I read in my local newspaper some Atheists are being blamed for burning down a church in Mississippi(?) for opening up for services ..... any news about this?
There are a number of articles from 2 or 3 days ago reporting on the arson of this Mississppi church. The possible atheist connection was reported due to a symbol with an "A" in the middle of it next to a statement "Bet you stay home now you hypokrites" spray painted in the parking lot. Most articles I looked at reported the statement but not the synbol and did not mention anything about any atheist connection. Those that did mention it, only referred to a possible connection due to the synbol. The news outlets that mention a possible atheist connection were The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and News Talk WSIC. Anyone know anything about this last source? I didn't find much about them on their site.
Personally, and granted with only the scantest of information available to me, I believe it unlikely to be any so called atheist group. Atheists are in the main, peace loving and anti-militant...in fact we don’t even assemble as an organised group as a rule, far less do atheists normally burn down churches. Most attacks on churches are made by other religions who disagree with what they believe. in fact Atheists have no track record at all of attacking churches, although Christians do have a track record of attacking mosques and synagogues. That of course isn’t proof that it wasn’t atheists who committed this act, but on balance of probability It makes it much more likely that it was some other enraged believers who didn’t think that this church should be open for business when theirs wasn’t, who took these actions. The A symbol could just be a way to throw suspicion on atheists and away from those who actually did it.
The article linked below says that was graffiti in the parking lot that said "Bet you stay home now hypocrites" with spelling errors on hypocrites. It apparently has the A logo typically used.
My gut instinct says, this is insurance fraud. A perfectly placed tag, misspelled words, and no one coming to the church? I suspect the church was losing money, the building has a nice insurance policy, and the beneficiaries saw an oppourtunity and a scapegoat. They probably have ton of letters from atheists they can point to as suspects.
BUT...it could be stupid teenagers...I can't see an mature adult doing this. If the arson turns out to be atheist-caused, I plan on sending some money to help rebuild the church. I dislike religion, but I absolutely will not abide any attempt to violate freedom of religion.
If the arsonists are caught and they identify as atheists, it would only serve to reinforce an earlier conversation, elsewhere on this site, regarding the position of atheism being no guarantor of rationality. It's an old meme for sure, but simply replace 'atheist' with 'non stamp collector' and the folly of grouping atheists becomes clear.
[atheists.org]
Fear, fear and more fear. It's doing a good job at building walls and preventing open minds from discovering each other. Maybe it was put there by "A Theist?" The language of the message alludes to a younger person or group I'm wondering if someone lost a loved one and is very angry.
good suggestion.
Again a move from the dictatorship 101 play book. Blame a group you want to get rid of. At the start of WWII the German leaders blamed the of the Reichstag on the communist. Later it was shown they had nothing to do with it.
[britannica.com]
Atheists being blamed for burning down a church in Mississippi. How do they know the culprits were atheists? Do they have them in custody and they confessed maybe and said they did it because of their atheist belief. That's a far stretch. Are they true Scotsmen? Maybe this is hearsay.
It's one of the oldest tricks in the book of Dictatorship 101. Find a group and make a scapegoat of it. Remember Hitler and the Jews.
An "A" with a circle around it is the symbol for anarchy.
Might a suitable symbol for a group of atheists be a collection of brains?
Christians "blame" the devil and the devil does not exist. So blameing means nothing. There is much speculation and only a rumor of a actual event. Much like when Jesus was made up. Lets see where it goes.
Here's a link I found. An atomic "A" smybol was used but it proves nothing really.
Obviously had to be an atheist who are well known to be so illiterate they can't even spell hypocrites. These memes prove so!
Maybe they thought their spelling was closer to the original Greek!
They are using the wrong word, "arson" is the word for burning property. Making them arsonists.
Atheism is the word for the absence of belief in god or gods. Making them atheists.
Burning down the church made them arsonists, if they believed that this church, it's congregants, or their god had power, and burned it for that reason, that would make them believers.
Most likely someone was angry that the church was not following social distancing laws and were a threat to their communities. Atheism had nothing to do with it.
I think I posted an article about this yesterday. Atheist “A” Logo Found Near Graffiti at Site of Burned Down Mississippi Church | Hemant Mehta | ...
Unless an atheist was raised in the church and the church did a lot of damage which caused them to act out, I think the atheist "A" left at the scene was intended to divert blame and mislead investigators.
After seeing tue article O wonder why the main subject the "a" was not shown. It could be anything and not even an "a". Even if it was an atheist that person would just be a wacko. Atheist usually do not do any harm to persons or property. It could be an insurance scam or anything. Hopefully, they find and prevent the arsonist from doing any more damage.
BTW an atheist would know that the government will simply rebuild the church causeing more tax dollars to be spent. That is completely against what most atheist qould want.
Whoever did it probably actually saved lives. It could have been a church member that didn't want to go to church and be exposed.
The end does not justify the means.
check yourself! burning down any building is obscenely dangerous.
a. being 100% certain someone isnt inside without imagining and heat detection equipment, NOT POSSIBLE.
b. the building materials and loose items inside the building do not burn safely or cleanly. I'd guess half of these items are carcinogenic when burned...don't believe me, look up the stats and news articles about firefighters and the epidemic of cancers they are experiencing even though they wear the best ventilators tax money can buy.
c. even the most stringent of church policies don't actually put a gun to anybody's head to make them attend.
d. why is going to church more dangerous than grocery shopping? should someone burn down the community grocery store just cuz they are afraid they or someone else will get infected there?
e. There is no way any lives would ever be saved burning down a church or a cross on the lawn.
this is the same kinda tripe Trump says that, thankfully, the media et al call him on...not that it makes any difference.
They can blame atheists all they want but can they prove it was atheists? Personally, I think it was Satan.
Maybe the Arsonists were illiterate Canadians - - - EH! or A!!
This is a symbol that Anarchists use and it has been adopted by some of the white supremacist types in the South. Since the arsonist can't even spell hypocrites correctly it is just as likely he would botch the Anarchist 'A' symbol as well.
Although it is more likely a self inflicted arson as part of their Persecution by Atheism Campaign.
Please place a screenshot/picture of that 'breaking news'! I would like to know whether there is an (ongoing) investigation and the result of that! I would also like to know How they came up with that blame! I wouldn't btw find it fare even if it was the Theists who were impulsively accused! Just tell me they didn't get that 'Atheist clue' cause the Atheists who allegedly burned down 'The House' left some graffiti with 'Long Live Atheism' behind!
I posted about this the other day. An “A” was found in graffiti at the site. Needless to say this evidence is far from conclusive.
How to be an idiot and be counterproductive to your cause 101: