WA Governor's Phone Lights Up At O'Reilly's Urging

[nathanindk]

I don't understand why people are so up in arms over this. It's a viewpoint. The organization had to go through a process in order to have their display shown, and it went through. What ever happened to seperation of church and state? There was a nativity scene there and the atheist plackard, which sort of left things on an even kilter. In a way it helps prove that there should be seperation of church and state because the Washington State Gov't. is not coming out and supporting a specific side.

[disgustedoffended]

there is a sign in Springfields Capital this year as well because a nativity foundation has placed a nativity in the capital rotunda. Funny thing though, the last year there was a manora and the first sign was stolen so what does the foundation do? They put up another sign along with a sign that say's thou Shalt not steal. Now how hypocritical is that?

[disgustedoffended]

left some things out. Last year a jewish foundation got permisison to display the Manora, this year a christian organiztion got permisson to display the nativity. There was no sign last year but this year there's a sign. why target just Nativity scenes? Why can't they just look the other way. We smile whenever they say Happy holiday's and I respond with Merry Christmas back. Why must I look away at their sign but they can't look away at a nativity scene?

[Acrimonator]

@disgustedoffended Oh, that's cute, not stealing is an only christian law now... And, have you heard about sarcasm, that only pointed to those who stole it in an access of anger, christians...

[Weebums]

The point being that this is a religious holiday (albeit more commercial than religious), and as I understand atheism is not a religion. It is a belief--it also has nothing to do with Christmas or the Holiday Season (that's the PC version). A belief system with god(s) or not, should strive to promote the good in all people, not promote hate or intolerance which I've seen on BOTH sides of this issue.

[disgustedoffended]

The founder himself said that it is an attack on religion. were you not paying attention to the news report? Grant it some people have probably responded with more then just angry, but polite, e-mails and phone calls to the governer.

[FoShizzle951]

Christians always feel the need to protect an all-powerful being. Idiots...

[rcastaldo666]

im glad there seems to be a growing sort of athiest/agnostic front in society at large..

[AstoundedAtheist]

Funny how God is unable to stick up for himself!

[filthyfun]

there just fucking word we are all adults. This is enough... enough of your right wing christian craziness... sounds to me like your not quite sure about what you belive in whats the matter you don't like being forced to think differently... insucure pricks.

[mtklima]

Billo the clown is a confused retard and he should be kindly asked to retire and move to a nursing home where his mental problems could be addressed pharmacologically.

[negativ90]

Christians who are offended by this sign boycott all Christmas travel to Washington. If you have family in Washington make arrangements to celebrate Christmas somewhere else. I bet that would make those politicians think twice. My sister lives there our family is asking to her to fly out to us. And we will continue to do so, until this sign is removed or edited.

[dudekyle13x]

"Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts"...guess what, you just vindicated that message. Isn't that ironic?

[spanishcaravan]

I can just picture the tracing the Vogeler family through history. Protesting integrated schools, with a top hat and cane lynching astrologists.

[MeatballsMarlowe]

I totally support this sign. Christians have no concept of the First Amendment.

[cerpintaxt83]

All the people bitching about this shit need to get off their fucking high horse. Are you really so fucking insecure about your beliefs that you have to pull off this persecution routine every time somebody says something you don't agree with? This would be complete non-issue if it wasn't for these damn religious zealots.

[sergeantdildo1]

Yet another illustraion of what a pathetic country America has become. 20 years and the Indians and Chinese will be pissing all over them and the arrogant, fat bastards will finally shut up.

[moniquwayo]

WHO GIVES A FUCK

[hunnie14]

what is really the big deal? It isn't like they messed with the nativity scene. They just stated another belief. I really don't understand why some people can't handle it.

[SakuraSymphony]

i say it again ,the first part of the sign was somewhat resonable, but that whole spuu of no god,devils,angels,enslaved minds, krap is JUST over the top...what the heck does that have to do with the holidays?

i thought this was the athiests chance to show there view of the holidays?..but all they do is rant and argue against the belifes of others... come on!! be original!! think of your own holiday slogan ffrf.besides one that basically says:

" i dont belive in anything!those who do suck!"

