Atheists: Would You Throw an Egg at a Christian? April 4, 2012

Atheists: Would You Throw an Egg at a Christian?

By Hemant Mehta
April 4, 2012

A Christian group called Student Life Auckland (at Auckland University in New Zealand) is giving students a chance to throw an egg at their members.

Just one catch:

“The meaning of the Easter story and Christ’s resurrection will be explained to those wanting to throw eggs,” explains a flyer.

“Egging will continue for as long as eggs last. One egg per person.”

Organiser Penelope Brewer, 27, said flyers left in lecture theatres this week had people talking about the event and she fully expected some eggs to be thrown with feeling.

…

“So we’re hoping to reach students wherever they’re at on campus — whether they’re atheist, agnostic, Hindu — we’re just keen to have some chats with people.”

….

At least 10 people had volunteered to take an egg to the face for Jesus, but they would have a helmet of some sort and a poncho for protection.

…

Auckland University Atheists could not be reached for comment.

Well, considering how so many Christian groups try to preach to you without permission, I suppose it’s a step up for them to offer a reward for wasting your time.

Or (*Hemant puts on Conspiracy Cap*) maybe this is just a sneaky way for them to get pictures of atheists throwing eggs at Christians so they can use it against us in the future! Look at how immoral and violent the atheists are! They’re throwing food at us because we tried to preach to them!

When this turns into a movie, Kirk Cameron will play the part of the Christian victim. As usual.

(Thanks to Matthew for the link!)

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  • Varun Shankar

    I think it’s interesting she said “atheist, agnostic, Hindu” 🙂 Auckland certainly has a high Hindu population!

  • Anonymous

    Maybe they could explain how all their Easter symbols are stolen from pagan religions. Eggs and rabbits? Those are obviously fertility symbols

  • I think this invites comparisons to the “stone a heathen” fundraiser, in which students were invited to throw water balloons at atheists.

  • Maybe they could explain what the Maypole means 😉

  • Even if that conspiracy theory turned out to be true, we have evidence against them so no need to worry. 🙂

  • The poll response “Winter is around the corner ” is a good reminder of how easy it is to get locked into our own way of thinking and make grand assumptions.  They’re celebrating all kinds of fertility and birth stuff- just before winter.

  • I think it’s telling that they mention all those non-Christian people as if they want to throw eggs at people, and as if they had some need to be violent. I’d just have to say that they can explain the Easter story to me all they want, without any worries about being attacked. It doesn’t mean that I’ll accept it as truth, but they are free to do it if they want to.

  •  True, if an atheist group can do it then there’s no sense being baffled that another group wants to try it too. After all, there is certainly historical precedent of Christians being stoned for their beliefs.

  • Anonymous

    The poll should say Winter is Coming, ’cause that what Easter 2012 means, right?

  • Wasd

    When this turns into a movie, Kirk Cameron will play the part of the Christian victim. As usual.

    Wait, there is a chance Kirk Cameron gets egg thrown at him on film? Forget winning hearths and minds, where do I sign up? You know, just in case there is any truth to this conspiracy theory? And if ordinary Americans think of Atheist as the kind of people who would want to throw eggs at Kirk Cameron, would that even be a bad thing? Maybe they would just be jealous because they never had the opportunity?

  • Anonymous

    Why do they need non-Christians for this? There’s enough animosity between Christian denominations to exhaust a henhouse full of eggs. And flinging eggs at one another will be just as productive and intellectually sound as any other theological debate.

  • If only they could get Phelps  or this guy to volunteer for the egging…

  • btw, is it just me, or is anyone else who is subscribed via email getting links that take them to a moderator page?  I’ve had it with three different posts (but not all) over the last week or so, and Hemant says I’m the only one reporting it.  In my email, the ‘Comment’ link takes me to a moderator page and of course refuses me since I’m not a moderator.  Not a big deal, but strange, and Hemant seems to have no control over it.

    Unless… (puts on conspiracy cap)…

  • Patrick

    Avoid the preaching – bring your own eggs! 

  • Steven J. Anderson

    I would be interested in participating in this just so I could ask the following question: “What actually happened on Easter?” Considering the fact that the four gospels give four completely different accounts of who saw what and what they did next at the tomb, accounts that absolutely cannot be reconciled with each other and explicitly contradict each other in many important ways, I’d be interested to know what they have to say. I’d insist upon a coherent story that agrees with all the gospels and contradicts none of them before I did any egg chucking.

