Theist Hall of Shame

A list of absurd, annoying, and offensive things that theists have said - mostly about atheism.

George Bush

The following exchange took place at the Chicago airport between Robert I. Sherman of American Atheist Press and George Bush, on August 27 1988. Sherman is an accredited reporter and was present by invitation as a member of the press corps. The Republican presidential nominee was there to announce federal disaster relief for Illinois. The discussion turned to the presidential primary:

RS: What will you do to win the votes of Americans who are atheists?
GB: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.
RS: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?
GB: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.
RS: Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?
GB: Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.

UPI reported on May 8, 1989, that various atheist organizations were still angry over the remarks.

This exchange appeared in the Boulder Daily Camera on Monday, February 27, 1989. It can also be found in Free Inquiry magazine, Fall 1988 issue, Volume 8, Number 4, page 16.

Pat Robertson, founder and chairman of the Christian Coalition

From a 1993 interview with Molly Ivins:

Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history.

And from the 1992 Republican convention: (thanks to Mike Stabosz for sending me this quotation)

Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.

Pat Robertson's idiocy is too prolific to be completely chronicled here. If you are interested, visit the The Anti-Pat Robertson / Christian Coalition Site.

From the Texas Constitution, Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 4

No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this state; nor shall anyone be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.

Its okay to be Methodist or a Catholic, but God forbid that we should have an atheist in office. I will certainly never move to a state that forbids people like myself from holding public office. The Texas constitution is online.

Martin Luther

Actually, this one is rather insightful:

Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but -- more frequently than not -- struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.

And from his 1513 study of the scriptures - demonstrating why humanism is the opposite of religion:

We have altogether a confounded, corrupt, and poisoned nature, both in body and soul; throughout the whole of man is nothing that is good.

James Watt, Secretary of the Interior for Ronald Reagan

Quoted in the Washington Post, 1981-05-24:

My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call upon us to occupy the land until Jesus returns.

Watchhtower Magazine

Published 1961-09-15, page 564:

The blood in any person is in reality the person himself. . . . poisons due to personal living, eating and drinking habits . . . The poisons that produce the impulse to commit suicide, murder, or steal are in the blood. Moral insanity, sexual perversions, repression, inferiority complexes, petty crimes - these often follow in the wake of blood transfusion.

Vatican Council, April 24, 1870

The doctrine of infallibility

We teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed: that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in discharge of the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, by the divine assistance promised him in blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that his Church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith and morals; and that therefore such definitions of the Roman pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church.

Keith Tucci, Executive Director, Opration Rescue

Encouraging (with some success) his followers to kill doctors who perform abortions:

It is your god-given right to destroy any man or woman calling themselves doctors who willingly slaughter innocent children.

Chief Spokesman for the National Office of the Boy Scouts

. . . once a person admits to not believing in God, this raises the question of whether or not that person believes in America . . .

It is the official policy of the national Boy Scouts organization that atheist boys not be allowed to join. It is a real tragedy that the great experience of scouting is denied to these boys because of their lack of religious belief.

Overheard in Congressional debate

Why can't the Jews and Arabs just sit down together and settle this like good Christians?

Agnes Gonxa Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa)

I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot ... the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people.

Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, quoted in The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1993-08-16

I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good ... Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism.

Post to an internet news group

Of course, internet news groups are frequently rife with idiotic statements of all sorts, but this one just bowled me over with its combination of stupidity, confusion, and enthusiasm:

 
> Subject: OF COURSE I BELIEVE IT!!!!!!
>
> IT IS A FACT!!!  I WOULD HATE TO "BELIEVE" ANY THING ELSE.  I LOVE
> IT.  IT IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED, UNDERSTAND.
>
> LETS SAY HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING THAT CHRISTIANITY ISN`T TRUE WHICH
> IS IMPOSSIBLE.  I COULD CARE LESS BECAUSE I AM SO HAPPY NOW.  IT IS
> UNBELIEVABLE HOW TRUE IT REALLY IS.  THAT`S PROBABLY WHY YOU DON`T
> BELIEVE IT.

Post to the Mind of Ray message board

This internet post is typical of the vilification that is sometimes directed at atheists:

 
Frankly, to commit murder of another for any reason is atheistic as
only an atheist can imagine gaining anything from such an action and any
person of any religion who has normal faculty is quite afraid to commit
murder except sometimes as self-defense or in the infrequent case of
"holy war".
A person who claims religion as he commits murder is just another cynical
atheist adding dishonesty to his crime.

Please send entries to markgilbert@pobox.com.


Last modified 2005-11-30.

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