College Atheist Group Members Allow Students To ‘Stone’ Them for Charity

Way to absolutely miss the point…

Totally.

I think it’s a very creative idea.  They made the event light hearted, without taking away from the brutal reality of stoning. 

I’d be fascinated to see if that happens. The fact that they have water balloons and not rocks presumably would help lesson that chance.

The real problem does seem to be that people don’t read their own scriptures and even when confronted with verses respond that they are offended by actually having their own religious texts pointed out to them. Humans are such irrational and defensive creatures sometimes. 

Hmm? No. I think I got the point. The Bible is full of disgusting, draconian punishments for minor crimes and victimless behavior. It is an excellent example of Bronze Age morality. And the the impact of that sort of ridiculousness causes people, even little children, to suffer horrific agonizing deaths and other gruesome results. 

In fact, I’m a little puzzled how you would think someone would be missing the point when the person  is commenting in detail on the actual really sucky Biblical punishments. 

Iran is traditionally counted among the Middle East. But that’s the only country in that list. Unless you go back to before WWI, which included Afghanistan in the definition

The expanded definition that includes other hot spots in the area is a product of the War on Terror and generally criticized. They probably heard that definition in the news over the last years

Islam is an Abrahamic religion, therefore all Bible passages are apt.

Biased, yes; but specifically targeted for their audience.  The vast majority of the students will likely identify as Christian.  Quran passages wouldn’t be particularly effective save for a small minority of students and they’re likely to know how barbaric the Old Testament is. 

And given that they’re primarily quoting the Old Testament (perhaps exclusively); they’re actually mocking all 3 Abrahamic religions as it remains holy text to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

It’s a mindset, not a particular religion.  It’s probably better using Biblical passages where stoning occurred and relate to a larger audience than to pretend it never happened just because someone is offended by the notion of source citations.  

The cotton/polyester blend?  Oh ready, aim, and fire!!  Definitely a stoning offense for a great cause!  Give ’em Hell!!

true, but that has nothing to do with what they identify as their “bigger cause.”

Which would be fine so long as you don’t cherry-pick quotations. Include the New Tetstament references to stoning such as the martyrdom of Stephen and  Pericope Adulterae, and you should be fine.

We looked for passages from the Quran, but couldn’t find any. There appear to be potentially SOME in the Hadith, but mostly we just found a story about a goat eating the verses about stoning.

I certainly don’t think that this fundraiser will convince believers that religion is a bad thing.

But I was, at first thought,  very skeptical that many believers would interpret this fundraiser as an admission by atheists to being wrong and wanting punishment. That’s crazy.

Then I remembered the research showing that conservative viewers of “All in the Family” and “The Colbert Report” don’t get that these shows are satire and instead think that Archie Bunker and Steven Colbert are actually making good points.

So I have to reluctantly admit that “Color Me Atheist” might have a point here.

I think that would be the case in most European countries, except maybe Italy and Spain.

Seems like they are making light of a practice that still is happening to women in the world and most likely have never seen a woman stoned to death for no reason other than a misinterpreted passage in a holy book. What’s next a fund raiser using jews with showers and ovens?

>> for no reason other than a misinterpreted passage in a holy book.  
>>a misinterpreted passage in a holy book. 
 
>> a passage in a holy book. 
 

 
fix’d

Touche my good sir.

This grabs the attention of college students that probably wouldn’t have given us the time of day if we just handed out fliers and took donations, though. They get enough dry lectures in class, so why not give them something a little more hands-on that’ll stay in their minds a bit longer than a flier? It’s a way to have fun while bringing awareness to an important issue.

Well those verses are in the Bible…

there is a movie called the stoning of  soria M…idk if i spelled it right but it is based on a true story…

Either way its making a game of something terrible and while I agree its an issue that needs attention I feel this is the wrong way to go about elevating awareness. Do you really think the ones who paid to throw water balloons at girls really gave a crap about the message behind it or do you think its more likely they enjoyed the idea of throwing water balloons at girls and that’s all it was to them.

I certainly agree that we should be outraged at the abhorrent practices that continue in these fucked up countries (and sometimes in our own countries too). I do think, however, that humour and sarcasm is a vital tool *in addition* to other methods of activism. You may not agree, and you are welcome to that opinion. Perhaps you could read this excellent piece from the Guardian … it explains it much better than I could. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/28/hitler-madame-tussauds-david-mitchell

This specific event was about raising money for Amnesty to help prevent human rights abuses, specifically stoning in a set of countries plagued by laws based on an extremely conservative fundamentalist interpretation of the Islam.  However, their signs make reference to the Bible, not the Quaran.  What could have been signs about saving people from horrible fates were instead signs mocking the religion of many people who would otherwise stand with them.  In essence their intent was humanitarian, but their message was anti-Judeo-Christian.

Signs with basic facts about about human rights violations and saving people from horrible fates would have been more on topic and more successful.  I’ve been parts of college fundraisers that raised far more money than that.  Within 1 dorm building, population less than 200,I helped raise FAR more money than that for causes a lot less poignant.  Their $100 effort was a sad amount for how large the U of South Carolina is.

And quite frankly, they take a very naive interpretation and understanding of the Bible and the Christian faith.  It makes them look foolish and uneducated.  They read the Bible and they make their own interpretations, completely ignoring nearly all common accepted religious interpretations.  The girl with the cotton/polyester sign comes of as a particular idiot to me.  That verse has NOTHING to do with stoning; it is an intentional and complete misinterpretation.  None of the sundry laws (which Deuteronomy 22:1-11 are) had stoning provided for as a penalty; they are general guidelines to improve people’s lives, some of which (like that one) are now historical artifacts.  (If I had to hazard a guess, that particular verse probably was to spare people from mixing two materials (wool and linen) which would shrink at different rates when washed, thus rendering a mixed-material garment useless after only a few washings.)

It is no different than critiquing the U.S.A. based on only the Declaration of Independence and Constitution while intentionally ignoring the the Bill of Rights, U.S. federal laws, state constitutions, state laws, and all case law.  It is people like this who give atheists a bad name; they put their anti-religion message before their humanitarian efforts.  They did exactly what they typically criticize religious folks for.  Hypocrisy!  They are as bad as every preacher or zealot who puts their pro-religion/anti-other-religions message before their humanitarian efforts.

Trust me. Its not fun. 

zoraya m

why dont you go out and raise that money then? or just shut up b/c they did more than you will but your still belittling their effort

Excellent response…I’m too tired for that tonight…I just said he was silly.

You are just missing the point of doing this…you are pulling out what you want and picking on these kids.  Not one of them is trying to make a game of something terrible.  I think you just like picking fights.

Pastafarianism is a monotheistic religion, not atheistic. Check your sources next time.

Don’t worry DW, I’m picking up what you’re putting down. They’re just too interested in defending themselves to open up their mind and recognize someone else’s opinion. Thanks for your service btw.

My question to you is, why would you want to?

XD I am the girl in the first picture. I was totally part of this.

Yeah, it’s tragic 🙁

While passing out incredibly depressing flyers. I understand your views and respect them, but while being hit by water balloons is more fun than being killed with stones (although the balloons were underinflated, so they didn’t feel great) but at the end of the day, what really matters is what people are left thinking. I’m pretty sure most people didn’t leave thinking “Stoning is funny!” Plus, as I’ve said above, it’s likely that we raised more money this way than if we’d just sat at our table and asked for donations.

Probably the latter XD There are a whooole lotta religious people here, who think it’s incredulous not to believe in a deity, that we who don’t have something wrong with us, and the solution is prayer for our damned souls.

Atheists are cowards. Brave people have to choose real stones 🙂