Jessica Ahlquist Gets Nasty Hatemail

It’s always so inspiring to see Christian love in action.

It’s time for them to start busting some of these assholes to set an example.  Have there been any stories of any arrests or charges placed yet?

If I were her I would without a doubt take that to the police. I doubt God put “Thou shalt not leave fingerprints on hate mail” on his list of things he doesn’t want you to do.

I didn’t know their god approved of gang-bangs.

Who actually sends handwritten letters anymore? Must be an old man.

If she needs it, she is welcome to refuge up here in Canada. Not that she does, and clearly she’s got more than a normal share of courage. But still . . .that’s a deeply sick and sickening note, and how could one not be at least a little frightened of its implications.

It makes me think of the anti-gay rhetoric that comes from the likes of Ted Haggard.  I think the author is deeply conflicted.

If I knew Ms. Ahlquist personally I would recommend she learn to handle a personal firearm and to keep one handy.

It would be great if the police arrested some of these creeps.

Judging by the loops, I’d say a young-ish girl wrote it–who lives in R.I, obviously–and now you have her handwriting. Brilliant.

Refer back to the Edward Current video of what he would do without religion.

So you were feeling left out is what you’re saying?

While RI is a Shall Issue state, you have to be 21.

I have a feeling you don’t know many Christians if you lump them all together like this, my experience of Christians has been roughly the same as my experience of Atheists…some hold ignorant, bigoted, unreasonable views and some do not…

A similar comparison might be: “All Atheists take their lesson plans from Darwin’s “Origin of Species” therefore all Atheists believe in Eugenics”

I thought it was the Atheists who demanded logical argument based upon facts?

wooddragon45

How absolutely disgusting, ominous and vile.

Christian love at its finest. See, the bible really is the barometer of good morals and love. In opposite world.

Jessica, protect yourself. And if you ever need anything, let us know

The bad Christians give the other ten percent a bad name.

That and the self proclaimed “Crusaders” name, and that it’s Jessica Alquist. I mean I guess it could just be some chick who had a a crush on Jessica’s prom date but if I had to bet money…

I agree on age.  I think it’s on paper because they think that’s less traceable than internet.  It’s certainly easier to make paper less traceable than internet.  Fingerprints only help if you have something to match to.  Unless they’re already on record for something, they would only be useful for an after-the-catch match.

I think when they get caught it will be because they’re too stupid to keep their mouth shut.  Tongues will wag.

Atheists don’t have a holy book.  We don’t have a doctrine.  We don’t have a creed which we are required to believe.  Atheism is not comparable to religion, at least in this regard.

Also, “On the Origin of Species” is a book which DESCRIBES a certain aspect of REALITY.  It does not attempt to PRESCRIBE correct behavior.  There are no commandments in OoS and acceptance of the ToE doesn’t lead to one supporting eugenics.

Your comparison doesn’t really hold up.

I think it’s betting pool (not better pool)

There is no hard evidence that it was sent by a Christian, but the use of the term “Crusaders” definitely points in that direction. 

On an unrelated note, I think there’s an error in your transcription: the transcription says “better pool” where the letter says “betting pool”, and it corrects the misspelling of “many” as “menny”

 Yeah, frankly, they are the most likely suspects, but the note doesn’t prove anything. The important thing is that Jessica and her family are safe and allowed to feel secure. I hope the police are able to help with this. Getting out of Cranston probably will too. People seem to have short memories for this sort of thing, so with any luck this kind of nastiness will have a short lifespan.

The horrible grammar betrays how much of a moron this guy actually is…

 Actually, it kinda does, if memory serves. If I remember correctly, there is a section where Darwin talks about his wish for humans to rise about their/our animal natures and to be better than our biology, as he understood it, suggests we can be. Oh something to that effect. Of course, it was a general statement, not a specific prescription for behaviour.

It’s entirely possible that I’m thinking of another book, however.

When I was little, in 3rd grade, I used get the crap beat out of me–quite literally–by my teacher over my atrocious hand writing. I fully admit that it was bad, and really, in the last 30-odd years, it hasn’t really improved. However, even on my worst day, I could then and can now write a hundred times better than this. Who other than a child, or a deranged freak off his meds writes like this?

 Well, except we don’t. I don’t think most atheists take lesson plans from the Origin of Species. It’s an interesting historical document in the sense that it was the first work to describe evolution, but I think most atheists know that it’s pretty outdated now and a modern evo textbook is much better for learning evolution. (Unless you’re specifically studying the history of science.)

Whereas, Christians typically treat the bible as far more than just one of many historical books, that is now outdated!

 I too recommend paranoia. Because we all know nothing bad ever happens when paranoid people have firearms.

Or… she could be reasonably cautious, report this to the police, not take the law into her own hands, and go on living her life, participating fully in this experiment we call civilization.

I really hope she turns that over to the police and that the police actually take some action.  

But… but… ♫ Ted Haggard is completely hetereosexual… ♫

Well, there’s some evidence it was written by a Christian, namely the profound hate the author has for Jessica. I find it hard to understand how someone could write such a vile response unless s/he had a deep commitment to Christian views, and a deep misunderstanding of Jessica and her case against the school.

This represents the sad effect of religion 🙁

Maybe the person who wrote it actually doesn’t have a computer?  Strange in this time but possible.  Or perhaps as suggested above in several comments, the person thought posting it on the internet could be traced and the lovely handwriting and great paper couldn’t be.  Sick puppy, whoever it is. 

You think he’s a nut for wanting to defend himself? I guess you can lump a pretty large portion of the country into that, as well.

You know what? I am a gun nut. Totally. My neighbor asked me why I carry openly (legally) even though I have a LTCF, and my solemn answer was “Because you don’t carry at all.”

Since you’re probably anti-gun, I’ll explain that to you:

Saying I carry because someone else doesn’t is not a threat, it’s a promise. It’s a promise to defend anyone and everyone in my direct sight to the best of my ability, even if they choose to not be prepared to defend themselves. It’s called being human. So yea, I’m a nut. Because I’m human, and I prepare.

 “The police aren’t doing anything……..”.
How about the Principal of  her school? The teachers? The Chief of police? The mayor? The pastors & priests of the local churches? They all should have spoken up by now against the abuse Jessica has received and made it clear that threats are both un-xtian and illegal.
The kids who have been sending her abuse and threats are ignorant, but the adults who have either turned a blind eye to their behavior or have been a   party to it,  should be ashamed. 

🙁

Its not paranoia, its defending oneself. If someone threatened me with that letter I will report it to the police but I will buy a gun too (or the very least, pepper spray) in case someone tries to rape me. 

With you as a member, there’s no room for anyone else.

Just another clear proof that the insane walk amongst us. I think Jessica should learn how to defend herself – it’s just a practical thing to do. Me, I don’t hope that some crazy christian ever gets in my way to pick an actual fight, but I swear on my life I would give em a vicious ass-kicking if they tried. Then they’d find out – when they returned to consciousness, of course – that their god isn’t on their side, after all!

 choose to not be prepared to defend themselves

The choice is a lot more complicated than ‘choosing to not be prepared’.  I’m no more a moron (or a nut) than you or Kevin.  I choose to drive a car, with my son, which significantly increases his chance of dying.  It’s a fact.  And it’s a cost/benefit analysis choice I make.  For you the perceived benefits of owning a gun outweigh the perceived costs.  That’s fine.  I’m sure you’ve thought about it.  I have too, and based on my risk exposure which includes where I live, who I am and what I do in my daily life, I don’t think it would be a good choice for me.  If someone was sending letters like that to my child, I would certainly reconsider, and perhaps the equation would come out differently.

One this is for sure, I wouldn’t just go out and buy  gun.  I’d get enough training to feel confident that the gun wasn’t increasing my risk. I’m sure you’d agree, one thing we don’t need is a bunch of people carrying guns who don’t know how to use them without hurting everyone.

You call that prepared?  Is your car fully armored?  Have you mined your lawn yet?  You really think your dinky little handgun is going to protect you against RPGs and AKs?

Actually, you are a bit of a nut with your paranoia.  Unless you have credible personal death threats being made against you, you are only making the community MORE dangerous by bringing more guns into it.  Every moron with a gun fancies themselves a vigilante hero.  It’s a fantasy.  You’re more likely to accidentally shoot yourself in the foot than shoot a violent criminal and save the day.

This has got to be one of the most incredibly stupid and ignorant comments I’ve read online in years and that’s saying a lot.
Nobody in this thread claimed that a handgun would be a match against an AK or an RPG. And how many of those are carried openly or concealed by criminals anyway? You have no point.
As to the assertion that communities that allow concealed carry are more dangerous…nothing could be further from the truth. The facts prove you WRONG.
As far as your assertion that every person that carries a firearm fancies themselves a vigilante hero, that’s just plain nonsense. Are there assholes out there? Yes, both armed and unarmed. To label all firearms owners or concealed carry license owners as irresponsible or mentally unstable is just plain wrong.

They can deny all they want, but everybody knows what’s behind all that.

{sigh} One thing I greatly dislike about being from the “liberal” side of the community is the self righteous ignorant, arrogance on this issue. I’m going to leave aside the fact that liberalism (and it’s ideals of freedom) itself only exists because of the firearm and just get to the sheltered opinion that gun owners are somehow “paranoid” or “dangerous”. 

