Pastor Mike Stahl’s ‘National Atheist Registry’ Is Nothing New

I emailed him and it didn’t bounce, so. Cue the firestorm of emails explaining just how wrongheaded he is.

I get the impression that what Pastor Mike *really* wants is for nobody to be allowed to say they’re atheists. That’s what his not-so-thinly-veiled threat seems to imply: say you’re an atheist and we’ll come round and preach at you.  Refuse to say you’ve seen the light and we’ll try to bankrupt your business.

I don’t know if he cares whether there are actually atheists in the world or not, but he doesn’t want anyone to be allowed to say they are one.

Like when they teach members how to proselytize to non-Christians. (I wouldn’t be surprised if they had specific atheists in mind during lessons.)

I would be, for a couple of reasons. One is mostly practical. For many (most?) churches operating within the US (I’m excluding missions) they know they are confronting a mostly Christian public. In areas where the more aggressive churches operate, this is likely more so. So “witnessing” in this case means getting butts in pews, but its a lot safer bet that those butts are already practicing Christians of another denomination or nonpracticing Christians (catchphrase: “I believe in God but not the church”) than assuming they will confront a large number of atheists.

Beyond that, what I’ve been able to find on the net when researching how Christians should witness to atheists is a lot of caution and several “don’t bother” comments. As far as internet Christians talking to one another, there seems to be a general opinion that atheists have “hardened hearts” and are very unlikely to convert, wheras the “spiritual” are much softer targets.

His “registry” made me think of Nazi Germany, or the Soviet Union, or even Nixon’s “enemies list”. And he kept referring to “Admitted” atheists, which connotes evil and guilt. The reference to the hard-hearted Pharoah is rather a canard, since it was ‘God’ who hardened his heart so Egypt could be punished further.

“Or perhaps they are radical atheists , whose hearts are as hard as Pharaoh’s”

– Stating the obvious: It was God who hardened the heart of Pharoh. Does that imply our first born sons should be slaughtered by the loving God?

The boycotting of non-christian businesses really gets to me. This was a big thing when I was a christian. “Don’t shop at ____ because ____ heard through the grapevine that they are satanists or atheists.” Here in Kentucky, many businesses have cross stickers right next to their BBB stickers and it’s just as likely to bring them business regardless of whether people like their service. Minorities don’t have that luxury, though. I have to keep my atheism hidden BECAUSE of Christians who would band together and attempt to ruin my life, business and livelihood. Where’s the “Christianity” in that? 

So he is basically saying the he hates atheiests because they are like “hate groups” !?! Lol.. And let’s not even get started with the sex offendfer thing.

While I’d be happy enough to be on Pastor Mike’s list, I don’t support the idea at all.  I don’t have anything to fear from Mike and his ilk, but a lot of other people do. A list that exists for the sole purposes of encouraging discrimination seems pretty certain to cause more harm than good.

Hate mail looks bad on us no matter what we’re responding to. Hate + Hate will never equal Love.

I’m kinda gobsmacked that he compares atheists to sex offenders and the KKK. 

I’d be happy to go on such a list and to have access to it as long as believers do the same.  I don’t want to give my hard earned cash to those crazy Christians and being able to spot them would be quite useful.  Normally I just assume that anyone grinding their teeth, clenching their fists or talking to themselves is a Christian but sometimes I worry that I may be unfairly labelling them.  Some may have genuine medical conditions that have these symptoms.

/sarcasm

I agree. My parents go to a very strict, Bible believing rural church and I think they were just…confused…when I came out atheist to them. It was as if they didn’t even know that there are individuals out there who don’t believe in God; they can’t conceive of it, much less that their daughter is ONE OF THEM.

(All of which is weird, given that my mother teaches a required freshman course at a Big Ten university with 40k students…you’d think that would force her interact with other people of differing beliefs, but no!)

