Atheists to Tear Up Biblical Passages Near Huntington Beach Pier Preacher This Weekend

[rug]

By Matt CokerFri., Aug. 17 2012 at 10:37 AM

It may not have the cache of Michael v. Satan--whole books have been written about that--but a similar conflict is shaping up Saturday afternoon next to the Huntington Beach Pier.

A street preacher who regularly evangelizes to inattentive tourists passing by will find himself joined by atheists tearing up passages plucked from the Holy Bible.

Backyard Skeptics, the loose coalition of Orange County nonbelievers fighting thousands of years of religious dogma with stunts as provocative as handling snakes, is behind the Good Book chopping.

Why?

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/08/look_for_an_atheist_v_christia.php

I hope they take one minute to sign Alexander Aan's petition first.

[hlthe2b]

1. This is self-defeating.

I just don't see the point/objective in doing this. Just seems an ugly form of provocation, not unlike book burning.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Street preachers and other soapbox cranks have been fixtures...

on city streets for years and nobody ever thought to "demonstrate" against them no matter how many wished they would go away.

If you want to tear up a Bible, grow some balls do it on the steps of a Baptist church.

[WolverineDG]

3. So?

to both, really. I ignore street preachers anyway.

[cbayer]

4. Lol. Sounds like Mardi Gras.

There are always a few street evangelizers and always a few street evangelizer mockers.

They look equally foolish.

Hope they don't forget the snakes.

[skepticscott]

10. Only if you think

that promoting dangerous nonsense and mocking and exposing dangerous nonsense for what it is are equally important.

But of course they are. For you, all is equal, and that is how things should be. Nothing can ever be judged.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Consider what would happen if you substituted the Koran and the location to near a mosque?

DU was was beside itself when an idiot in FL was going to publicly burn a Koran. How is this any different?

[rug]

6. The common denominator is idiocy.

[trotsky]

7. No different than priests raping children.

Oh wait, yeah it is.

[rug]

15. Yes, that flows naturally from this story.

[eqfan592]

8. This is sending the completely wrong message in my opinion.

What are you trying to convince people of by just standing there and destroying bibles? I've always seen demonstrations that involve the destruction of books to be statements of willful ignorance.

It'd be better to stand there and read some of the more messed up passages from it if you're really looking to counter the guy. If you're going to be antagonistic, best to actually make some use of the antagonism and underscore WHY you feel the way you do. What use this is I do not know. Maybe I'm just missing something...

[trotsky]

11. They're not actually destroying bibles.

They're ripping up photocopies of the nastier verses.

Silly stunt indeed, I mean there is a huge point to be made about the ridiculous and obscene things found in the bible (and that's just the stuff we're SUPPOSED to do!), but there are better ways to do it.

However given rug's obsession with all things atheist, we were bound to hear about it.

[eqfan592]

12. Ahhhh, ok.

That's not as bad, tho still a silly stunt as you said.

Perhaps if they read the nasty verse aloud first, THEN tore it up, it would be a more powerful statement.

[inner lite]

9. I have to hand it to atheists:

they appear to be more obsessed with God than agnostics!

[rrneck]

13. Street preachers are evangelizing for their faith.

I doubt it ever works. Is anyone ever inspired by those antics? Nevertheless, inspiration is the ostensible objective. How inspiring will it be to indiscriminately deface a holy text in response? A lot of perfectly nice people revere that book just as much as the crank preaching on the corner. Such action would be more likely to inspire sympathy for him - and his message.

[Goblinmonger]

14. So, rug, on your way to mass every Sunday, how many things do you do to:

1. Demand that the pedophile priests be brought to justice instead of hidden in the Vatican?
2. Demand that women be treated equally in your church?
3. Demand that women's reproductive rights are respected by your church?
4. Demand that gays be treated equally by your church?
5. Demand that your church stop being actively politically involved fighting on the wrong side of 2, 3, and 4 above?

You really want to play this game? Clean up the giant sewage spill in your own goddamn house before you bitch about the couple empty pizza boxes in someone else's house.

[rug]

16. See #15.

This is no game, goblinmonger. How serious are you prepared to go?

[eqfan592]

17. Oh damn....

[Goblinmonger]

25. Awesome picture! n/t

[MineralMan]

19. It's all a game, rug.

Religion's all a game. Atheism's all a game. In the end, we're all dead. You can play or not play. The end result is exactly the same.