I’m an admitted atheist, liberal, marxist that lives in the south, and it annoys the crap out of me when sheltered people say I shouldn’t be able to protect myself or my family from the right wing mob that would pull us out of our house and drag us behind a truck. And they don’t even need guns (though they do have them and it’s a fantasy to think you’ll ever remove them) to do it, they have the numbers. All they need are pitchforks and sticks. But a gun give me the chance to get out. 

Do you know how many lynchings where prevented by the shotgun? Do you have any idea what it’s like to have a community hate you?

“People who aren’t prepared for imminent assault really suck at repelling it, even if they’re armed and highly trained. ”
The problem with that statement is that those who really are highly trained ARE prepared for assault. That all of the officers you mentioned were killed only testifies to the fact that they were not aware of their surroundings and were not trained well enough to deal with scenarios such as this unfortunate incident. Inadequate training is the culprit in at least two of those deaths if not all of them.
My background is military, private military (security details in the Middle East),  law enforcement and private security and investigations. I’ve been stabbed, shot at and evaded a kidnapping attempt. I know a thing or two about not getting whacked.
Contrary to what most folks think, the overwhelming majority of police officers are not “highly trained”. A FEW of those with military experience may be, but even some of those may not have spent as much time on the range as you might think. Of course, putting holes in paper does not mean one is able to adequately engage one or more hostiles in a high stress scenario. When the shit hits the fan, many will choke when it comes time to pull and draw their weapon. why? Because they don’t train like they fight. Train like you fight so you can fight like you train. Advice to live by 🙂
Do some people with “dreams of being heroes and fighting off bad guys” carry concealed firearms. Absolutely. I’ve run into several of them. Most of them are really good people. A few are assholes.
Happily, these assholes are in the minority. Most of us that carry do so because we’d rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it. I carry to defend my wife and kids. If a stranger is in trouble and I can defend them without putting my family at risk, I’d help them too.

 Charon has an anti-gun axe to grand and facts aren’t going to change Charon’s mind one iota. Proof positive that one doesn’t need to be rational to be atheist.

How many lynchings have you had your community in the last 10 years?  When was the last time a right-wing mob pulled someone out of their house and dragged them behind their truck?  Nobody said you don’t have the right to defend yourself.   This isn’t the 1960s anymore.  If that kind of thing was going on, I’d have a gun myself, but it’s not.  Where on earth do you live that you feel so threatened that you feel the need to carry a gun on your person at all times?  That does seem unreasonably paranoid.

I’m an atheist; my car gets vandalized because of my atheistic and/or liberal bumper stickers, but I have no fear of being physically attacked in the way you describe.  I’m not sheltered.  The people who do those things are cowards or they wouldn’t do it when nobody is around.  And if there were going to try to kill me, they’d take me by surprise and I doubt I’d even have a change to reach for my gun.  The likelihood that would happen is so small that it isn’t worth the burden or the risk of carrying around a lethal weapon all the time.

When I see you on the news after you saved the day, I’ll be sure to apologize.

 And I went to a Catholic school from grades K-8, where I had a nightmarish experience from both the teachers and other students, I almost slit my wrists several times and continue to struggle with suicidal tendencies, and where one teacher was teaching the students that it was a woman’s duty to stay with an abusive husband because “your promise to God is more important than your life”, and where I first heard someone say “so what if outlawing abortion will just mean unsafe back-alley abortions, it’s right that the evil murdering sluts bleed to death in a filthy alley like the trash they are”.

You had a good experience and I had a bad one.  Yours is not proof that this couldn’t have been a Catholic or a Christian, just as my experience is not proof that it had to be one.  And just as I would not deny that some Catholics can be very nice and wonderful people (and some only under specific circumstances), I would also not immediately rule out that anyone at a Catholic school could be this intensely and devoutly vile (while believing it was For Jesus.)

 That’s how I feel too.  I’m more afraid of a world where these people win than I am for my own immediate safety–because if they win, the world won’t be safe for me (or anyone else) anyway.

 Yes, I have a hard time thinking that some non-Christian just took it into his or her head to harass and threaten someone who is primarily famous for challenging a bit of Christian privilege and upholding C/S separation–especially when the term Crusader is used.  It’s usually Christians who get that incandescently enraged about that sort of thing, at least in this country.

 I keep thinking of BTK, typing his letters to police and copying/mimeographing them repeatedly to obscure anything that could be used to hunt him down–then getting caught because he decided to go high-tech and didn’t realize that a formatted disk can be traced directly to the computer that formatted it (which in this case was his church computer, where he served as an Elder.)  But I’m sure everyone knows that story…

It seems people are so techhed out these days they don’t even remember the ways you cover your tracks when using old-school communication devices like paper and ink.  🙂

Hitch summed this type of person up eloquently…
It’s not so much that they desire virgins,
it’s that they are virgins.
My thoughts…
It would appear that these “crusaders” are of the incredibly cowardly variety, like cockroaches that scatter at the first rays of light, only able to ply their hatefulness under the cover of anonymity, because they posses neither the honor nor the confidence to stand up for their convictions publicly as this brave young lady has.
Jessica, stay strong, stay safe and remember all your Evil Little Things; we are with you.

