Maryland Atheists Want State to Remove Roadside Memorials

CNSNews.com ^ | 10/27/03 | Steve Brown

[tet68]

Headline: Maryland Atheists demand removal of 1st amendment.

[Oreo Kookey]

Boy o boy, God sure gets their dander up. If they put 1/000,000,000th of the effert into finding out about the God they say they don"t believe in, they'd find out the error of their ways. The thing I can't understand is why roadside memorials, The Ten Commandments in a court house, crosses around Christians necks, and on and on and on, bother them at all. If they don't really believe in God, why don't they just ignore Him. I don't like spinich but I have no need to outlaw it.

[a_Turk]

>> If you're looking at a memorial or any other thing that's been put on the road, then you're certainly not looking at the road.

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. What's their stand on billboards then? or quality architecture?

I recommend horse-blinds at a reasonable price..

[oldironsides]

I use one Maryland Rd. almost daily. It has numerous memorials left by family and classmates. I have even seen
groups of kids praying at one memorial with candles flickering in the dark. Maybe the Athiests saw the same
group of teens? The flowers and displays seem to be updated
every week or so. It does not bother me to see this. It makes me glance at my speed. The dead get another prayer.
The increased number of memorials should get the interest
of more than Athiests. What is it about this roadway that
has it starting to look like a graveyard?

[Graybeard58]

"It does not bother me to see this. It makes me glance at my speed"


...I have the same reaction. I don't think religion when I see a road side cross, I think, somebody died here, this may be a particularly dangerous section of road for whatever reason. I'll excercise a little more caution.

[just me]

I wonder how long it will be before they say they can see a church from the public highway and were offended?
Will we have to take worship to our basements to please these fools?
They are really starting to nitpick....

[jos65]

Very well put.

I agree wholeheartedly.

[Lazamataz]

American Atheists in Maryland said Friday they want the state to start removing roadside memorials; crosses, flowers and sometimes teddy bears that people leave next to highways where a loved one or family member has died in an automobile accident.

These people are not atheists. They are evil.

[a_Turk]

And I've always been a proponent of female drivers being draped :)))

I've had many a near miss because of them!

[giznort]

I remember seeing my first roadside memorial almost 30 years ago while driving through the southwest. A white cross with some faded plastic flowers on it. A few years later, we saw some in Jamaica and in Mexico. I thought they were tacky. Now, the trend has obviously spread thoughout the country, even into Wisconsin. Last year 10 people were killed in the fog in Sheboygan County, and people had put up all kinds of memorials. I imagine it's good if it helps them deal with their terrible and sudden loss, but I still think hate those faded plastic flowers! I wish they could get into placing a flowering plant, low growing, or some sort of a garden spot to commemorate the memories of their loved ones, in my humble opinion.

[giznort]

P.S. Screw the atheists. Put some of the flowers in the garden in a cross shape if you like. I'm sooo sorry if they're offended by the cross. Aren't we supposed to be tolerant and celebrate diversity? Or is that criticism reserved for Christians?

[Lazamataz]

I'm not a Christian but I'm sure not offended by those little crosses.

[Raymond Hendrix]

There must be a God if they hate him so much. Otherwise they sure spend a lot of time fighting nothing.

The Blind Atheist

[Lazamataz]

But she said people bothered by the memorials usually remove them themselves "because it's easier" than trying to get the state to remove them.

Let me see this, just once, and we's gonna ***kin' rumble.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I guess these atheists want everyone to live a life void of feeling. What sad, sick people.

[trebb]

I think there should be a new law on the books, "If you don't believe in God, then God and things of God cannot possibly offend you. Get a freakin' life."

[Diva]

If you're looking at a memorial or any other thing that's been put on the road, then you're certainly not looking at the road. If it's religious in nature it could also be offensive to anyone who just wants to use the road. So it doesn't make sense from a couple of perspectives."

Well, then be prepared for action against any messages, religious or otherwise. No billboards, or advertising signs along the road. Geeze, I look on these memorials as warnings and they usually make me pay attention to the road!!!!

Not to mention the underlying "meanness" of their desire, perhaps these athiests want us all to fall asleep from bordom. But the sheer nonesense of their arguments really pisses me off. They don't want to be offended...poor babies, well I don't want to be offended either. I think we should get rid of all the trees along the side of the road, I personally find them offensive, oh wait...how about all those SUVs, now that's a major offense if you drive a little car! Another truely offensive and dangerous aspect of driving on the highways and byways of our country are those signs and stickers so many decorate their cars with, talk about a road hazard trying to read them can cause untold damage.

[mtbopfuyn]

I agree with them. It's a distraction. Yes, there a dozens of distractions such as kids fighting in the back, billboards, and cell phones, but the more that's eliminated the less chance of accidents and even more deaths on the roadways. Sure, you might think to be safer on that particular stretch but you could also have an accident rubber necking to see all the junk decorating the scene. Yes, junk. And some of that junk blows into the street causing drivers to swerve. There was a wreath on a narrow bridge that fell into the roadway that I had to drive through rather than hit the side or another car. Another nearby is a huge cross with yards of fluttering fabric that's most distracting especially when the fabric gets loose and drifts into your lane. The most disgusting thing is the guy had been drinking but the family put beer cans around it because he liked his beer (hello!). The accident was his fault and he ruined someone else's life by having to live knowing they hit him and now they have to drive by his beer can memorial??? Besides these memorials are placed on public property. Public property. Put your memorials in your own homes or their cemetery plot, or better yet in your heart, but don't clutter up the side of public roads.

[Sam Cree]

"They're shrines set up on public property everywhere and people really don't have the right to do that."

Atheists think rights come from the state? They may be painting themselves into a very tight corner. A leftist corner from the looks of it.