  • Dear Auckland University Atheists,

    My humble suggestion:

    1) Show up early and buy up all the eggs.

    2) Listen politely to Jesus story; thank Christians for the eggs.

    3) Deliver eggs to area food banks and homeless shelters.

    The Christians have a successful fundraiser, the Atheists get some nice publicity, and poor people get fresh eggs. It’s win-win-win!

  • Entertained

     I would be tempted to participate, but at the last moment I would smash the egg with my hands.  I would then raise my palms to either side and ask them if they were thankful I sacrificed myself that they could remain free of the yolk blemish.

    Alternate plan: bring a sign – “Baby Chicken Killers”

  • chicago dyke, venomous lesbian

    i would take their egg, cook and season it, and serve it to  homeless person. “in jeebus’ name.” and then ask them why it’s more important they have a publicity stunt that do what i just did with their limited resources. 

  • Spencer Mulesky

     I would throw an egg and enjoy the hell out of the discussion afterwards!

  • MichaelD

    Honestly I’m wouldn’t waste food for such a stupid reason. Maybe its a good hook for getting people to come talk to them but honestly I’d prefer they just have a table and offer to discuss it with people. On the other hand how many of us atheists and agnostics haven’t heard the significance of Easter at some point in our lives?

  • LutherW

     Eggselent

  • Be sure to ask him which came first, the egg or the banana?

  • Normally I wouldn’t think of throwing eggs at anyone, but if they are going to explain to me how eggs have anything at all to do with Jesus, I’m in. This I gotta hear. 

  • JohnnieCanuck

    It just feeds into their earnest desire to be persecuted. Don’t be an enabler.

    /jk

  • I was looking at The Clergy Project FB page the other day 
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Clergy-Project/203725383030148

    and was struck by the people who were almost begging to try to help clergy come back to their faith.  As if these people, who had worked to convert people themselves, hadn’t heard it all before.

  • Anonymous

    I wouldn’t want to throw an egg at some random Christian. Kirk Cameron however…
     

  • Ggsillars

    Wow, that’s one prize asshole.

  • Athiesthetic

    Only at a gathering of christians could this idea actually be floated and their peers commend it as a good idea. Such a waste of eggs.

  •  There is no longer an Atheist club on campus. Non-religious people make up about 50% of the population of New Zealand, so it’s a bit of a non-issue for most people here. There are however 12 affiliated Christian clubs at the university, so the attempt by the writer of the newspaper article to portray Christians as the persecuted minority is laughable and offensive.

  • Annie

    As much as it pains me to say this…  I have to give them credit for coming up with a novel way to preach their message.  Is it silly?  I think so.  Is it a waste of food?  Most certainly.  But did it get them publicity?  Yeppers…

  • Keven

    How desperate and stupid. Really christian! What’s next,  run me over with car challenge? 

  • Anonymous

    ”
    When this turns into a movie, Kirk Cameron will play the part of the Christian victim. As usual.”

    It’s the part Kirk was born again to play.

  • John

    As someone else said, Come early, get all the eggs, listen to their spiel, and then go give the eggs to the homeless.  BUT make a point of giving the eggs to the homeless to whatever media may show up to cover the event.  Don’t give this group the satisfaction of getting what they want (attention for being splattered in egg).  Atheists walking out with the eggs in their hands will leave this group with egg on their faces (metaphorically).

  • Annie

    I am so glad you use your super powers for good instead of evil.  Your punchline was brilliant!

  • Gwen

    Will they also take the time to explain what the egg has to do with the resurrection of Jesus? will they also tell how the fertility godess Oestre is worked into christian theology? 

  • Anonymous

    I agree, I think of all the starving children around the world and then think of these Christians egging each other. It is sick. 

  • Renshia

     Wow, when I heard about that, I thought they were taking them out back to smoke a joint with them. I was thinking; well, that’s nice.

    Now, I am not so sure…….

  • Jack

    There’s no need to try and spin the photos to show how immoral you are. People who commonly post on here and use curse words like paint on canvas already prove that. 

  • Like Sailors.

  • That’s actually very cool news, shredda! I withdraw my suggestion.

    Here’s hoping that Student Life Auckland doesn’t wind up with egg on their faces, and finds a better use for the eggs.

