Omaha council rejects street honoring atheist (MMOH)

[Synnical]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVVkhOROBhtmO0erIagBCwlYOFpAD8UQ7AHG0

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Citing community opposition, the City Council unanimously rejected a request to erect a commemorative street sign for noted atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

The only person to speak in support of the proposal was the man who proposed it — atheist Raymond Zbylut, who said the gesture would honor the civil rights work of Murray O'Hair, who was not from Omaha.

Council members voted 6-0 to deny the request without discussing it. Councilman Garry Gernandt said afterward that nearly 200 constituents contacted him opposing the sign.

"They said we should keep religious and state issues separate," Gernandt said.

Another council member, Franklin Thompson, said his constituents also urged him to vote against the sign, while Councilman Jim Vokal said it clashed with community mores.

"Most people in Omaha believe in God, and naming a street after this individual didn't match the community," Vokal said.

Murray O'Hair, who filed a lawsuit that ultimately led the courts to bar organized prayer in public schools, disappeared in 1995. A former employee was convicted in her murder.

Oh, the irony.

[Warpy]

1. O'Hair was a very abrasive personality

and I don't think she did most of us that many favors. She pissed off a lot of people who didn't need to be pissed off. She made us a lot of new enemies we didn't need. We already had plenty.

Now a Pete Stark Street, that I could go for. Or a Richard Dawkins Street. Or a Bertrand Russell Street. Or maybe even a Katherine Hepburn Street.

Shoot, that last one probably exists somewhere, named by a churchgoer who had no clue she was one of us.

[trotsky]

3. I agree.

I'm very thankful for her efforts, and maybe she had to be a badass to get certain things done. But she's not someone I want to hold up as some kind of atheist role model or someone who needs to be honored.

[progressoid]

2. Irony - No Kidding.

I can easily see hundreds of people contacting their councilpersons in support of a 10 commandments display.

To be fair, I don't think I have ever seen any such displays in Omaha (other than a road named Mormon). But that doesn't mean they don't exist or wouldn't be overwhelmingly supported if proposed. I doubt many of those that complained about the O'Hare thing would trot out that separation argument for an Xian monument.

[phantom power]

4. Whaaaaa?

They want to vote against a sign honoring a woman who worked to keep church and state separate, because they want to keep church and state separate? Whatever that even means, as applied to honoring an atheist?

My brain is melting.

[Nevernose]

5. That's not irony, it's just plain doublethink..

The phrase "just plain doublethink?" That's irony.