It’s the insular nature of the beast. Hang out with people that believe like you do (they will “edify” you). Avoid non-believers and people of other religions (they will “lead you to temptation”). Atheists are super scary because they have rejected, wholesale, the supernatural – something that is just unheard of in a lot of churchy circles.

Great comment. 🙂

Creating a public list of Atheists just because there are public lists of sex offenders is bizarre. He believes atheists are “offenders”. Using such a list to ostracise freethinking individuals  who do not share his fantasy; and to send their business’s into insolvency smacks of medieval witch hunts, or Nazi oppression of Jews. How very christian of him.

 I noticed that the Pastor has tattoos on his arms. I think we should have a registry of all persons that have tattoos, make them come in to have them and their tattoos photographed at the Police Station, put their photos and a pic of their tattoo with their information (address, phone number, etc.) on a national registry. Then we will be able to avoid all people with tattoos, boycott the sale of their homes, shopping at their businesses, and create a ghetto where all tattooed people can live with people of their own ilk, away from all of us who don’t have tattoos. After all, I don’t want to live near a tattooed person or have my children associate with any tattooed persons.

FYI Pastorstahl@aol.com has emailed me saying he did make the posts.  He still hasn’t answered any questions though.

Leviticus 19:27 “‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. Leviticus 19:28 “‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.

I think that these two verses would show that Pastor Mike isn’t a true christian. True christians shouldn’t patronize his church and should attempt to keep anyone else from doing so.

The KKK has always held itself out as a christian organization. Almost all pedophiles and sex offenders are religous with the majority in America being christian.

He’s the real Pastor Mike, as it happens.

The tattoos are clearly a violation of Leviticus 19:28. Obviously he isn’t a real Christian

There are a lot of myopic Christians that have to restate atheism  into something they understand, such as calling it satanism, hating God, worshipping yourself.

I can’t wait to see ‘John Smith’ on the boycott list. This makes almost as much sense as the ‘No Fly’ list. 60 Minutes interviewed 7 men with the same name, none of whom had any reason to be suspected of terrorism, but one person with a different name used their name as an alias to send a threatening letter once in the distant past. I wonder how big the list for New York City will be.

As a Christian, I join you in your disgust of what this man says and does, and if he meant it as a joke, it really wasn’t funny at all.  But I find it disturbing that there are people who have responded here with the kind of hatred and animosity that they say he exhibits and that disturbs me, too. 
 
Anybody can call himself a Christian.  Anybody can take up pew space week after week after week in a church and still not be a Christian.  A true Christian is a person who is in a relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ by the infilling of the human spirit.  When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, he embarks upon a life-long process of sanctification in which he, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit’s power, grows more and more Christ-like.  Christ made it clear that we are to love our neighbours as ourselves.
 
You won’t find any perfect Christians on this earth.  You will only find Christians in the process of being perfected.  And, as I said, you will find people attending churches and, sadly, even preaching from the pulpit who don’t know the Lord personally and are living completely apart from him and NOT following his wishes at all.  Yet they still wear the label “Christian”.  Please do not condemn us all because of people who represent God and Christianity badly.
 
Thank you for allowing me to post here.

Go ahead, make a list.  Be sure to create one for religious folk too … then cross-referenced them with “convicted sex offenders , ex-convicts , terrorist cells , hate groups like the KKK , skinheads , radical Islamists , etc.” and lets see where we stand.

Oh, no, Stev84. You’re taking that out of context.

Of course, when they quote the anti-gay verses from the same book, now THOSE are to be heeded in the most literal manner possible.

Cherry-picking. Ain’t it great?

I guess I’m a little confused – can you clarify?

You say that we ” shouldn’t condemn us all because of people who represent God and Christianity badly”, suggesting that Stahl is misrepresenting Christianity, but then you go on to say that “you won’t find any perfect Christians on this earth”…so then what name shall we give you? How can we make the distinction between the “true” Christians and all the other people that look just like the “true” Christians (but aren’t!)?  Will the “fake” Christians always remain the scapegoat here?

MaryLouise, you ask that we:
“Please do not condemn us all because of people who represent God and Christianity badly.”

Then start speaking up more often and more forcefully. The rest of you need to drown out the voices like his.

Sadly, however, the rest of you religious folk are usually so meek and silent, that we atheists and agnostics can’t help but think you agree or that you condone freaks like this guy.

And one more thing: I don’t see anything remotely approaching your claim that people in this thread have responded with “hatred and animosity” toward the “good” reverend. The worst that I’ve seen is a few people paraphrasing him by replacing “Atheist” with “Christian.” Wow, the audacity.

Rather, by replacing “Christian” with “Atheist.” My bad.

Most states have statutes making the maintaining of a
blacklist illegal.  Should we report him
to the authorities?

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 448.045

“Agreeing or conspiring with another person or persons in
order to get someone fired or prevent someone from obtaining employment.”

I’m sorry, but did you just AOL him?

AOL, verb: “To AOL someone.” “Did you just AOL him?” “AOL him on his favorite forum, that will learn him.” To call somebody you don’t like an idiot because he or she still uses AOL.

I’m confused. Where exactly are the ‘people who have responded here with the kind of hatred and animosity that they say he exhibits ‘.

I’m not trying to be flippant or anything, but I don’t see them. I’ve seen some ridicule of him, but that is neither hatred, nor animosity, and they’ve not been directed at all people who claim to be Christians too. 

Also – who are you to say what a ‘True Christian’ is? I’m pretty sure that people like this unhinged ‘Pastor’ will think that you aren’t a ‘True Christian’, too. Indeed, people like those at the WBC certainly do. I don’t understand why I should believe you ahead of them? 

As it is, I think both of you are as true a Christian as the other. 

Funny, because I suspect he’d get really upset if the local mosque decided to compile a list of all the Christians in the area.

He can add me to his Atheist “Do Not Call” List.

That’s basically what real churches are isn’t it?

Call it handpicking if you like, but some of us don’t know any other kind of Christianity. And this comes from someone who grew up as a member of a Christian community. 

FYI, Pastor Mike is my youngest brother. I am an “avowed” atheist, and my book ‘Dialectical Atheism’ features a chapter with my most virulent debates with him. But anyway, his point on receiving hate email is well taken and I sugegst any of those who dispute it read my own blog on the matter:

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2011/08/atheists-have-to-show-more-tolerance.html

The several examples therein – a fraction of what he received – gives some idea of the vitriol, which – as I noted- doesn’t help us in terms of the claim to be paragons of reason or any enlightenment!

You won’t find any perfect Christians on this earth.  You will only find Christians in the process of being perfected.

But the obvious question that springs to mind is, “If there aren’t any perfect Christians, but only Christians-in-process, how do you know what a perfect Christian is? Christians, after all, can’t be like their mythological Christ. He was a God, after all, and mortals, no matter how much they want to, can’t emulate a God. Especially since said God is also on record saying His ways aren’t our ways.

If no one has ever met Perfect Christians, how do you know to what to aspire? At what point along the journey does a Christian-in-name-only become a Christian-being-perfected? How not-really-Christian must you be before you can’t ever start down the road to perfection? Who gets to decide that? On what criteria? How do you the criteria is valid?

In other words, how do you know this pastor isn’t on the same path as you, just at a different point along it? What gives you the right judge him not fit to be Christian? Where is your spirit of forgiveness?

Again, more arrogance and ignorance. I’m very disappointed.

I don’t think all Atheists would agree with your view either. So now we start getting many similarities between Christianity and Atheism in terms of the misconceptions that arise.

You think that all Christians go around preaching hell to kids and that they eat babies (and just to point out a theological point – we’re not threatening people with hellfire. It’s simply a Christian doctrine). Not true at all – again, this is just based on a narrow personal experience of Christianity. Of course, you then blanket cover *all* Christians with your view. If I did that about atheists however, you would not stand for it.

