Atheists of Florida wrote a letter to Governor Charlie Crist yesterday demanding an apology for his abusive treatment of one of their members.
Crist, who is also a Republican candidate for the Florida Senate, was approached by Michael Middlebrooks on Friday, March 5, in St. Petersburg. Middlebrooks asked the Governor if it was true that he'd placed a letter "in Jerusalem to prevent hurricanes from hitting Florida," to which Crist replied, "Who's more powerful than God?"
When Middlebrooks told Crist he didn't believe in God, Crist allegedly ripped one of his own campaign stickers off Middlebrooks' chest and stalked away, shouting back, "I feel sorry for you!"
Imagine a governor behaving this way to a Jew, a Muslim, or a Catholic? The press would be all over it. The media would be calling it an outrage. Crist and his cronies would be falling all over themselves to fix the damage.
Atheists, the most hated minority in America dare to question the notion of asking an invisible sky god to not send hurricanes. For that rational thought, Christians pity us.
update 03/15/2010: Interview with Middlebrooks
Comments
Stupid rat-bastard
It is scary to go to the states now, especially to these southern states where the Christian Right seem bent on forcing their myths on other people. Believe as I do or burn in hell is their motto. I guess that recent survey that states the more intelligent people are, the further from religion they are, is true. Americans have to stop elected these religious morons to office. No wonder their country is in a downward spiral. With Idiots like Sara Palin and Huckabee around it won't be long until they are back in the stone age.
Tim,
I agree. I barely pay attention to politics but when I do, I notice that Church and State is not as separated as they claim. Gays cannot marry y? Because YOUR religion says that. Is that not pushing your religion on other citizens of this country? Stem cells, prayer, everything in the darn congress is about religion. And its not right to those of us who would like to vote on what's right and not what's right according to YOUR bible.
It is scary to go to the states now, especially to these southern states where the Christian Right seem bent on forcing their myths on other people. Believe as I do or burn in hell is their motto. I guess that recent survey that states the more intelligent people are, the further from religion they are, is true. Americans have to stop elected these religious morons to office. No wonder their country is in a downward spiral. With Idiots like Sara Palin and Huckabee around it won't be long until they are back in the stone age.
Jesus H. Crist! What a jerk. And of course the guy who asked a polite question will be spun by the "librull meeja" as a rude, arrogant, militant fundamentalist atheist dissing a poor defenseless xian.
I don't like Crist.
Crist was wrong for touching the guy removing the sticker.
A Fool says in his heart there is no God.
"Middlebrooks asked the Governor if it was true that he'd placed a letter "in Jerusalem to prevent hurricanes from hitting Florida,"
Sounds to me this atheist was LOOKING to make this an issue about his atheism with the question.
Dianna,
Did you try to reach the governor's office for a comment on what happened?
Crist is a godbot. Religionauts are a blight on the earth!
Ignorance, bigotry and intolerance are alive and well in the governor's mansion in Florida...
Peace.
he must be over compensating to hide his homosexuality.
Greycoat: "Sounds to me this atheist was LOOKING to make this an issue about his atheism with the question."
Wrong! He was asking a very reasonable question: should Florida public policy be based on superstition and magical thinking, and how much of the taxpayers' dollars are spent in support of such superstition, flying letters to Jerusalem to put in the Wailing Wall. Many non-atheists would be interested to know the answers to these questions.
Oh and you should read Matthew 5:22 and find out what Jesus says about people who call other people fools.
I like what's going on here: write a completely unsupported, unwitnessed account alleging assault, er uh I mean sticker removal, by a politician who you don't agree with and post it on the internet so people who have a very modest opinion of their intellect (the more intelligent people are, the further from religion they are) can get all in a huff and post comments about how right you are.
This is brilliant. I'm starting my own website immediately.
@Rich: I did not.
NOT appropriate. It is sexual harassment. The military allows this sort of thing and even encourages it. This person does not even know his has violated common decency. He has referred to his military background as the reason he did this and he thinks it OK! Again I must make the obvious suggestion that we the people start a bill and pursue it through to a law that will require public officials to read , understand the principles laid out in the Constitution and here is the most important part, the elected official should believe in the principles spelled out in the Constitution.
This should eliminate this type of person from holding onto powerful government positions. The constitutional ignorance of this guy is scary.
Land of the free and home of the brave - my ass.
It has become the land of the southern baptist bigots and the addicted watchers of wwe wrestling and nascar.
All the wonderful contributions America have and is making to science and the world at large is being eroded rapidly in the perception of all thinking people worldwide.
It will need brave americans again to negate the religious fundamentalists (the brain washors and -washees)to become free again!!
To bad there's no video. It would go viral.
no longer free ;-(
The USA is becoming as intolerant & nutty as the fundamentalist Muslims and,unless it stops soon, our conservative politicians will have religion in the Constitution.
Having grown up believing in EDUCATION....including science and even philosophy...I cannot wrap my mind around ideals that are based on PURE fantasy & wishful thinking! Religion has been used by feudal societies to keep the masses in check...it has no more place in modern life than does Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny. ANY so-called religious person that dares to study religious history KNOWS that the story of Jesus was a myth known LONG before the Christian Jesus AND that most of the beliefs & practices came DIRECTLY from Paganism, the first 'made-up' rituals & practices.
There is a LIMIT to intelligence, but NOT to stupidity! And arguing with an idiot is unproductive...teaching them is too: they'd rather believe NONSENSE!
So no more hurricanes in Florida? And what happens when (and not if) hurricanes do hit Florida? Is god ignoring Crist?
Assault? Don't be such a pansy.
He took a sticker off his shirt? all the big talking atheists are suddenly crying like little babies. Seriously? He didn't want the guy walking around with his name attached to it. That is an assualt. Tennis would be too much of a contact sport for some people i guess. Go cry more no one cares.
The fools are the theists. From this, it is apparent that Crist is not only a fool but also a hypocrite. If he had assaulted me, the headline would have been, "Atheists defends self, Governor beaten to a bloody pulp".
The sanctimonious christians posting on here would have been screaming the mountains to dust had an atheists pulled a sticker off them. Bunch of arrogant jerks, the lot of them.
As an Atheist, I have to endure my share of discriminitory remarks and snubbed by religious members everywhere. And yet, I would highly disagree with your statement that we are the "most hated minority".
I was told that there would be tacos.
I don't see a problem with what he did. As a country we need to have religious tolierance. But Athesists have no religion and most of them are more then happy to try and disprove your own religion. They deserve no tolierance. The man in question put himself in that position on puspose, most likely to get these desered results. I am not follower of god, but I leave him well enough alone.
Christianity, Islam, Judaism, their all the same. Their followers have to have this attitude to keep their beliefs alive. Since major religion can not be based on any facts (proven), it has to spread through indoctrination.
Atheist and Agnostic have no mass group, or ideology that needs to be spread to exist. So in the end, it can survive with out indoctrination. This represents a direct threat to their created belief. So these attitudes should come as no surprise.
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