[therightguy001]

Atheists have every right to voice their opinion this is a free country that is extremely supportive of freedom of speach. BUT this guy goes too far. An out right "attack" on Christianity, as he claims he's doing, should be met with a counter. His little "protest" is nothing more than an attempt to get attention and have the spotlight shine on him a little. You can tell this guys LOVES being noticed. But it's rude, ill-timed and most of all just obvious.

[SakuraSymphony]

finally!! someone who see's the selfish motives behind this...i really wonder if they want to see equality...or fifteen minutes of fame?

[xxxchaindrive]

Good on ya gov. Perhaps taking a secular stand will force some of the insidious minions of an imaginary sky daddy to actually think.

[GurgleGurgleBlahBlah]

Wow! OMFG!! Only a few feet away! Some Christians who come to see the nativity scene might actually see and be able to read the sign1!! And have their fragile feelings hurt! They should build a hospital next to the building.

[vincentvalentino]

Christians need to stop crying as if they are the center of the earth. Everyone has their beliefs and the right to be able to express them just like they do. Boohoo wah wah. Instead of complaining they should go pray to their god to take down the Athiest display >_>.

[Election2Day08]

It is a shame. Cities and towns across America would choose to promote one religion over another.

Keep the tiny sign. Lets divide up the lotted space.

Christians 33.32% (of which Roman Catholics 16.99%, Protestants 5.78%, Orthodox 3.53%, Anglicans 1.25%), Muslims 21.01%, Hindus 13.26%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.35%, Jews 0.23%, Baha'is 0.12%, other religions 11.78%, non-religious 11.77%, atheists 2.32% (2007 est.)

[zapponsalvia]

I only wish the atheists could have made a better looking display! Cheers to our gov. Shame on Vogelers who play martyr when they are in the majority.

[dookdawg214]

Everyone who supports Governor Gregoire should email her to tell her so. I did.

Also, there's a new Facebook page that you can join which supports her advocacy of religious impartiality in state affairs. I can't post the link but if you type "governor gregoire" in Facebook's search engine you'll find it.

[SakuraSymphony]

wow..this is sad...now if the ffrf was soooo commited to fairness..then why not have a sign that says "whatever your belifes have a good holiday season"...why totally bombard us with there opinions..there is no god, no devil, no angel ect...how can anyone not see that this is an unfair action...i mean gosh is a darn nativity scene THAT offensive to them...HOLY HECK, i hate to see how the ffrf responds to the Charlie Brown christmas special every year...

[Bttscks]

Prepare to voted down and told that you are a horrible human being XD

I commented on another video about this and... as a bisexual agnostic, people acted like I just carved "God hates fags" into their gay lovers face or something, just because I said "Hey, ya know... maybe putting that sign right next to a nativity scene... kinda a dickish move on our parts."

For some reason, people apparently don't see how the placement of that sign could be viewed as... assholish.

[dookdawg214]

Bttscks, you need to separate two things here. On one side is Dan Barker and the FFRF. On the other side is Gov. Gregoire. If you find the sign disgusting, then why don't you attack the FFRF? As pointed out in her statement, the Governor must not take sides in religious discourse. If religious statements can be made (a nativity scene is different from a Xmas tree!), then atheistic ones can be made too. It's all or nothing. Mrs. Gregoire is being impartial and just by allowing opposing views.

[Bttscks]

It's nothing to do with the statement being made, but I don't see how you can deny that placing it right next to a nativity scene is kind of a dick move. Don't get me wrong, I love the sign and I fully agree with its message. I just think there could have been better places to put it than right next to a nativity scene.

[TheVampirella]

The religious nuts would have complained no matter where the sign had been placed.

[Bttscks]

And if they had complained about the sign being placed somewhere else, I would probably be agreeing with all of you XD

The point isn't whether or not they complain, it's whether or not they are within the realm of reason to complain. In this situation I think they are. If the sign were placed somewhere else, I would likely say there weren't.

[TheVampirella]

So if the atheist sign had been placed in the spot first then atheists would have every right to complain that the nativity had been placed right next to their sign?

If the sign next to the nativity had been in honor of one of the other "sun" gods and Christians complained what would your opinion be on the issue?

[Bttscks]

On your first point, yes. Personally, I wouldn't really mind it to much, but I can see how the placement of the nativity scene would be annoying and offensive to some.

