Washington State Senator Jim Dunn (R) — a Christian — made this appalling comment yesterday:
“It is time to chase out all the Jews and evildoers,” Dunn said.
There has been no backlash.
Oh wait. My bad. He wasn’t talking about Jews…
“It is time to chase out of the house of God all the unbelievers and evildoers,” Dunn said.
Ah. Now it all makes sense. He’s anti-atheist, not anti-Semitic. That’s ok, right?
No wonder the media doesn’t care.
Dunn was speaking against the Freedom From Religion Foundation display in Olympia, Washington.
Here’s the full context of the statement. It took place during a protest yesterday against the display. Over 500 people showed up:
Using a loudspeaker, pastors prayed, sang Christmas carols and criticized Gov. Chris Gregoire for allowing the atheist sign in the building.
“The No. 1 thing is, we want the state of Washington and the governor to represent everyone in the state,” said the Rev. Kenneth Hutcherson, the pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond. “But just because you must represent everyone in the state doesn’t mean that you put up with intolerance from the people that you represent.”
State Rep. Jim Dunn, a Vancouver Republican, called for the crowd to continue their energy and prayers.
“It is time to chase out of the house of God all the unbelievers and evildoers,” Dunn said.
You can disagree with what the sign says. We can argue over the religion-enslaves-minds phrase on the plaque (I’m not a fan of it, personally). But to say atheists don’t have a right to make that statement? From a State Representative? That’s absurd. His constituency includes atheists along with religious people.
Also, is Dunn calling the state Capitol building a “house of God”?!
When an Illinois State Rep. (Monique Davis) made anti-atheist comments, she was named by Keith Olbermann as the “Worst Person in the World” one night.
That title should have a new owner tonight.
If you want to tell State Rep. Dunn how you feel, you can reach him through his website.