{"id":23060,"date":"2011-10-12T14:36:21","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T20:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=23060"},"modified":"2011-10-12T14:36:21","modified_gmt":"2011-10-12T20:36:21","slug":"people-unclear-on-the-concept-of-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/12\/people-unclear-on-the-concept-of-terrorism.html","title":{"rendered":"People unclear on the concept of “terrorism”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
It's "just a cross on a water tower" (that's also lit up at night).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It’s just a cross on a water tower<\/a>,” says Mayor James Bellar of Whiteville, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

*sigh* Here we go again.<\/p>\n

“It’s just a cross on a water tower,” so all those Atheists and Anti-Christians and Secularists are just making a tempest in a teapot over it. No harm, no foul …<\/p>\n

… except that if someone (say, the Freedom From Religion Foundation) says that it needs to be removed because it’s an unconstitutional support of a particular religion by a government body, then those folks, asking for the removal of “just a cross on a water tower” are … TERRORISTS<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are terrorists as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d said Mayor James Bellar about the Freedom From Religion Foundation. \u201cThey are alleging that some Whiteville resident feels very, very intimidated by this cross.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This sort of resembles Bryan Fischer claiming that homosexuals are committing hate crimes by criticizing folks who say they’re all dirty perverts going to hell. \u00a0Except I think Mayor Bellar is genuinely clueless.<\/p>\n

The mayor told Fox News Radio that the cross was erected on the town\u2019s water tower about eight years ago by a private group of citizens. They collected private donations to cover the costs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which is a fine way for private citizens to make a public display of their faith — through private donations. Word is<\/a>, local individuals and churches raised $4400 for the cross.<\/p>\n

Except then they used the government<\/em>‘s property, something paid for and supported by all <\/em>taxpayers — the water tower — to display the cross. \u00a0It could have gone on someone’s private property. \u00a0Or someone could have privately built a big tower to put it on. \u00a0But instead, they had the government display it. And, incidently, light it up at night.<\/p>\n

That’s a no-no. Because then it’s the town <\/em>saying that it’s a Christian place, not just a private group of citizens. \u00a0It’s all the town’s people, paying taxes to keep the water tower in place and painted and maintained, being compelled to maintain the base for this religious display.<\/p>\n

And if you think that’s inappropriate, and actually try to act on that conviction, then … you’re a TERRORIST.<\/p>\n

The mayor said the atheist group\u2019s demands are \u201cvery frustrating\u201d calling it a sad state of affairs.<\/p>\n

“A terrorist is more than a guy that flies the planes into the building,” he said. “It\u2019s anyone who can disrupt your way of living, destroy your lifestyle, cause you anxiety. It\u2019s more than killing people. If they can disrupt your routine in life, that\u2019s what they want to do. They are terrorists as far as I\u2019m concerned.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The lead terrorist cell of the FFRF. You can tell by the keffiyehs, the revolutionary posters, the tightly-gripped AK-47s, and the fanatical, blood-thirsty glints in their eyes. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That’s right. You got your TERRORISTS that blow people up. You got your TERRORISTS that make you fear for your life and health. And you got your TERRORISTS that … disrupt your routine in … life …?<\/p>\n

What?<\/p>\n

Plus, go back to that other statement. “It’s just a cross on a water tower.” Such a little thing for those Atheists to be so upset over. But to ask that it be taken off of government property, and put on display on private property instead … well, that’s disrupting their way of life!<\/em> It’s destroying their lifestyle!<\/em> It’s causing anxiety!<\/em> It’s disrupting the routine in their lives!<\/em><\/p>\n

Just like TERRORISTS do!<\/p>\n

So it’s trivial … except that it’s also ooooooh-so-important to them. It’s just like the folks who say, “Oh, ‘under God’ isn’t really about religion, so it should be left in the Pledge of Allegiance” and then turn around and say with the same breath, “And if you take that out, it’s a slap in the face of Christ, Christians, and the Christian nature of our nation!”<\/p>\n