DU is not a real place. It is bits on a screen. Seeya...

[rug]

20. Sorry, I left nihilism behind in college.

[Goblinmonger]

24. As to #15, my response would be that it doesn't flow from the story but from this gem

that you decided to tack on at the end:

I hope they take one minute to sign Alexander Aan's petition first.

Let's see. I'm an American atheist that gives his money and time to basically no atheist organization though I did send a one-time sum to FFRF. So I have to live with what they are doing in this comparison. You, on the other hand, are part of the RCC and, I presume, give them some time and money so you have to live with what they are doing in this comparison. So, with that in mind, give me your best "FFRF is a bunch of assholes" response.

[rug]

36. It doesn't flow from that either.

And I don't recall mentioning you in the post.

Or FFRF or the RCC for that matter.

I did mention Alexander Aan who's serving time in a prison for "blasphemy" while these clowns are ripping pages out of books on a pier in Southern California.

[Goblinmonger]

37. Yes, and then I mentioned what your church is doing

while you are supporting them.

If you are going to call out someone for what they aren't doing, then you need to be ready for you to be called out on what you aren't doing.

[rug]

38. I hope you don't teach rhetoric.

Diversion is avery poor refutation.

The fact remain: they are clowns performing a stunt while people are in prison. I hope they enjoyed themselves.

[MineralMan]

18. Waste of time.

In my younger days, you might find me mocking a street evangelist who was calling women Jezebels, etc. No more. I just walk on. I would never change the street evangelist's mind, and he wouldn't change anyone else's mind. Let him rant in the public square, if that's his kink. Just walk on and do something of value. Mocking morons doesn't fit the definition of doing something valuable.

[mr blur]

21. Well, it's a start. nt

[mmonk]

22. I don't get the point. Seems they are trying to evoke a reaction.

I'm sure he is doing the same (and apparently succeeded).

[dimbear]

23. Any idea where that cache is buried? Is it anything like the cache that hid the Book of Mormon?

Looking for buried stuff is fun.

[2pooped2pop]

26. sounds like unnecessary shit stirring to me for attention

Just not on my list of big problems, I guess.

[orpupilofnature57]

27. They're existentialists ,tearing up the bible is

acknowledging it's status in society , giving it credence for no other reason than that .God never shot a gun ,slur or accusation at anyone , it's all people trying to usurp authority over wealth, knowledge and freedom .

[DavidL]

28. Christians kill an abortion doctor. Atheists rip up pages

in a book.

Which message is more powerful?

Really, people getting upset enough to write articles about someone ripping up pages in a book?

This is what Christians get upset about? Muslim terrorist extremists fly planes into buildings, and Atheists tear up pages in a book? What's out of scale here?

WHERE are their priorities of outrage?

[cbayer]

29. Who's upset or outraged about it?

Looks to me like most people, believers or not, find it pretty silly.

[DavidL]

30. I don't find killing people "pretty silly".

I don't think you grasped the concept here. You seem rather defensive for those that write articles about minor events, and then dismiss the thousands or millions killed in the name and false causes of believers.

Quite dismissive of the point I rose, I'm not impressed with your attitude.

[cbayer]

31. Who finds killing people silly? I was talking about the tearing up of pages.

Don't you think that's pretty silly?

Let me know next time you see me dismiss thousands or millions killed for any reason.

Welcome to the religion group.

[DavidL]

32. If you don't have anything constructive to say

please just don't post.

My post was about thousands or millions of deaths committed in the name of religious beliefs.

Your post was insulting.

[cbayer]

33. Didn't realize I needed your permission to post.

This thread is about a counter protest in Huntington Beach. How you got to thousands and millions killed in the name of religious beliefs escapes me.

[Ian David]

35. It's not even pages in a book. It's photocopies of pages in a book.

All in all, this is a pretty mild protest.

They're not even BURNING anything...

Not even Cheerios...

God must have really hated this dude...

Cereal arsonist Michael Leisner, who burned Cheerios as an anti-gay marriage protest, dies of heart attack
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/cereal-arsonist-michael-leisner-burned-cheerios-anti-gay-marriage-protest-dies-heart-attack-article-1.1137510

[Ian David]

34. If you read the whole article, there is nothing offensive here. They make some good points. n/t