Maybe they’ll all get together and pray for the crazy stalker who is threatening a young woman.  That should appease any lingering guilt that they might have that they’ve done nothing to prevent harm if anything does happen.

Nowhere in OoS does he ever suggest anything of that nature. Also, OoS is a Scientific work. It has nothing to do with Atheism. Like Andrew said, we do not have a holy book. We do not adhere to a specific creed. You’re making false comparisons and it is sad that you sincerely believe the things you just pulled out of your ass.

I’d note that the sentiments are quite similar to some of the comments which appeared on RI Craigslist during January and February and which a few of us  flagged for deletion.  It’s possible, (though obviously not definite), that the poster of these gave up when their posts kept getting deleted and tried another approach instead.  

‘Bettor’ would be the spelling the Good Christian was looking for.

As Kate Smurthwaite said at a recent rally for free expression in London, almost all of the nasty letters she receives threaten rape leading her to conclude that in the minds of these religio-fascists there is one thing worse then a person with a well-formed opinion and that is a person with a well-formed opinion and a vagina. 

Trayvon Martin springs to mind. Innocent lad shot by gun toting racist.  Guns don’t kill people, dickheads do. 

What is it about changing high school traditions that makes some people lose their shit? 

I can only assume they’ve just never found anything else to give their life meaning since graduation. 

It’s not paranoia if they are really after you

I’d just like to tell you that I appreciate greatly your rational response to this sub thread on guns even if you do not own or practice with them.  Personally I am in a state that allows for concealed carry and so I have obtained my permit to do so.  However I’ve not yet actually carried my firearm other than in a carrying case to the range to practice with it.  I was a long time fence sitter regarding personal firearms merely out of not knowing enough about them or the subject itself.  I eventually chose to learn more about it and actually become familiar with them through local classes offered by well trained and well informed experts.  Just seemed a much better approach to learn about what I didn’t know, than to vilify that which I’m unfamiliar with as I often see people make the mistake of doing. 
I will not actually carry my weapon until I feel I more comfortable with its use and my proficiency with it.  Despite all of the negative commentary about gun owners (“nuts, paranoid, vigilante, etc.”  gee thanks) I happen to think that a properly trained individual who respects the law and humanity does not carry because they WANT to use their weapon and become the “hero”.  They do it in case they have to.  Police officers are not positioned on every corner and not necessarily immediately available when needed in a crisis.  I’m sure that many automobile drivers carry a spare tire and various equipment with them on a constant basis.  No one wants to get a flat…but you are prepared in case it happens.  If I ever find myself in Jessica’s shoes I will be that much more relieved for at least doing this much in my own defense preparedness.  We can only speculate the true intentions of the person who wrote this letter but if I received it, I would want to be as ready as I could reasonably be for the worst case scenario. 

 Liberal and Marxist. One thing is not like the other, and they do not logically relate to each other.

I am unsurprised by this, given the letters FFRF received from loving Christian cowards and I rec’d through my website.

However, I find the adequate grammar and  lack of spelling errors startling.  That is the only unChristian thing about that letter. 

I don’t know; I usually don’t hear Christians making crusader references.  It could just as easily be a misguided kid who things they’re “helping”, or a deliberate sandbag.

I must point out that not carrying a firearm does not mean that one is not prepared to defend one’s self…

Link didn’t work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Marxism

From 1998 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Byrd,_Jr.

It’s still the 1960s somewhere in the deep south. Every been to a trailer park in Alabama, Mississippi, or West virginia? And yes, you’d know that if you ever left your shelter world. 

While IAmNotALawyer, it would appear to be a threat of violence directed against someone for exercising their civil right to petition (of the court) for redress of grievances and due to the different religion of the person threatened. If there actually is more than one person, this would appear to be conspiracy (group plan plus at least one overt action) as well. This would appear to be a potential matter for the US Department of Justice. The address for the Civil Rights division is:
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20530Of course, unless the perpetrator left fingerprints, and has already been fingerprinted as a result of an arrest for some other crime, there’s probably not a lot to identify a particular person to make a criminal case stick to.

Instead of saying anything at all, you should 1. kept it to yourself or 2. verify what you are saying. 

Even though you qualified with “if memory serves” you may be still spreading misinformation as most glance past those qualifiers.

