Florida atheists ‘unbless’ highway with ‘unholy water’

[raven818]

Every time, it seems, that something bizarre, or " news worthy ", or " breaking news " come on my TV, I immediately look up to see if it's Florida, again. Well, nothings changed since 1992, and I don't see it changing any time soon:

By Cheryl Glassford, Reporter
Last Updated: Saturday, March 17, 2012
LAKELAND --

Atheists in Polk County symbolically scrubbed away at a major highway leading into the county Saturday.

The were removing a blessing placed there a year ago by a group of religious leaders.

Brooms, mops and water hoses in hand, the atheists gathered at the roadside.

"We come in peace .. now that's normally what aliens say when they visit a new planet, but we're not aliens, we're atheists!" Humanists of Florida director Mark Palmer shouted to the group along Highway 98.

Representatives from various atheist groups in the area scrubbed the road at the Pasco-Polk county line. They were figuratively removing holy oil that had been put on the road last year by a group of area religious leaders. That group was Polk Under Prayer, or PUP.

PUP director Richard Geringswald said his group had been blessing the county line.

"And praying for that entryway in to the city, that God would protect us from evildoers, mainly the drug crowd, that they would be dissuaded to come in to the county," Geringswald said.

But Humanists of Florida members don't see it that way. They say it makes them feel unwelcome.

"It sends a very bad signal to everyone in Polk County, and (anyone) who travels through Polk county who doesn't happen to be Christian,” Palmer said, “This event is not about atheist rights; this is about welcoming everybody into Polk county."

So they took their "unholy water" and washed the road.

It's been an ongoing feud between the groups in the county: the atheists are also unhappy with prayer bricks PUP members buried along I-4 and various other roadway leading in to the county, engraved with Psalm 37.

"For the wicked shall be destroyed, but those who trust the Lord shall be given every blessing," Geringswald said, reading the psalm from his Bible.

Geringswald said PUP is trying to do something positive - to keep crime out and encourage faith. He says they also plan to run TV ads later this year that will say they are trying to send a positive message about criminals turning their lives around.

The humanists say they don't plan on stopping their protests any time soon.

[armoredman]

Been going on since it was Lions 1, Christians 0. The proof in the pudding is what comes after.

[cycloneman]

OK

1. Holy Group blesses public highway a year ago.

2. Unholy group sees this and even tho it has rained many many times and washed away the blessing ointment they still had to go out and scrub clean the highway of Holy ointment.

3. What are they putting in the water for them F****** to drink?

4. It seems to me that everybody needs a psychiatrist



I wonder if Jay Leno will have a joke about this tonight?

[cycloneman]

Telll ya what i cant wait for? The Holy group with a 10,000 gallon tank of Holy water on one side of the street and the unholy group with a 10,000 gallon tank of unholy water on the other side.

Firehoses ready?

[cycloneman]

there is a video here if you want to watch it.

http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public_ht...major-highway/

[whymememe]

There seems to be a symbolism war here. If they want get rid of the drug crowd they should start a nieghborhood crime watch.

[raven818]

Once upon a time, Polk Co was the meth capital of Fl. Might still be.

[cycloneman]

seems to me that while watching the video the unholy were using some type of detergent. They must know what kind of detergent neuturalizes Holy Ointment. Where would you get this information? Does anybody know where to get the MSDS sheets for Holy Water or Holy Ointment?

Hang tight i took some benedrill eariler and i am sure feeling goofy. The night might just get better.

[ampaterry]

I understand that no government agency can support a religious group.
But it seems to me that scrubbing the road would make it wet.
Everyone knows that wet pavement is slicker than dry pavement.
Police should have arrested the whole bunch for creating a public traffic hazard.

[jack404]

heck they could use acid , it would do nothing , the holy water blessing is spiritual and once done only lack of Faith can change that

as these morons dont have that kind of belief , whats it matter ? besides like Terry said , to slick up the road ..

will they burst into flame is we sprinkle them with holy water ?? i doubt it .. ( though i'd love to see that happen)

at least they got some excercise without passing some STD to one another for a change

if you think they can unbless something , you really need to realise Who they are up against ... remember we dont bless stuff we ask God to do that with us acting only as a proxy ... you reckon a few ferals can undo God ??

[cycloneman]

OK im up.

something really buggin me about that picture. You really got to be some kind of ahole to label a take of water "unholy".

The word unholy also means unclean amoung other things. Why would you want to have that around you? Oh yea its because satan has decensatized them and they can accept the unclean, unholy vile things. Thats right part of his master plan. Its working.

[red14]

I believe Jack is right, you can't remove the 'Holy' once it is there.
Let the athiests have their fun.
When they die, the real fun starts.

[Alpo]

Sorry guys, but they are right. By "blessing the road" with holy water, they were symbolically saying "We are making this place safe for Christians (and non-Christians aren't welcome)".

Now, I agree that washing the road will not accomplish anything, but they are not trying to wash off the holy water. They are symbolically saying, "Hey. Screw You".

It's like the Florida license plate. We got plates here that you can buy to show how much you like the Noles or the Gators or any other team. You can support the manatees, or the Florida panther. And then we have one with cute kids' faces on it that says, "Chose Life".

The "Pro Choice" people were outraged. "Where do you get off with the state backing anti-abortion? Gonna come out with one that says 'Murder an abortion doctor' next?"

The State said, "No, this is not 'anti-abortion', this plate is 'pro-adoption' ". Uh-huh. Then why doesn't it say "adoption" anywhere on it?

You can like or dislike abortion. Your choice. But as long as it is legal, the state has no business putting out an official anything taking a stand one way or the other. If they want to issue an "anti-abortion" plate, that's fine, but they also need to issue a "pro-choice" plate. I really can't see that one selling very well, but they need to offer it.

This road thing is the same. The road is a public road, paid for by tax dollars. Christians, Jews, Muslims, pagans and atheists paid for that road. That road does not belong to Polk Under Prayer. Who the hell do these people think they are taking it upon themselves to "bless" the road. Did they have permission of every single person in Polk County to bless that road. Because, as a public road, it belongs to every single person in Polk County.

Oh, wait. I just reread the story. It says "Highway 98". So I checked the map. That's not "County 98". Not even "State Road 98". That's "US Highway 98". US highway. Doesn't even belong to Florida, let alone, Polk County, and damn sure not to PUP.

So, PUP, you wanna bless a road? Bless the driveway into your church parking lot.

[jack404]

When i was a kid i was in the City for the Easter show , its a agricultural show in Sydney , but while in town they blessed the ferry fleet , i think it was a combined effort between the Anglicans Baptists Catholics and others ..

does that mean its not for Jewish folks ?

back when Qantas had a chaplain he used to bless the new planes , i am pretty sure he was Catholic , that mean folks like me ( non Catholic ) aint welcome ?

dont think so ..

i've prayed for the forum members here more than a few times , that aint just for the believers..

[Alpo]

Since the preachers aren't blessing the boats, but are asking Jesus to bless the boats, and Jesus does not want anything to do with them heathens that don't believe in him (I remember that from church), then, yes, the blessing of the fleet is not for Jews. They can watch it. But if any of the boats are owned by Jews, those boats will not be blessed.

[jack404]

Alpo , sorry , but if thats what they taught you , they taught you wrong ..

otherwise how would anyone be saved as we are all pretty much heathens until we realise and accept the Gift of Salvation , ( kids exempted )

and i am dead set sorry you where taught that , i've seen that over pious BS far too often and why i am not a fan of "brands" of faith .. but follow Christs words, By Their deeds shall ye know them . and "Judge not lest ye be judged" the last aint about judgeing non Christians , its about Christians judging other Christians

i was visiting a few weeks ago , and saw some of this , i walked out , it'd been a while since i'd seen that sorta of crap in person , and we had a thread here not so long ago

this holier than thou bit sucks , and the more i see of it the less i like of it ..

folks get scared when i state i'm a Deist (Christian) , but take a good look , most of your founding fathers where too and in my beleif thats why you got such a great setup from the get go as there was not so much of this bigotry when they drafted you constitution , later the bigotry got in against Catholics and Jews and others and thats been ebbing and waning with fashion and times ever since.