Atheism is about saying and trying to prove and *believing* that God does not exist. It’s just near enough the opposite of what Christianity teaches, or any religion for that matter. Which makes it some religion in itself; of what kind, I’m not sure.

Now we steer off subject. This topic is about a crazy, crackpot Christian who thinks atheists should be put on a register similar to that of sex offenders. The sociological implications of this notion subconsciously state that atheists are criminals and dregs of society. This, I do not agree with.

But because some ‘Christians’ (whether they are or not is not for me to judge) behave in this way, some (maybe bordering on many) atheists and humanists and whatever you like to call yourselves jump on the situation and you all get on the bandwagon to bang a very monotonous drum saying that Christianity promotes this behaviour and religion is the cause of all wars, and Christians are arrogant and ignorant, and this and that and the other, which is simply arrogance and ignorance in itself. And what’s more, many people who say such things have no intention of opening their eyes to all the Christians who are practising a Christianity that is as close to the Bible as it can be, and not harming anyone, but truly trying to reflect what Christ has said, and loving him for the sacrifice he made.

There is nothing vulgar about that. And that is why people who make imprudent comments like the one I previously replied to make me cross. Because not only are they ignorant of the things of which they’re talking about, they also don’t want to listen to a better, truthful story about the vast majority of Christians in the world.

http://deanroberts.net

…there has never been an attempt on your behalf to find out about other sorts of Christianity.

How do you know? I was introduced to Christianity by my then- and now ex-girlfriend. She talked a fine game, but I saw was people, ordinary people: angry, hateful, resentful, jealous, petty, all deeply religious and all deeply convinced that they were none of those things.  I was expected to lie to a priest(by my girlfriend and her family) to get his marriage approval. He was harsh, unforgiving, though ultimately intelligent. The previous priest was actually pretty nice, but he didn’t last: he went off to marry some girl and live with her in a jungle somewhere.

I have seen the mind of religious people, and I have not found it pretty. You say we need to seek out other kinds of Christianity to base our opinions upon. Fair enough. Let me ask you this, though: is it part of God’s plan, as you understand it, to so thoroughly confuse people never previously exposed to Christianity that they throw up their hands in despair and call quits on the whole sorry business?

I think you do an injustice to atheists here. Like many Christians, you believe that we simply don’t know enough about your religion, and that, if only we studied your kind of Christianity, we would immediately accept it as our own and fill the pews to bursting. That’s not hyperbole, I’ve heard that argument from many Christians in the past, and my reading of your posts suggests you’re leaning in that direction also.

In fact, I know quite a bit more than you would like to believe. I find it hypocritical, a drain on society and, in recent times, criminally reprehensible. It drags the worst parts of the previous ages into the present and fights tooth and nail against change.

Thirty years ago, when the AIDS epidemic was getting started, it was called the Gay Disease. Funny thing, though, Christians called it that. Then, as now, there are just not that many atheists in positions of power, and fewer still back then.

What it all boils down to is that hypothetical Christianity that you love so much is irrelevant. All that’s important is the Christianity that’s practiced by the man(and woman) on the street. And this pastor represents that Christianity far better than you would like to believe.

Actually Hitler and the Nazi’s were atheist.  That of course does not mean atheist are Nazi’s anymore than a few nu tballs who call themselves Christian means all Christians are nut balls.

Again, more arrogance and ignorance. I’m very disappointed.

Arrogance. Ignorance. You throw those words around like pancakes.

I
don’t think all Atheists would agree with your view either. So now we
start getting many similarities between Christianity and Atheism in
terms of the misconceptions that arise.

Perhaps they won’t, but I won’t call down Armageddon on them if they don’t.

You think that all
Christians go around preaching hell to kids and that they eat babies
(and just to point out a theological point – we’re not threatening
people with hellfire. It’s simply a Christian doctrine). Not true at all
– again, this is just based on a narrow personal experience of
Christianity. Of course, you then blanket cover *all* Christians with
your view. If I did that about atheists however, you would not stand for
it.

I don’t need you to blanket atheists with anything. I’ll do it for you. Atheists don’t believe in the same Gods you don’t, we just go one God further is all. There. Problem solved.

When I was a kid, we had just come to Canada, and almost the first thing some other kids who I thought were my friends did was try to convert me. They talked about hellfire and damnation, and funny, but I think they didn’t come up with it on their own.

Atheism is about saying and trying to prove and *believing*
that God does not exist. It’s just near enough the opposite of what
Christianity teaches, or any religion for that matter. Which makes it
some religion in itself; of what kind, I’m not sure.

Do you believe in Zeus? Odin? Hera? No? Well, neither do I. So right there we’re the same. The difference is that I go one God(your God) further. It’s not religion, it’s lack of belief in what you believe.

Now we steer
off subject. This topic is about a crazy, crackpot Christian who thinks
atheists should be put on a register … dregs of society. This, I do not agree with.

Good.

But
because some ‘Christians’ (whether they are or not is not for me to
judge) … Snip for space

The Bible also teaches to put disobedient children and homosexuals to death. Yes, I know. Old Testament, right? But Genesis, man. And the lineage of Jesus. Somehow, that’s alright to take from the OT.

There is nothing vulgar about
that.  … Snip for space.

The truthful story about the majority of Christians is that they have been rather silent during the whole child rape in the church fiasco. I know. Catholics, right? Not just them, though.  And that wasn’t even the first scandal, either.

But you are right. Generalizations never lead to anything good. I wonder, though. Were you this vocal when atheists were called not worthy American citizenship? Do you write blog entries when surveys come out saying most people in the US wouldn’t vote for an atheist if he/she was a better candidate? And I am out of typing room.

If such a list existed, I’d use it to find out where to shop.  It’d help me avoid getting screwed over by someone who thinks they’re automatically forgiven for it.

The fact is these kinds of databases already exist and could conceivably be used in the future to target subgroups for discrimination or even elimination. Unfortunately this is growing more and more likely as societal and economic pressures escalate and hate rhetoric and blame the _____s mentalities flourish.  The framework is already present and people of this mindset such as Mr. Stahl are out there. The Jehovah’s Witnesses who go door-to-door preaching immediately after each stop write in their notebooks a summary of each resident’s religious stance and receptivity to their sects views.  Large combined databases of this kind of data, such as what one charges on their credit cards, checks out from the library, buys with their grocery discount card or movies they rent have been gathered, cross-referenced and are data-mined by the government and others. After 9-11 these efforts have escalated on the pretext of fighting the “war on terror.”  Profiling is one form of this, take for example the case of Yasir Afifi, a 20 year old college student, Muslim and U.S. citizen, who lives in California who found an FBI tracking device on his car even though he has no criminal history or hate group memberships.  Truly if the Nazis had these kinds of databases they would have had no trouble rounding up all the Jews, Gypsies, gays and whoever else they found undesirable. Don’t think it can’t happen here.

Well I don’t agree with that definition at all. Because if you’re not a theist you could be an agnostic.

Either way, the fact of the point I was trying to make remains. People have many misconceptions about traditional, orthodox Christianity, and then someone writes a blog post about one Christian who atheists like to hold as a model example of a Christian and dump all their misconceptions on this blog.

http://deanroberts.net

Well, from a strictly logical point of view, the absence of examples of a perfect [x] does not mean we can’t know what we mean by a perfect [x].  For example, in geometry, an ideal plane has no thickness.  Obviously we cannot actually find one of those to point at, but nonetheless we know what we mean by it.

That said, I am just being a smartass.  🙂  I agree with you generally.  I think the “no perfect christians” thing is just a dodge, there to allow them to forgive themselves in the name of god for whatever they do that doesn’t make sense.  It’s one of those faith-based life kludges that are the intellectual equivalent of fixing something with caulk or duct tape; it makes things appear to fit together that don’t, but it won’t stand much pressure.