As for the second one... that's kind of an interesting question, actually. I suppose if it was just celebrating a sun god or whoever, I wouldn't see anything wrong with it, same as if it was for any other religion, but if it said "the Christian god is wrong, the Sun god is the real one true god!" or something, it's different.

[Bttscks]

The reason I don't agree with the placement of the sign isn't because it supports a non-Christian belief (I'm not really Christianity's biggest fan, to be honest) It's because the sign seems to serve no other purpose than declaring that the Christian beliefs are wrong. Placing that right next to a nativity scene doesn't seem to serve /any/ purpose other than to piss Christians off.

[filthyfun]

thats fine man its about time we start pissing back at those crazy christians.. we are the silent majority! Bullshit! Christians critisize everything they can say whatever they want about anybody and it all right because of their belif's. Well I belive in the Constitution and it says freedom of religion and freedom of speech. it doesn't say unless you don't belive in God! freedom of religion!

[mtklima]

To piss xtians off is a most noble pursuit and should be encouraged.

[TILLEYJS]

Why would you be pro or anti governor on this issue. It is a state issue that doesn't really have anything to do with the governor. Religious people are such winers..

[pmacgilli]

I would have liked to have heard what that guy at the end meant by enough is enough. It might have been interesting to hear him elaborate a little on just what it is that offends him. My guess is his stand is far more emotional than logical but I would like to be sure before I pass judgment.

[priorzola]

Pmacgilli, everything Christians do on behalf of their faith is emotional not logical. That's exactly the way their church (and not coincidently enough Fox News) operates. It's called propaganda. Appeal to the emotions, not the intellect then you can convince people of anything. And the Christian church is the biggest propagandist in the history of the world. When a Christian gets conflicting info to the propaganda they've been fed, they blame the "heretics" not the hypocrites who lied to them.

[SakuraSymphony]

hey...not to start an arguement...but try to learn the phrase 'some christians' cuz i know a few who dont go off of emotions...and grouping them togeather is kinda not right.

[priorzola]

Sakura, I agree that some Chrisians can be reasonable EXCEPT not when it comes to their faith. Faith is the opposite of reason. So when they defend their religion (no matter how logical they seem to be in doing so) they are still defending ancient fairytales as if they were real. The wall of the part of their brain that tells them that this can't possibly be real and ALL OF IT defies logic. When someone tells them that they react emotionally (just like the church leaders have trained them to).

[pmacgilli]

Absolutely. Their belief system is like a house of cards and therein lies the problem. Damage any part of it and the rest comes crumbling down. They don't see the difference but lucky for us there are a lot of people that do. What's the difference? Easy. The moment I see evidence of God I start to take the idea seriously. The minute they see evidence of no god they start to reject the evidence with even more fervor. It's amazing the two mentalities can coexist peacefully.

[MetalheadAtheist]

This nation was FOUNDED on the SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!!! I'm sick of many Christians thinking they're the only ones who celebrate something this time of year. What about the Winter SOlstice, Chanakau(sp?), Kwanaza, etc.? Also, I don't think like the husband of the couple said about "enough is enough" is going to happen with almost 1/5 of the NATIONAL population being Atheist, and 1/4 of the Washington population being Atheist.

[ShortbusMooner]

Three cheers for Governor Gregoire! Hurrah!

SECULAR! SECULAR! America is bound by our Constitution to be secular! Separation of church & state! Keep your fairytales to yourself, in other words.

[MichiganLuc]

Self-righteous Christian assholes like that are the reason that people who don't think like them are afraid to tell others what their beliefs are. This is because Christians are offended by the idea that people don't believe the EXACT same things they do. The Constitution clearly states that the government cannot choose one religious belief over the other, so if they take the Atheist display down, the Government is in clear violation of the constitutional rights of Atheists everywhere.

[ShortbusMooner]

Yes!!!

[pmacgilli]

So logical it's amazing to me that anyone even bothers to argue. Yet they still do don't they? =P

[doesurmindglow]

I'm afraid it's not about logic, dude, it's about "faith."

or, in other words, about celebrated ignorance. As a native Washingtonian, I've never been more proud of my governor.

[pmacgilli]

Agreed and well put.