  • MichaelD

    Crazy o.o

  • Anonymous

     Just out of curiosity, I checked the Wikipedia page for Auckland’s demographics. Asians make up 14 percent of the population, which is pretty significant for a white-majority Commonwealth nation. (London, by comparison, is 13 percent Asian.) Wiki doesn’t break it down, but it’s safe to assume that a fair percentage are Hindus (not just Indians, perhaps, but also Sri Lankans, Balinese, etc.) Middle Easterners, Latin Americans, and Africans all lumped together are less than 1.5 percent, and we can safely assume that the majority of those are Christian. So Auckland muslims are maybe one percent, to be generous.

    Wiki mentions a small, well-established Jewish minority, who are presumably Anglo/Commonwealth Jews, and therefore “off-limits” to proselytizers. So, I suspect that Hindu is the target non-Christian theistic religion of choice.

  •  test — please delete

  • Anonymous

    Oh, I am evil. I’m a evil little thing.

  • I was excited at first, because that’s what I thought was promised by “The meaning of the Easter story and Christ’s resurrection will be explained to those wanting to throw eggs.”

  • Stone a Heathen was inspired by the biblical precedent of Christians stoning blasphemers.

  • JohnnieCanuck

    I’ve seen so many other people get their links broken just like that. This is my lazy way:

    http:/www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html

  • JohnnieCanuck

    Like the Ripper.

  • Georgina

    Cook a Cadburys Eggs!

    Sacrilege – plus a waste of chocolate!

  • They want to feed their persecution complex. Simply hand the egg to them, explaining it’s immoral to waste food. Then ask polite, logical questions about the resurrection. Be sure to bone up on the Gospel stories (they’re all different) so your questions will be embarrassing. Then politely explain to them that the Easter (spring equinox) celebration was around long before Christianity and that eggs and bunnies are obviously pagan fertility symbols.

  • Anonymous

    The site still broke your link!  When did pathos start putting a http://www.pathos.com in all links?  It seems counterproductive.

    //but the way you did it, I guess people can pick up that it’s a Game of Thrones reference.

  • Anonymous

    Now i’m craving cadbury eggs. 

  • Anonymous

    Jack I don’t know what the hell you are talking about, but I am fucking insulted by what you are insinuating.

    *please not the sarcasm*

  • Anonymous

    I gotta be honest, I’m seeing a lot of the ‘humorless atheist’ stereotype on display here.  If you’ve ever spent fifty dollars on a video game, then the notion that the eggs being ‘wasted’ is somehow immoral or unethical is kind of absurd; that same money would’ve bought a hell of a lot more than just some eggs, after all.

    It’s harmless and silly; let ’em have their fun.  Getting bent out of shape over the genuinely harmless stuff the other side of this debate is supposed to be what THEY do, folks.

  • I take it “James the preacher” doesn’t buy into the theory that the reason Jesus didn’t have any kids was because he was gay.  It would be funny to take that video and superimpose Rick Santorum in the background nodding and clapping.

  • Perhaps I am a bit pessimist, but I can totally see how it would play out:

    Hardly anyone shows up, so some Christians “pretend” to be atheists and throw the eggs at each other so they can get whatever point across they’re trying to make and claim that atheists are big meanies.
    Anyone going?  Don’t waste good eggs… but take pictures, just in case.

  • do you get to throw the egg before or after they preach to you? Do you get to throw the egg at the people doing the preaching, or at separate volunteers?

    “The meaning of the Easter story and Christ’s resurrection will be explained to those wanting to throw eggs,”

    Sounds like they’re saying “sit down, shut up, listen to us drone on and on about Christ Jesus in that patented annoying preacher tone, and if you’re good and sit through the whole thing we’ll let you throw an egg at our few volunteers.”

  • The first thing I saw of his made me think Poe but the one above made me think otherwise.  But then I just found this GEM 
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TUYGb2_65Y it's a must see, James the Preacher gets into a preach-off with WBC!  Hard to know who to cheer for when someone is quoting 1 Timothy 1:12 to Shirley Phelps!

    You’re lying!
    No, You’re lying!
    Shut up!
    No, you shut up!

  • Are we gonna make omlettes?

  • The Other Weirdo

     Except for all those poor who die from egg-induced diabetes.

  • Xeon2000

    Glad to see another perspective, and I agree.

  • AIUI, the Easter story is the story of how God temporarily sacrificed himself to himself to open a loophole in the law that he established, to allow him to avoid sending us to the hell that he set up, as punishment for something our ancestors did, that he should have seen coming a mile away.

    If I could get a good, coherent explanation of how that makes a lick of sense, that would be more than worth the cost of an egg, or even a dozen. I wouldn’t even throw it at anyone.

  • Void_Stalker

    Wtf are you talking about???