble all day spouting the same meaningless nonsense over and over.

So the harder we Christians work at refuting you, the more work you pile on us to refute you some more.

In cases like this, we Christians are doing what’s called arguing with an idiot, a process that wastes time. Once we’ve witnessed to you and quoted from Scripture generously and it becomes clear that you are playing a game, it’s time for a different tack.

Some people are honestly questioning the Bible and can benefit from having believers testify of their faith to them. Frequently on FR this appears and Christians offer testimony and Scripture.

What you’re really trying to do is fill out FR’s online content with anti-Christian material. I hope the moderators take this into account. While honest debate is good, FR does try to keep out anti-Christian spam.

A Christian’s responses to you are then attempts to refute lies, which you refuse to let sit and you continue to respond to add more anti-Christian content to FR. My responses are simply made so as the public reads the content of FR they can see lies against God refuted.

Not only is our faith not shaken, but even though we don’t have time to respond to the sheer volume of your babblings with fully researched answers, we know we do not need to waste much time refuting the nonsense you write since people who are reading this and seek the truth will find it.

The way to the truth you present is it to flat out reject the Bible and not study it honestly. The way to the truth is, of course, to study the Bible honestly, since only then would one know the message and teachings of the Bible that one was considering belief or unbelief in. If one were to want to discuss and debate a book on aerodynamics one would certainly have to read and understand it first. Most people get the idea of that. But folks who spew rejection of the Bible with no response to Scripture being witnessed to them have already made up their mind and are not seeking God but have their own purposes. Actually, God has brought out a stubborness in them to accomplish his purposes, but they won’t believe it.


100 posted on 05/22/2013 7:58:09 AM PDT by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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