A group of pastors, a rabbi and imam did hold a press conference to criticize those threatening her. It seemed like most of them were actually on her side. Unfortunately, not one Catholic priest or nun was there. The Catholic churches in Cranston and Rhode Island in general could have done a lot to lessen this backlash. It seems like in the child abuse cases, they were more interested in protecting the institution than doing what’s right.

Yes, it does make it federal territory.  Anything illegal dealing with USPS is a federal offense.

 Very few biologists have read Origin of the Species, let alone atheists. It was full of errors. No one claims to knowledge of the nature of the universe from it. No one “believes” in it. If all knowledge of the book itself vanished tomorrow, biology and Evolutionary Theory would be unaffected.

Eugenics is not mentioned or even implied in Origin or by Evolutionary Theory, and in fact is BAD for diversity and species survival.

And the only people who quote-mine from it to support their case are, oddly, Christians.

Full disclosure. I live in the UK. We do not have a universal right to own a gun. I am thankful for this. That does not mean gun ownership is illegal across the board. Nor does it mean obtaining a gun is impossible.

Here’s the problem I have with the argument of gun ownership for self-defence. 
http://i.imgur.com/6IspS.gif
The problem is simple. Although you maintain that you owning a gun aids your defence of your family and loved ones, the very fact that gun ownership is a legal right raises the incidence of gun crime exponentially.

You may be OK with the fact that your (possibly) improved ability to defend yourself is gained at the cost of more people dying overall. I would not be.

 “Disarm the criminals” is a ridiculous stance. If all guns, bullets and machine tools for crafting them vanished right now, tomorrow there would be a hundred thousand zip guns in the world. Next week there would be a million zip guns and a hundred thousand professionally crafted firearms…

This is why the Second Amendment debate in the U.S. is generally moronic on both sides. Guns aren’t going anywhere as long as chemistry works.

 As an aside, your post also explains exactly why we never ever need to have flying cars.

 Total tangent: It always amuses me to see a poster correct a typo, then realize that my brain had already auto-corrected it and I wouldn’t have even noticed the error if not for the second post.

Just a note: Jessica has removed the original message image, following advice from the police, but it’s still visible here. I’m not sure Jessica would want that.

 Can you get valid fingerprints from cheap paper? DNA, sure, but fingerprints?

From a quick Google, it certainly appears that paper can be a valid source of fingerprints. 
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=482258

Cool!

 I’ve met quite a few Christians who disagreed with Origin of Species as well. It’s sad I know.

Are police officers paranoid nuts because they carry firearms? Why do they carry them? Just to head off your next argument against me carrying: I’m trained and certified proficient and I’d wager have more shooting experience than more than half of all police officers. I’ve been in 100s of shooting competitions complete with shoot/no shoot scenario-based courses of fire.

How do you know she assumes that it was a Christian? Here’s a better question: who else would sent that but another “offended” Christian?

Problem: Even if this were 100% factual (instead of closer to 3% factual), Origin of Species doesn’t proscribe a doctrine of murdering non-believers. The Bible does, along with recommending that you personally murder your entire family if they should dare suggest worshiping any other invisible avenger in the sky.

So while “Christian” doesn’t equate to “potential murderer,” it’s hard to ignore such a rotten foundation.

Perhaps.

Still, you seem to suggest that law abiding citizens should have their right to bear arms infringed upon because criminals with guns pose a great threat.

A law abiding free people should not be seen as a threat by their governement, particularly in a representative republic.

Criminials on the other hand are a different matter.

If someone wants to suggest that convicted violent felons should lose their right to bear arms they won’t get any grief from me.  Oh wait, I think they already do.

 She ended her tweet with “#christianlove”

Why does it matter if whoever wrote this horrible, spiteful letter is a Christian or not? The point is, no one whether you are a Christian or an Atheist or whatever you believe in should have to go through this type of harassment. It’s just sad that people  are being threatened for standing up for what they do or don’t believe in. I’m pretty sure that’s the point of this article, Charon.

I agree with Kay. I’m an atheist, and I went to a high school that was 97% Mormon. I made my lack of belief in their very unusual God known, but I never was on the receiving end of threats like this.
I kinda doubt some religious fanatic sent it to her, frankly. I know stuff like that makes for a good movie, but in real life, I think it’s far more likely a spurned ex-lover who would hate her this much, either that or a jealous female classmate either over the attention from this or the attention in other areas of school life, like maybe homecoming queen or cheerleader, etc.
From my own high school days, teenagers don’t typically get all that worked up over religion unless they are schizophrenic, and even in those cases what you’ll get from them is fear generally – not hatred.

Depending on where you ask that question, the answer may very well be “Yes!”

The last couple of years where I live have seen a number of shooting deaths of unarmed citizens who were perceived to be a mortal threat by police officers.