[MichiganLuc]

Thanks.

[MichiganLuc]

The delusional, fascist Bill O'Reilly is proof of that shit.

[JRodB]

Why the fuck hasn't anyone given O'Reilly's office numbers yet ...

[K1dCharlemagne]

I'm not Christian, but I must say that the nativity scene and the ffrf "attack on religion" sign are not in the same ballpark. A nativity scene being combated by a frosty the snowman scene would be an example of similarity. If you're an atheist, be an atheist. If you're a Christian, be a Christian... but to be so eternally fallible and still try to convince others to your supposedly righteous cause (be it Christianity OR atheism) is pure comedy. ffrf is just as silly as the religious right IMO.

[priorzola]

It proves that Christians want to the govt to endorse religious and philosophical views but only when it's their own. You can see every thim there's a school benediction that involves a priest or preacher but also a rabbi, and in my case, a Buddhist monk. The Christians got all uncomfortable forgetting about the fact that all NON-CHRISTIANS get uncomfortable when only one religion is represented. Christians don't want any ideas endorsed by govt that rejects their ideas. What are they afraid of?

[MetalheadAtheist]

Priorzola, I couldn't of said it better myself.

[LiberalViewer]

I'm currently working on a video on this subject, though I'm not sure if I'll end up completing it. I already have O'Reilly's rants from the last couple days imported into iMovie but I'm holding off to see if he actually brings anyone on his show to explain viewpoint discrimination in a public forum violates the First Amendment. Maybe tonight, but I'm not holding my breath.

In any case, I'm capturing this local news clip too because it could be useful in my video, so

thanks for the upload :-)

[hmoob7]

Do you have a pair of myphonies with your mac?

[wervasdeferens]

If you don't celebrate Christmas and what it stands for, then you're not a real American.

Now get out those credit cards and let's get this economy going again, the banks need the interest.

USA,USA!

[ChuckyJesus666]

Hmmm, maybe the Xians should consider the idea of having government not be a forum for any religious viewpoint. Now they're concerned when something put on public property goes against what they believe....waaaa. Welcome to our world. How do you think we atheists have felt every time we see 10 commandment monuments or manger scenes on courthouse lawns?

[whoo689]

I think the governor, contrary to Billo's claims, IS being courageous by allowing such a sign to be there, by not backing down and letting a vocal minority of fundies push her around.

[whoo689]

What a bunch of idiotic voters. Oh, yeah, they really care about some fucking sign on the capitol?? Come on! There are far bigger issues than this. These people are so fucking petty. "Oh, this offends me cuz I'm religious." Big fuckin deal! It's called freedom, mainly FREEDOM OF SPEECH! You don't have the right not to be offended. It's not "political correctness." Political correctness is this absurd double-standard religious people have. You can criticize atheism but not religion??

[SakuraSymphony]

well actully that sign criticizes religions...

[Char99]

I'm from Washington myself and I find this hilarious. There's a Christian display and an Atheiest display at a government building. And who are the ones getting outraged and offended? The Christians, of course!

[Xenithan]

They have as much right to put up that display as they do to propagate their religion with a display of little baby jesus.

Bill O'Reilley can bite a bullet.

[Plutonwolf]

What an over entitled pack of morons. Their faith is so shallow that it can not endure any questioning or doubt.

Thank you for once again proving that to some, religion truly is a dangerous narcotic.

[mw2000]

I hope the Governor doesn't back down. Show these ignorant fucks - Bill O'Reilly at the helm - that she refuses to back down. I'm pretty sure what Bill has done might be illegal as well. If nothing else it's ridiculously irresponsible and childish, but that's what we've come to expect from that fucking moron.

[Salvatrucho213]

what a bunch of bullshit. What do I care if some inbred rednecks are pissed? They need to learn how to read. Then they need to head to the library and look up the 1st amendment.

[ThePatriotsMaxims]

Although I agree with you, Gregoire is one of the most incompetent and deceitful governors in the US. She stole the election in 2000 from Dino Rossi, and did nothing to help keep the Sonics in Seattle. Although I am a dem, I voted for Rossi.

[Salvatrucho213]

I have heard some negative things about her. I heard she ran a "racist" ad against Rossi. I think I uploaded that.