“you’re not talking about the same faith that I am.”

So, are we talking the new, latest greatest version of christianity? How is your version superior to the old version? Why is your version any more reliable or trustworthy. Do all the christians follow your new version? Is this new version less likely to commit “such terrible things (done) by Christians and in the past (done) by the Church as an established institution.”

Yeah see, that there, is the problem. Do you think you just wash your hands of that which has come before you and hold no responsibility to it. Why should we think this new version holds any more validity than the last?

I have a very balanced understanding of christianity come through reasoned study and investigation. Give me good reason why I should listen to you and your version and I will. Crying the no true Scotsman fallacy will score you no points here I am afraid.

And on a side note. No, that is not at all what atheism is about. No one offers you the answers on a silver platter, here. You have to seek out them for yourself. For you to say that, you must be thinking of the alter version of atheism you heard from on sunday morning. You should look a little deeper and not default back to established institutional versions of what you have been told.

That might be a good lead off for your new version of christianity. Think of it as, say, new thinking for yourself or some such slant. Sheep don’t generally like to think, so you may have to lay it out for them.

“Because whilst it may be the only kind of Christianity that some of you
know, there has never been an attempt on your behalf to find out about
other sorts of Christianity.”

Boy there sure is a lot of assumptions flying around in there. How do you know we have never explored the different versions of christianity. You should get your head out of your ass before you tell us what we have or haven’t done. I would bet that everyone that has responded to you have done more home work on the different flavors of xianity than you have. Maybe that’s your problem, neither have you and you think your version is something special. Have you even gone beyond the borders of your town.

They all think there special and they all think they have the corner on the “true” truth. It would appear your no different. Your ignorant understanding of what atheism is is a direct sign of the bubble you surround yourself in. I have seen many versions of christianity had many wonderful experiences with the people involved in those different flavors. Trust me you seem no different than the rest.

Screw you and your no true Scotsman fallacy.come back when you have something new.

Wow.

Dear Hermant,

You’re rhetoric in this post makes it seem like  atheists  are persecuted homosexuals afraid of coming out of the  “closet”. Really? Maybe you should have read more Vonnegut during your time in school. It’s a big world and Mr. Stahl is but a very, very small part of it– I would guess that his “idea” strikes a chord with the culture in which he lives and it’s quite easy to make fun of him, but I’m sure that many of his neighbors identify with his sentiments. Does this make it “right”? No, but at this point it also doesn’t make it wrong– Stahl is using a public venue to  assert his idea of what is right and you are doing the same, albeit you are using rhetoric advantageously,  while Mr. Stahl appears like a buck-toothed, gun-toting hick, sans rhetorical ability. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?

Cheers,

Matt

There was this one guy, in Europe, back in the ’20’s who had a national registry of people he disagreed with. Didn’t end very well.

Thanks for speaking up in opposing this.  As someone said above, the more moderates who speak out against the extremists, the better. 

As for “lump[ing] the rest of us in with [him]”, I don’t see any examples of Hemant doing that in this post (nor do I remember any in past posts, although I may have missed them).  I also haven’t seen any examples in the comments on this post (feel free to point out instances I overlooked, and we can discuss them).  As such, since atheists are often accused of such lumping (as in the comment linked below by Dean Roberts, right on this page), please be careful about implying it, especially without providing examples.

Thanks again for reading and commenting on the blog, though!

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2011/09/01/pastor-mike-stahls-national-atheist-registry-is-nothing-new/#comment-300489063

Dean, I agree. But I would like to point something out: Most of us were religious at some point. You really don’t have to mention the caveats 🙂 Of course, having been on your side of the coin, I do recognize that lots of atheists in forums, blogs, etc. have a bad habit of painting with a broad brush… so maybe I’m wrong. Hmm.

some of your remarks are the same old arguments that atheists have used
for centuries, and Christians have given perfectly adequate answers to
your objections – but because you *choose* to not listen, you’ll still
put on the same old record when it comes to facing issues within
Christianity.