Whenever I hear people argue against the right to own guns I am reminded of the last line from Federalist #55…

“Were the pictures which have been drawn by the political
jealousy of some among us faithful likenesses of the human character, the
inference would be, that there is not sufficient virtue among men for
self-government; and that nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain
them from destroying and devouring one another.”

Exactly, i don’t know about you but i imagined 2 or 3 of her schoolmates getting together & writing that letter, thinking it to be a great joke. Thing is, people take this stuff seriously & SO DOES THE LAW. When 1 or more of them realize what they’ve done, fear will make them talk to somebody else & so on & before you know it everyone knows who did it. OR maybe they’ll just tell too many people, now that it’s “Famous” just to get kudos from their friends? Whatever happens, it’s a matter of time before they’re caught.

That’s funny, i’m gonna use that some day;-))

Andrew B, Lets get something straight right now!! The Supreme Court for decades has ruled all non-faiths a religion!! Google court cases involving non-faiths and you will see why. Remember it’s not I saying this the Supreme Court did!!

Gotta love those cogent counter arguments.

I think they mean a supporter of Jessica writing something completely off-the-wall to make those who oppose her look that much more crazy.

I never meant to say I thought it was a joke only that whoever wrote the letter saw it that way when they did it, i’m sure they meant to be threatening & all, & maybe even thought they were doing it for everyone at Cranston West. Now that it’c coming back to bite them on the ass they’re not finding it so funny!

Mr. Wilson, like I said I didn’t  rule non-faiths a religion the Supreme Court did!  If you non-faiths put up a sign in a public that said “Jesus is a myth” it’s coming down and you can thank that pathetic pawn for her parents and the ACLU Jessica Ahlquist for that. You and her keep spending that money that says “In God We Trust” on it that offensive saying you hypocrites!

http://christwire.org/2012/04/16-year-old-atheist-jessica-ahlquist-receives-terrorist-threat-blames-christians/

Here’s an interesting link, a pastor of a church is LIVID that Jessica is “blaming” Christians for the hatemail (OK, so I guess a Zoroastrian must have sent it) & he goes on with the “no true Scotsman” fallacy, that a Christian wouldn’t write a note like that.  He then proceeds to act in a manner that he says no Christian would act like.  He calls Jessica nasty names in his rant, and advocates that she be beaten and expelled from school.  I went to his facebook page for his church, his church is for snake handlers.   This article had me wondering if it was a parody site or something, but I think this pastor and his church are for real.  

I didn’t think I would get a response. If you were to tell me that the Supreme Court erred, it would make people of faiths argument much easier.

You will be ignoring me Mr. Wilson for the simple fact that I bring Credibility to the issue. The Supreme Court not I ruled all non-faiths a religion. The Supreme Court Explained thouroughly why. I again ask you are you saying the highest court in the land has erred. You are quite off base saying non-faiths are not religions. Google court cases involving non-faiths and you will see why. Calling Atheism a religion is important!! I have no problem with how people get through life faith or non- faith, gay or straight democrat or republican. Keeping in mind the Supreme Court, you will be ignoring me because  the highest  court in the land ruled in a manner that will unite members of faith together sooner than you think and this is making Agnostics worried. We are!! going to take back some of the ground we have given up. now you butts want a  historical monument taken down in woonsocket cuz it displays a cross. It’s there to honor our fallen firefighters. What do you butts want next Arlington Cemetery!!

Citation please.

Look, you can blat on about the Supreme Court in the U.S all you want, it makes no damn difference.
In this case the U.S. Supreme Court determines what shall and shall not be defined a protected group WITHIN THE USA. That’s all.
It doesn’t determine reality, you know, in the actual world.
 The reality is atheism is not a religion. Atheism is merely an absence of belief in supernatural forces governing the world. No more, no less.
There are no rules, there’s no doctrine. We don’t even define ourselves as a group.
Atheism is no more a religion than not believing in the toothfairy.

Beyond that, I really don’t think there is anything to be gained by arguing with this guy. Rational, logical argument means nothing to him. He is not willing to be swayed by reality. Were he susceptible to rationality, we wouldn’t NEED to have this argument with him.
At this point I expect he will throw a tantrum, possibly some name calling and eventually he’ll just call us all “stupid heads” and sulk.
I know this because I have children, and once they believed in the toothfairy too.

I’ll stand next to you I think!

That letter is old news and is the view like you say of one idiot!! Even so lets bring back that letter that was written in February back in the mix in April to sensationalize it more!! Maybe she can get more $’s for her education that she doesn’t deserve because she was recruited for this endeavor and not the first one to be asked. “Oh do this for us and we’ll send you to school”.