“All we\u2019re doing is exercising our right to practice our beliefs down here but this organization is now going to stymie that.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m pretty certain the Freedom From Religion Foundation isn’t out to stop folks from practicing their beliefs. Nobody’s saying that churches have to be torn down, or that people have to stop praying. \u00a0Really. \u00a0I’ve read the press release<\/a>. \u00a0All the FFRF is saying is, “You can’t do put a big cross on display as a government; you can only do it as private individuals.”<\/p>\n

Just like TERRORISTS \u00a0are well-known for saying.<\/p>\n

The Mayor has also said,<\/p>\n

“A terrorist is also someone who will come into a very Christian community and try to disrupt our lives, try to change our beliefs,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The FFRF isn’t acting to change anyone’s beliefs. \u00a0It’s acting to protect the beliefs of all<\/em>, including anyone who believes differently in that “very Christian community.”<\/p>\n

The problem is, the Mayor doesn’t recognize the difference between the community <\/em>— a private, social construct, which may or may not include everyone in the geographical area — and the town government<\/em>, which actually does represent everyone. \u00a0Religious expression by the predominant community is fine. \u00a0Religious expression by the government is not.<\/p>\n

The Mayor notes,<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re not out here knocking on doors trying to convert people.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No. \u00a0You’re putting up a big sign that essentially says, “Whiteville is officially a Christian community. \u00a0Others may, or may not, be welcome, but even if you are, don’t expect that your religion will be treated with the same respect as ours.”<\/p>\n

Yes, really. That’s what having a government-supported (literally) cross says<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Atheists are not Satanists. Really.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s worth noting that Mayor Bellar’s appreciation for, or understanding of, folks who believe other than he does is … \u00a0fairly limited.<\/p>\n

Mayor Bellar has offered one more “unique” compromise offer.\u00a0“I’ve even gone so far as to tell them that if they want to come down here and put their image on the side of the tank, I’ll let ’em paint SATAN on the tank if they’d like to. So, they will have representation,” Bellar suggested.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don’t think the FFRF are Satanists, Mayor Bellar. \u00a0And they’d probably be the first to say that painting “SATAN” on the side of a government water tower would be equally inappropriate.<\/p>\n

The FFRF says that it submitted the most recent legal ultimatum (after three other letters dating back to last December were ignored) on behalf of a local resident. Obviously, since they’re TERRORISTS, though, they must be liars.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a matter of fact, I don\u2019t even think it\u2019s a Whiteville resident,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have people of that belief here and if we do they\u2019re not going to raise that kind of ruckus for the rest of the town.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The irony is breath-taking. \u00a0Mayor Bellar has no real idea if that have people “of that belief” there, and if they do, they know that they’d better keep quiet. Because otherwise, oh, I don’t know, the mayor might call them a TERRORIST. \u00a0Or a SATANIST. Or even a SATANNIC TERRORIST. And then who knows what might happen to them, or their job, or their car, or their house.<\/p>\n

No wonder they won’t raise a ruckus.<\/p>\n

It’s worth noting that a private party has offered to take the cross and display it prominently … on private land. \u00a0Which is perhaps a bit garish, but is also legal and appropriate.<\/p>\n

The local Jackson Sun<\/em> has run an editorial, which, after asserting their Southern Christian bona fides<\/em>,\u00a0supports the cross being relocated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To our fellow Christians who may disagree, we issue a respectful challenge borrowed from a local church youth production: God doesn’t call governments to be Christians, he calls Christians to be Christians.<\/p>\n

The government is not the instrument to spread God’s word. We are.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n

(via Les and Ed Brayton<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“It’s just a cross on a water tower,” says Mayor James Bellar of Whiteville, Tennessee. *sigh* Here we go again. “It’s just a cross on a water tower,” so all those Atheists and Anti-Christians and Secularists are just making a tempest in a teapot over it. No harm, no foul … … except that if … Continue reading “People unclear on the concept of “terrorism””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/ffrf-executivecouncil.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128137,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/22\/the-universal-new-yorker-cartoon-caption.html","url_meta":{"origin":23060,"position":0},"title":"The Universal "New Yorker" Cartoon Caption","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 22-Sep-15 7:26pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Which, for a variety of personal reasons, is a hell of a lot funnier now than it would have been six months ago. 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