Perhaps the problem is that you think the answers to the objections are adequate? If you don’t approach these ideas from the point of view that your beliefs must necessarily be true, trust me, you will not consider the Christian responses to atheist arguments to be adequate. View these conceptual conflicts from the perspective of an outsider, and the Christian apologetics soon fall flat and ring hollow.

Thank you for sharing your misconceptions. I’m just glad that we agree
that this Christian ‘pastor’ should be stopped spreading
his preposterous views.

Actually, not at all. I don’t want to see him silenced. For two reasons: 1st, so long as no actual violence against anyone occurs, it’s just one more religious freak out of millions getting a forum to vent his spleen. 2nd, the more he talks, the more people will come to equate Christianity with him, and I don’t see that as a bad thing. I may not wish to destroy Christianity myself, but I can be hell on wheels passive-aggressively.

The sum up that brilliant definition:

Agnostic atheist: a person who doesn’t believe(atheist) in God but doesn’t know(agnostic) whether one exists or not

Gnostic atheist: a person who doesn’t believe(atheist) in God and knows(gnostic) no God exists

Agnostic theist: a person who believes(theist) in God but doesn’t know(agnostic) whether said God or any God actually exists.

Gnostic theist: a person who believes(theist) in God and also knows(gnostic) that God exists.

Blunt, perhaps, but not untrue.

“My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God’s truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice… And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.
-Adolf Hitler, in a speech on 12 April 1922 (Norman H. Baynes, ed. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939, Vol. 1 of 2, pp. 19-20, Oxford University Press, 1942)

“Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”-Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)

I had excellent opportunity to intoxicate myself with the solemn splendor of the brilliant church festivals. As was only natural, the abbot seemed to me, as the village priest had once seemed to my father, the highest and most desirable ideal.-Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)

Every volume and every chapter of Mein Kampf contains Christian symbolism, Christian messages or claims to Christian belief by Hitler.  That sure makes him sound like a Christian to me.

@36ec760459e27751e65319264f89accf:disqus,
 If Hitles was an atheist, why then, has the catholic church never excummunicated him?

Absolutely! The attempts of christians to distance themselves from the horrors perpetrated by the nazis are laughable. The whole EXCUSE for targeting  jews was that they were “evil christ-killers” all throughout history. 

 “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” — Voltaire

the holocaust (and it’s religious rationalizations) are an extremely apt example of this. 

Who gets to decide who true Scotsman is?

My experience has been that there are few people zealous enough to really care what religious persuasion, if any, a business owner is.  People might give lip service to the idea, but when it comes down to it, what people usually care most about is getting a good deal and quality service/product.

this is the poster, again. don’t get me wrong, “witnessing” is not what i represent, and neither is the “making a list of stores” i was just adding my individual input to contribute to the article

Nazis where attempting to start there own religion. it involved the idea that aryans came from Atlantis and some other weird shit.

 And here we are back to arrogance.

Why do you presume to know what religions any atheist has or has not experienced? And please don’t qualify with “I said ‘some of you know'” because you then used “your” in the universal sense regarding attempts to to find others.

Again, writing technique.

Please don’t presume that it’s the lack of exposure to the “right” version of (any) religion that leads one to atheism. That’s arrogance.

Now if you’d said a Catholic priests registry instead of just plain old Xians, it would serve a good purpose!

There already is a catholic priest registry, it’s called the sex offender registry

Since he probably won’t read my email, and I don’t want to have wasted my time entirely, here’s what I sent him.

“Pastor” Stahl,

I would like to respectfully add my sentiments to the entirely justifiable outrage your inbox must be riddled with.