But by accepting we are all equal under God , that we are all equal , no matter the brand, this premise is the foundation that put your nation way in front of others including my own ..

this "branding" rubbish has been pulling you backwards ever since as it does to everyone who plays that game

and i'm saddened that it still goes on , lifes way better when you realise what brand of faith your born into or adopt dont mean that much in the grand scheme of things , but what you do and in your heart why you do things , matters more

i aint taking a shot at you Alpo , i'm just sorry that its effected you so and wish the world was not as it is ...

Cheers eh

[raven818]

Bottom line, the scabs that washed the road were looking for attention. They got it.

[red14]

If you can't admit you are wrong, you can't be saved.
We are all sinners until we ask to be saved.
It is what I believe. I judge no one.

[ampaterry]

Atheists, by definition, believe there is no such being as God.

Therefore, a "blessing" by any group to the God Jehovah should be meaningless to them.

The fact that they object and feel the necessity to REMOVE this blessing would indicate to me that they DO believe in the supernatural, but are OPPOSED to the God Jehovah.

Is there a flaw in my logic here?

[jack404]

not that i see

[Alpo]

Jack, what I was taught was that if you believed Jesus was the son of God, and accepted him as your personal savior, you would be saved and live in Heaven forever.

If you didn't you would burn in the fiery pits of Hell forever.

Hmmmm. Now, that tells me that Jesus only cares about me if I worship him. If I don't worship him he doesn't. If he did, then even if I did not worship him he would not let me burn in the pit.

I don't know what they teach in Oz, but I'd wager that just about everybody that went to a Protestant church in this country was taught that.

I could, kinda, see that "God wants you to be good, but if you are bad you are going to Hell". Reward and punishment. It doesn't really fit with "God loves you", but I could kinda understand it.

But they don't just teach you that if you are bad you go to Hell. They teach that "if you don't believe in Jesus you will go to Hell".

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

Atheists, by definition, believe there is no such being as God.

Therefore, a "blessing" by any group to the God Jehovah should be meaningless to them.

The fact that they object and feel the necessity to REMOVE this blessing would indicate to me that they DO believe in the supernatural, but are OPPOSED to the God Jehovah.

Is there a flaw in my logic here?

I have to agree

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by Alpo

Hmmmm. Now, that tells me that Jesus only cares about me if I worship him.

Na that would be satan. Jesus does not want you to worship him, he wants you to follow his ways.

[jack404]

1 God loves all men ( and women kids etc ) without exception , thats written in the Bible a few times

but to get saved is different and get's you into heaven

there is one exception i have read , "be ye hot ( a believer) or be ye cold ( non believer) , but if ye be luke warm i will spew you out of my mouth ...." ( going from memory here so forgive me if i'm a word or two off)

this to me means if your saved or not he still loves you , but if you play this half pie "submarine Christian" game ( ones that only surface on a sunday or when theres talk of Christianity ) then your something he dont want

you cant hide behind the veil of Christ and still carry on like it dont matter ..

"For he so loved the WORLD ( thats all of us) that he gave his begotten Son"

end of story ( exception noted )

God Loves us all sinner or saint

and trust me i aint no saint .. i'm a flawed man but i know that through him i can be better and thats a goal i take serious ( if a tad slow in pace) and i know He knows i try my best and will forgive me if i am straight and honest , if i plan on doing bad stuff and think it'll be forgiven , thats playing games, and that He has stated He wont stand ...

but if i honestly screw up and if i am sorry , He'll forgive me because he loves me and you and every person on the planet

that why Jesus was sent

to give ALL men a way to heaven , not just those who pay membership here or there or spout this or that , ALL men , we just have to accept it and mean it in our hearts

if we reject it, then yes hell is there .. but that too is our CHOICE , not His will

forget teachings and such , read THE BOOK , READ HIS WORDS ,without the preconceived ideas ... please ..

then let me know what you think ..

Cheers to you Alpo ..

[gilfo]

Fools on both sides.