Florida Atheist Monument: Florida Prepares For the Nation's First Public Shrine to Godlessness

[rug]

Anna Lekas Miller
21 hours ago

On June 29, the American Atheists will unveil the United States of America's first monument to atheism on government property at the Bradford County Courthouse in Florida — a 1,500-pound granite bench engraved with atheist quotations from Thomas Jefferson, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Benjamin Franklin, and others who have paved the foundation for American secular society.

The monument is in response to a six-ton, five-foot-tall monument of the Ten Commandments that was gifted to the courthouse last year — and is prominently displaced on public land. Although the American Atheists filed a lawsuit claiming that the $22,000, privately funded structure had no place on government property and staged several protests, the county officials still refused to remove the monument. Now, the group has decided to counter the structure by erecting its own monument.

"We have maintained from the beginning that the Ten Commandments does not belong on government property," said American Atheists President David Silvermann. "There is no secular purpose for the monument whatsoever and it makes atheists feel like second-class citizens. But if keeping it there means we have the right to install our own monument, then installing our own is exactly what we'll do."

Although public buildings like the Bradford County Courthouse in the United States frequently feature Ten Commandments monuments, other faiths and non-faiths are almost never represented. Bradford County Courthouse's monument is not the first monument to be the subject of a lawsuit. A similar lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against a Ten Commandments monument at the Dixie County Courthouse in Florida was dismissed earlier this year. Even though a federal judge ruled that the monument was in direct violation of the First Amendment, the people of Dixie County still rallied, saying that as "god-fearing" people they wouldn't let anyone do anything with the monument. The county appealed the ruling and it stayed.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/45437/florida-atheist-monument-florida-prepares-for-the-nation-s-first-public-shrine-to-godlessness

[Bennyboy]

1. Cool, In sacramento, out on I5 by the ariport

there is a sign that says "This section of Interstate 5 is maintained by Atheists and other free thinkers". I love it and smile every time i drive by.


But I have taken so many people out to the airport and most of them are totally offensed by that. My Cousin, she threatened to call the "Highway people" about it.

[rug]

2. I've seen those signs (from a lot of groups) but I've never actually seen anyone maintainining them.

I shall remain skeptical.

This Florida monument, though, looks to be significant, "a 1,500-pound granite bench".

[struggle4progress]

3. fair enough!

i would rather have seen the ten commandments off the grounds

but failing that, this makes the point

[LostOne4Ever]

4. Next up!

A monument to Wicca!

Oh the right wing will be seeing red!