I
am sure you are aware what the creation of your Atheist Registry
infers. The only possible outcome of this list is for your extremist
Christian friends to cause violence to innocent people across the
country. There is no difference between this proposed list and any of
Hitler’s registries in the ’30s. These kinds of lists are the hallmark
of oppression, and the thought that someone who calls himself American
could even conceive of such a registry frightens me to an extreme
degree. Sounds like someone thinks he is entitled to cast the first
stone.

Additionally, I am officially requesting an apology from you for
summoning the gumption to compare me to a domestic terrorist and a sex
offender. This incident has proven to me that I, an atheist, am composed
of more morality than your pathetic, hateful mind could ever conceive
of. Atheists are, for the most part, good, honest people. Unlike you, by
the way, who said this registry idea was a joke, that we’d never hear
about it again, and yet continued your bigoted crusade behind closed
doors. How’s that for honesty, you small, hypocritical man? You ask for
transparency from honest American atheists, who are entitled to all the
rights and priveliges afforded to all American citizens, and you
privatize your blog and Facebook. Hypocrisy of the highest degree!

You now have my email address. I do not trust that you will do the
“Christian” thing with it, but I offer it because I will never be
ashamed that I do not believe in man-made myths and monsters. I am
damned proud that I do not have the reasoning faculties of a three year
old, and am not afraid of the judgment of an imaginary dictator in the
sky. The very idea of the Christian God is un-American; a kind of
invisible Kim Jong Il that can convict me of thought crime, invade my
privacy, dictate who I may or may not love, what I should eat, or what
my loving wife may do with her own body. Our great country is too good
for your childish, “all powerful, all knowing” god who somehow needs
constant adoration, and for his followers to oppress those who do not
believe in him. There are good people and bad people in the world, that
is a fact. It takes your God to make a good man do terrible things.

Frankly, I personally believe that Christianity has been the cause
of most of the world’s problems for 2,000 years, and I look forward to
the day humanity as a whole drops the silly superstition. I doubt you or
I will live to see that happy day, I am not naive. But I do know one
thing: most of the atheists I have encountered have been decent,
generous, accepting, happy people, which is so much more than I can say
for the one Christian I am writing right now. I can guarantee I have
read the Bible more than you have; at least, it seems so, as I follow
Christ’s teachings more than you do. Give it a read sometime, that guy
had some great ideas. It would certainly teach you a thing or two about
loving your neighbor, and judging not. I also recommend you reconcile
yourself tot he existence of atheists. Our numbers are far larger than
you realize, and growing. I suspect you may be experiencing some doubts
in your own faith, or you wouldn’t be so adamant about oppressing us,
kind of like those Republican senators who are so ashamed of their being
gay they try to enact laws to take away the rights of homosexuals.

I suggest you end your crusade of terror post-haste, and inform your
followers (if any, I know you don’t have a congregation, what exactly
are you “pastor” of?) that yours were the actions of a hateful,
small-minded bigot, and you are attempting to make yourself right with
God over it. Tell them you have decided to live as Jesus did, accepting
all humans, no matter if they disagree. Until then, I await your
apology, which I will accept with the grace and tact of a good man, who
is good without God.

Yours in extreme disappointment,

Mark James Hurley Jr.

PS
I would appreciate it if you would pass it along to your friends that I
don’t need any witnessing done at me. I am aware of everything they
will say, I probably know the history and teachings of their church
better than they do, and nothing they say will change my mind. I’d
rather just save everyone the time, time they’ll be needing to shave
their knuckles, time I’ll need for my volunteer work. On the other hand,
if they would like to hear some logical arguments that disprove their
God, I’ll be happy to chat with them. But let them approach me. It is
extremely rude to harass people with our beliefs.

I support this effort by Pastor Stahl!  He and anyone reading his blog should absolutely boycott the businesses and products of ALL atheist and secular individuals!  

Starting with Alan Turing, Linus Torvalds, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerburg.  

(The reason why people like Stahl are so passionate in their hate is because they recognize they are part of a dying breed, and it’s very frustrating to them that their entire belief system is becoming less and less relevant in today’s world.)