Posted on 12/09/2007 5:35:32 AM PST by LurkedLongEnough
Vernon (WTNH) _ A sign posted by Atheists in the Rockville's Central Park has people talking, prompting calls to the town hall and the local clergy.
The Connecticut Valley Atheists posted the three-sided sign, which some call a billboard, and it was the only sign in the town center marking the Holiday season. Two sides of the display feature the Twin Towers, framed by the words "Imagine No Religion."
This Christmas, Martha Chennelle and Amy Houser say Vernon could use a few prayers, considering the sign standing in front of town hall.
"We believe that Christ is the reason for Christmas," said Chennelle.
"I feel like this is an attack on my beliefs as a religious person," said Houser.
The sign, put up by the Connecticut Valley Atheist Group, which was supposed to mark the winter solstice, but the "Imagine No Religion" part of it, taken from John Lennon's song, "Imagine," has a lot of people upset.
Houser says the sign mocks her religion during a holy time of the year. "Imagine no religion is an attack against me, as any person of faith should take it as an attack against them," Houser said.
The town issued permits to the Atheist group to put the sign in the park. They also issued permits to a group of churches that plans to put a nativity scene and to a local synagogue to put up a menorah.
Dennis Himes, a Vernon resident, and member of CT Valley Atheists, says he was tired of seeing Christian displays.
"There are plenty of places to put up nativity scenes in Vernon. The original question that started this controversy was not whether a nativity scene would be put up in Vernon," said Dennis Himes of Vernon. "The question was whether the nativity scene would be put in front of a church or in front of town hall, on government property.
Himes also says that the picture of the Twin Towers is meant to show that without religion, 9-11 wouldn't have happened. A suggestion that has upset Muslims, as well.
"This is an attack," said Houser.
Chennelle and Houser have been fighting back with prayer.
"We ultimately believe that Christians have been persecuted throughout history," said Houser, "so this is nothing new."
According to the Hartford Courant town officials issued the Atheists a permit to put up the sign to commemorate the Winter Solstice. Permits were also issued to local churches and a synagogue to put up their own displays.
Yesterday the town of Rockville put up a large Christmas Tree, just 10 feet from the display.
>>”Imagine no religion is an attack against me, as any person of faith should take it as an attack against them,” Houser said.
We live in a country where people have the freedom to
worship as they choose, or to not worship. This means also
that people who don’t believe in God should _tolerate_
those who do. The ones who preach about tolerance and
understanding are the least likely to practice it.
But militant atheists always works to exclude believers from the public square. Why the double standard? If one looks at the First Amendment, it is clear that the atheists are in violation, as they work against free expression of faith. Repression of religion should be a serious legal matter. But often it is our lawmakers who facilitate the repression. Sigh.
Bad taste, yes. But this is not persecution.
Unless "persecution" means anything that makes someone feel uncomfortable.
The sign does not even single out Christianity, and it's not as if atheism is a popular cause.
Does self-important vicitmological whining really advance Christianity? At least no death threats, like you-know-who.
Oh, please.
Nothing in the sign picks on Christians.
There's enough real persecution without making stuff up.
Imagine No Criminals
Atheists have been trying, and often succeeding, to subvert the Constitution and install Atheism as the official state religion of the US of A.
Observing the Winter Solstice was a religious event for humanity long before Christianity. And at one level it is amusing to see Atheists engaging in such a religious act.
But honestly ... Atheists putting up a sign that has the Sun making the image of a Cross of Light between the Twin Towers with the caption Imagine No Religion is clearly anti-Christian in every possible way.
Why would the atheists put up anything around the time of Christmas?
Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to put up some kind of sign during a non-holiday time of the year?
Heck, Imagine no atheists - one day it will come true and the rest of us will be too filled with joy to bother with a last laugh.
The solstice is still a few weeks away. Why so early for their message?
Teach the city the rest of the story. Man that sign day and night with “This is Christmas” Use it as an opportunity to teach everyone the true meaning of Christmas and how a Savior was born to die for their sins so that they can have eternal life.
I somehow think there is a South Park moment in all of this. In fact, I think that might be the perfect remedy to such a sign.
I’ve never understood why so many people seem to like that John Lennon sign, either. It nauseates me to hear the thing like just about no other song I can think of. Just a completely silly, trite thump on the guitar.
Here's an image that could be photoshopped into 'a world without religion' or 'without the truth, the people perish.
This is a map of Cambodia made up of skulls of people the commies murdered. Cambodia abolished religion. Imagine a world without religion, okay.
Was it Chesterton or Lewis who said, “If it weren’t for God, there would be no atheists.”
“Imagine no religion”: a tyrant’s dream.
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