So it is ok in your eyes for a non-faith to be buried in a Blessed cemetery!! You are all so offended by God that you would tolerate that? I find it very hypocritical. It is a patriotic resting place, the fallen who lay there proudly spent that “IN GOD WE TRUST” money while that offends you non-faiths. I would proudly help designate a non-faith Arlington Cemetery with no crosses and a small stone thanking you for what you did for our country!! If calling non-faiths butts for trying to take the crosses(that’s what this is about) out of arlington cemetery is so offensive to you onamission5, you have some deep self conscious problems.  

Also as far as upholding the constitution, nowhere in it is there a phrase”seperationof church and state” which i believe is what you are refering to. I have asked for 7mos now for someone to furnish me a copy of one with that phrase in it. you won’t be able to because it doesn’t exist!! That fantasy phrase come from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists in 1802. I could enlighten you about everything in it if you’d like. Furnish me with a copy of the constitution with that phrase in it and myself you and others can go deeper into this debate. 

 You’re twisted.

I’ll be back on tomorrow i only have 6 mins left on the computer.

How about your local firefighters and local municipality getting the latest census showing where non-faiths live and when say your house is on fire or someone is breaking into your house they take a wrong turn or delay getting there so to speak.

I apologize for not getting back to you all sooner like I said, I very unexpectedly lost a member of my family. Glad to have you aboard Psittacid. That would be our crooked politicians you speak of not I or 99% of theists views. That is one and only one of the reasons the Supreme Court has ruled all non-faiths a religion.
    You have to remember Psittacid, Alchemist and other non-faiths. In Theist U.S. we have rules that allow you non-faiths to take action against what you believe could be public symbols of or endorsements of religion. In a non-theist U.S. we theists wouldn’t have the same liberties. we theists mine as well dig up Stalin for you all if if the U.S. was of a non-theist regime.
     Speaking of Alchemist, where are you? A credible rebuttal and you have no answer?
     What are you non-faiths so afraid of? Why does a “God” you don’t believe in and the symbols associated with him bother you all so much. If  you don’t believe, a cross to you is just two pieces wood fastened together, and a prayer on a wall nothing more than a poem. Neither should concern you at all.
    If it does, what are you afraid of?
      I don’t expect much of a rebbuttal from you non-faiths because when credibility is thrown back at you you condescending  people take a vacation!!

A credible rebuttal and you have no answer? 

We’re still waiting for you to say anything credible, like any Supreme Court citation. Of for your allotted hour on the Internet to expire, whichever comes first.

Speaking of upholding the constitution Onamission5, furnish me or others with that fantasy phrase “seperation of church and state” in it. you won’t be able to because it doesn’t exist!! nowhere.
  It is inappropriate to have non-faith soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. You all try to have all kinds of things you all perceive as religion taken down or other ways of doing it.
   again lets have a non-faith Arlington National Cemetery with stones that thank them for there service to our country and what they did to keep us free. I will be the first one to take care of that faction for free. I will trim grass or anything else that needs to be done to make that resting place spotless, but to think they belong at a blessed place is not appropiate.  You can’t have your cake and eat it too!!

 Sfugley, I am embarrassed for you in the way one is embarrassed for a woman returning from the ladies’ room with the back of her dress stuck down her panty hose.

Mr. Wilson may not have responded to you because he finds nothing to which to respond.

 Do you suspect that all this angst on the part of people of faith will ever lead to better sentence structure?

The Supreme Court said Sfugley has no credibility.  Just google it!

I feel a little like a drunk guy is poking me in the chest chanting “chicken” because he wants to fight me.  And I just don’t want him to fall on his face and hurt himself.

Edwards v. Aguillar 1987 was a case about the teachings of creationism in public schools. The Supreme Court ruled in a 7 to 2 decision that teaching creationism in public schools was unconstitutional because it attempts to advance a particular RELIGION!!  In support of, 72 nobel scientists, 17 state academies of science and 7 other organizations filed briefs which described creationism as being composed of religious tenents.
  Torcaso v. Watkins 1961the U.S. Supreme Court stated ” among religions in this country which do not teach what generally be considered a belief in the existence of god are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others. The Supreme Court declared Secular Humanism to be a religion. All their certified counselors enjoy the same legal status as priests, ordained minister etc. Secular Humanist leaders also admitted that Secular Humanism was a religion until they realized the consequences of that admission and implemented damage control. Here is a quote from Lloyd Morain a former editor of the Humanist the quasi-official journal of the American Humanist Association.
  “Humanism does not include the idea of god and is such considered a philosophy rather than a religion. In a way,it is an alternative to all religions. However, whether one looks to humanism as a religion or a philosophy to live by or as a way of life is we believe, largely a matter of personal temperment and preference. Those caught up by its RELIGIOUS aspects know that it provides a vibrant, satisfying FAITH. Those who think of it as a philosophy find it both reasonable and adequate.”

