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Some atheists are not content to believe what they choose.
They're not satisfied with exercising their freedom not to worship God.
They demand that others be prohibited from exercising their right to worship. They want references to God be completely stripped from the public square.
They refuse to tolerate others' free exercise of religion.
Atheist groups are so intolerant that they are making an issue out of a Brooklyn street named in honor of seven firefighter heroes who died on 9/11, "Seven in Heaven Way."To honor seven dead 9-11 firefighters, a portion of Richards Street has been ceremonially renamed “Seven in Heaven Way” — prompting tributes to the heroes and complaints from critics who say that the government should not be in the business of advancing one religion’s notion of the afterlife.
“It’s improper for the city to endorse the view that heaven exists,” said David Silverman of American Atheists. “It links Christianity and heroism.”
Local atheists also insisted that public signs should be non-sectarian. “It falls under the umbrella of Church and state,” added Ken Bronstein of NYC Atheists.
The new street sign — which city officials hung last Saturday at Seabring Street — honors seven firemen assigned to Engine 202 and Ladder 101, who were killed after at the Twin Towers.
Teary-eyed widows, dozens of uniform-clad firemen and civic leaders paid respects outside the firehouse at the intersection, explaining the men were killed while pulling victims from burning rubble.
“They are heroes and should be rewarded in a place like heaven,” said Tom Miskel of Community Board 6, which unanimously supported the name change in December 2009.
“Almost every religion has some form of heaven,” he added. “It’s not just specific to Christianity.”
The “Seven in Heaven” firemen — Joseph Gullickson, Brian Cannizzaro, Salvatore Calabro, Thomas Kennedy, Patrick Byrne, Joseph Maffeo, and Terence McShane — were among the first firefighters called to the towers, making it there before the second airplane hit.
“They gave up everything to help — and that’s what sets them apart,” said Ralph Gullickson, Joseph’s brother.
...First Amendment caselaw suggests that government must allow both religious and non-religious speech when it opens a forum for expression — provided it’s clear that religious references are attributed to the individuals making the expression, not the government.
That's not the way atheists see it. From the Heritage Foundation: New York City Atheists’ president Kenneth Bronstein told reporters, “There should be no signage or displays of religious nature in the public domain,” adding that it was “insulting” to use the word heaven in the street sign. “We’ve concluded as atheists there is no heaven and there’s no hell,” Bronstein explained.
As common sense and U.S courts have pointed out, however, merely feeling insulted does not a constitutional argument make.
...As for the sign constituting a government endorsement of religion, applying the same scrutiny to other publicly named places would necessitate renaming streets, towns, and cities across the country, a multitude of which have religious connotations.
Secularists’ insistence on eradicating any allusion to religion or religious beliefs from the public sphere distorts the foundational American idea of freedom of—not from—religion. Atheists’ argument in the Brooklyn sign situation, like the National Day of Prayer case and Pledge of Allegiance case, misunderstands the First Amendment’s intent to allow robust religious freedom in the public sphere, not hermetically seal it within the walls of churches, mosques and synagogues.
These people are so intolerant.
They've concluded that there is no heaven or hell.
Good for them.
Others have reached a different conclusion. Why don't atheists respect that?
They are attempting to infringe on the right of individuals to exercise their religious beliefs, as well as the right to freely express their beliefs.
Is that simple street sign really so offensive to the atheists that they can't bear to live with it in place?
I find the atheists' dismissal of the First Amendment to be extremely offensive.
The atheists are offended.
So what?
It's not insulting to use the word "heaven" in a street sign. But if they are insulted, too bad.
They have to learn to embrace diversity and show religious tolerance instead of forcing their will on others.
I don't think they understand what it means to be an American.
Some on the city council in Eugene, Oregon believe that the Pledge of Allegiance is divisive.
Its recitation is akin to reciting the Communist Manifesto.
It's not something that should be recited publicly.
The controversy in Eugene began when Councilor Mike Clark wondered why council meetings didn't begin with the Pledge.
From KATU:Eugene City Councilor Mike Clark, who was elected in 2006, says he always wondered why the council didn't start its meetings with the Pledge of Allegiance.
He says he'll ask his seven colleagues and the mayor on June 20 to begin starting their meetings with the pledge.
The Register Guard reports many levels of government such as the Legislature, the Eugene School Board and Springfield City Council regularly say the pledge.
Clark's suggestion to begin meetings with the Pledge was met with hostility.
A majority of the council would not agree to regularly reciting the Pledge.
From the Register Guard:Echoes of patriotism resounded at the Eugene City Council on Monday as councilors hotly debated and passed resolutions calling for the domestic redirection of federal “war funds” — and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance before four council meetings each year.
After a lengthy debate on how the city should spend any money it might receive as a result of a redistribution of federal funds, the council voted 7-1 to endorse a resolution “expressing the City Council’s desire that funds to continue the Iraq and Afghanistan wars be directed to domestic priorities, including the pressing needs in the city of Eugene.”
...Earlier, councilors returned to an ongoing debate over whether future meetings should commence with the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance.
In a revised compromise, the council agreed to recite the pledge at four meetings a year closest to the patriotic holidays of Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July. The council also agreed that excerpts from the U.S. Constitution or Declaration of Independence could be read aloud at the council meeting nearest the Fourth of July holiday.
The first opportunity to recite the pledge will come at the council’s July 11 meeting.
An earlier proposal to also recite the pledge at the annual State of the City address will now be left to the discretion of the mayor.
The issue surfaced several weeks ago when Councilor Mike Clark suggested that the pledge be recited at the start of bimonthly council meetings. But Clark agreed to a compromise put forth by Councilor Alan Zelenka when it seemed clear that a council majority was not prepared to endorse reciting the pledge on a regular basis.
Monday’s vote on the pledge was 6-2, with Councilors George Brown and Betty Taylor in dissent.
Clark said part of his motivation was to respond to constituents who often cite the fact that some Eugene traditions — namely, the eccentric Eugene Celebration in late summer — do not sit well with some residents but are nonetheless tolerated by them.
And, with the resistance to the idea of a public body reciting the pledge, Clark said he feels they are not being given the same liberty.
“Something they value in that way is met with hostility,” Clark said. “Tolerating those differences is an important part of the community that we live in. It has become an issue of tolerance to a certain degree.”
But Brown disagreed.
“This whole notion that we need something for the ‘not-weird’ seems very weird to me,” he said.
It's mind-boggling to me that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before a government meeting would be a source of controversy.
The idea that a compromise was necessary, only saying it four times a year, is sad.
From MRC TV:In Oregon, the Eugene Town Council voted 5-2 against a motion to recite the pledge at the opening of every town meeting. There was a compromise allowing the pledge to be said 4 times a year but only on certain holidays. One council member who voted for the ban said reading the pledge was like reading the Communist Manifesto before every meeting.
The Communist Manifesto?
The Pledge should be relegated to being recited only in one's own home but not in a public forum?
Good grief.
That's disgraceful.
I bet NBC's ratings are through the roof in Eugene. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Crespin Esquivel is the principal of George Whittell High School in Zephyr Cove, Nevada.
He delivered his graduation address to the class of 2011 in English and then he repeated it in Spanish.
Read more.
Video, from MRC TV:The graduating class had 30 students. Taken by itself, I don't think it's that big of a deal.
However, the issue of assimilation into American society is a big deal.
Every ethnic group that has come to this country has learned English to advance in our society.
All of my ancestors didn't speak English when they came to America, but they learned.
A common language, communication, is critical to social functioning.
Not learning the language is a barrier. It's divisive. It's expensive.
It was with pride that America was known as the Melting Pot.
Now, it's oil and water.
