April 9, 2008

A Reminder



A reminder that, though we often associate religious extremists with the fringes of society, stereotyping them as nothing more than the ignorant and close-minded base of the Republican party, you will find that this mentality crosses many boundaries. What would make a supposedly progressive-minded state legislator spew this kind of bile? Religion. Her statement that, "It's dangerous for our children to even know your philosophy exists!" sums up the problem that we Freethinkers face in this society. We are not hated just for disagreeing. We are loathed and feared because we exist.

Michael

6 comments:

Cloudberry said...

Fantastic! He calls for Illinois State Representative Monique Davis to publicly apologize or step down--I think she should do both, and the sooner the better. But I am so glad he countered her "Land of Lincoln" defense with "Lincoln was accused of being an atheist." I never knew that. Anyone know where to find it referenced, besides here?

Josh said...

I heard about this a couple days ago. I don't think that news story does it justice.

Listen to the actual audio here

It's really stunning (and frightening) just how angry she is.

Cloudberry said...

Representative Monique D. Davis (D)
27th District

Photograph of Representative Monique D. Davis (D)

Springfield Office:
241-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-0010
(217) 782-1795 FAX
District Office:
1234 West 95th Street
Chicago, IL 60643
(773) 445-9700
(773) 445-5755 FAX
Cook County

Years served: 1987 - Present

Committee assignments: Committee of the Whole; Public Utilities; Financial Institutions; Elementary & Secondary Education (Vice-Chairperson); State Government Administration; Appropriations-General Service (Chairperson); Gaming; Juvenile Justice Reform; Appropriations-Higher Education; Disparities in Educational Achievem.

Biography: Educational administrator; born in Chicago; B.S., elementary education; M.S., worked on doctorate at Roosevelt University, guidance and counseling; received Dollars and Sense award for legislative excellence as one of the 100 best and brightest professionals in the country, 1990; listed in Who's Who in African American Biography, 1988-93; has two children.


Associated Senator(s): Emil Jones, Jr.

Sponyak said...

"It's dangerous for our children to even know your philosophy exists!"

Sorry, Rep. Monique Davis... our "philosophy" does indeed exist, and the children will know.

Faith vs. the Faithless- a culture war, ay? As much as I'd rather just be friends... count me in!

Manya said...

Most likely due to all the links to the mainstream articles from atheist blogs, the comments sections on the mainstream articles are mostly intelligent and anti-davis.

She would be out in hours. The most offensive thing she said was he didn't have a right to be in court testifying. That is so blatantly unAmerican. I said at the last meetup, I am not offended by criticism of my ideas, but I *am* offended when people say atheists don't deserve to live here or are bad for America.

BTW Rep Davis- if your philosophy is obviously right, you should have nothing to fear by exposing children to ours. I've never known an atheist who tried to shield their children from learning about others' beliefs. Wonder why that is.

Manya said...

ETA- second paragraph, meant to include, if she had said that about some other more accepted group.