I have noticed Mr. Wilson, but thank you for pointing that out to me about Atheists! You are right i do have better ways to spend my time on the internet than debating people who are sarcastic, condescending,arogant and wallow in an ignorance pit!
   I’ve never insinuated that non-faiths would be offended or tried to change the way you feel or believe about your faction or factions.
   Somebody with downs syndrome would have figured out by now the point I’m making is your faction and other non-faith factions are religions whether you all like to hear it or not, therefor by handing down rulings like the few you took the time to read(and there are plenty of others) the courts are endorsing the religion of  nothing over theism, which if you haven’t noticed is a violation of the 1st Amendment! as you would say it’s as simple as that.
  We theists also enjoy the same protections as various non-faith factions!
  It’s all about tolerance and respect Mr. Wilson. It doesn’t matter how you or I got through life. If you were walking down my street and someone decided to start a fight with you because you are an atheist I would speed out of my house and back you up till the death of me your right to feel that way. the same if you were gay, black, white red or green. Theist or non-theist.
   One other thing off subject. Can someone furnish me with a copy of the constitution that has the phrase “seperation of church and state” in it?  I don’t think that will happen for the simple fact it doesn’t exist., “simple as that” !!  

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

That falls under the free exercise clause, not the establishment clause.

Ok, then that banner should have been allowed to stay up at Cranston High School West in R.I. based on your interpretation of the law. You clearly stated ” Jesus is a myth” cannot stay up  at a government entity. You have admitted by that statement that your faction is a religion. Now you are trying to flip(like Obummer) it and say it comes under “the free excercise thereof”. Are you on crack!!! Make up your mind!!

 Sfugley, your doggedly overly obtuse ramblings compel me to rethink my opposition to euthanasia.

Nordog, would you be kind enough to elaborate more on your reasoning for the above response? I’m a Rhode Islander and if you are refering to the above post I could fill you in on a few facts,not perceptions like you seem to think.
   Keeping in mind I would personally euthanise the person or persons(if it were legal) that wrote that literary piece.

In “God We Trust” all others pay cash.

 I think you are either a poe or you have one long drawn out fever.  In any event, trying to parse one of your posts is like trying to pull teeth on an alligator.  I gave up.

The problem with this attenion whore is she did bring it to the police RIGHT AWAY. As someone said at the beginning of this thread it was the work of 2 very immature students who were disciplined,expelled from the school an put on probation. If you can construe this as terrorism you are a moron. As a  theist  If I caught them before the proper authorities did I would smack the piss out of them. there is no place in society for this kind of bull period!! whether theist or non-theist. The problem I and other Rhode Islanders have with this is it’s all about the attention for her. This was disposed of at the proper venue and done with in FEBRUARY. so now she says ” I brought this out now to the public because i was afraid to before”. Bullshit, the proper authorities were given that letter in FEBRUARY and because of it she had a police escort to school for several weeks. she brought it back out in April to sensationalize the whole thing again in order to get ,more $’s for her education, which she otherwise  couldn’t  get  seeing she was barely a “B” student. Before you put up something like that Mr. Mehta, please do more research. As a Rhode Islander you have mislead your flock a little and so has she. Just when you thought it was safe          “IM BACK” 

Hi Mr. Wilson, good to hear from you. I agree with you we should be ignoring her and all other reality tv attention whores.

This will make Mr. wilson a little angry. R.Lee Bays. That banner was in an area where it would be seen a total of 5 times a year. NOTHING was shoved down her throat or any theists throat for that matter. God forbid(no pun intended) a 15 yr old student wish well towards thy neighbor and fellow human beings the first year the school opened. It was never recited as a daily criteria. O heavanly father as has been declared in several courts could be a dumpster. Thomas Jefferson would have been pissed. Google “The real Thomas jefferson argument” R.Lee Bays and in that letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptists in 1802 he assured them the only time the Government should intrude in the name of religion is when one is ” I’ll towards thy neighbor” and provided several examples of it.
      As far as threatening children, it was the work of 2 students who didnt have all their pubic hairs yet,. to immature to understand the consequences of there actions. They do now, their actions have now resulted in them carrying a conviction around with them for their stupidity.
Do not put them in an all people category. There are religious tenants in a humanist messages as has been proven in several courts that is forced down theists throats on a daily basis. So why don’t we all be tolerant of each others beliefs and cut the bull.

Again onamission5, I’m a Rhode Islander and the facts are what I said they are, not what someone from Chicago says. 

Must have  something Rich. Onamission5 and the southern humanist haven’t responded back in kind or not to my latest reply to these threads. neither have you.

Well! I’m waiting! You all seem to get on a wahmbulance when hit with reality.

Kudos to you!! the only one to make sense on the issue.