Christians bombard teen activist with hate and abuse.

[Tank]

Christians bombard teen activist with hate and abuse.

It's not really news that Christians are often hateful and abusive towards secular activists.  We've seen it enough times now. As with reports of pedophile priests, closet homosexual pastors, and abortions by anti-abortionists, we've gotten to the point where we almost shrug off new instances of Christian hate.  It's the status quo, and it's what we expect.  

Even though it's "old news," we should sometimes take a minute to step back and reflect on the broader context of this kind of abuse.  The current example comes from a high school in Rhode Island, where a secular teen had the unmitigated gall to request equal treatment under the law.  She fought her school's display of a sectarian prayer banner and won.  Now, the poor Christians in this humble Rhode Island town only have their churches, their homes, their radio stations, TV stations, pamphlets, jewelry, T-shirts, money, congressmen, and seven out of ten people in the U.S. to remind them that they love Jesus.  The repression burns.

In response to having to take down a single banner at one lowly school, the Christians have brought the holy rage of their lord and savior:

   May that little, evil atheist teenage girl and that judge BURN IN HEL!
   she just destroyed a piece of cranston west's history.  hope you're happy stupidbitch!
   why the f**k does it matter?  it's basically history.  just don't look at it.  Bitch
   If this banner comes down, hell I hope the school burns down with it!
   You little brainless idiot, hope you will be punished, you have not win sh*t. Stupid little brainless skunk!
   How does it feel to be the most hated person in RI right now? Your a puke and a disgrace to the human race.
   shes not human shes garbage
   I think everyone should just fight this girl
   F**k Jessica alquist I'll drop anchor on her face
   definetly laying it down on this atheist tomorrow anyone else?
   im sabotaging her site on fb lets just say its going to be nuts you need in on dat dawg?
   Let's all jump that girl who did the banner
   But for real somebody should jump this girl
   Hmm jess is in my bio class, she's gonna get some sh*t thrown at her
   I want to punch the girl in the face
   I hope there's lots of banners in hell when your rotting in there you atheist f**k
   jessicaalquist is gonna get punched in the face
   i hope you go to hell i honestly do youre a sh***y person
   gods going to f**k your *ss with that banner you scumbag
   if I wasn't 18 and wouldn't go to jail I'd beat the sh*t out of her idk how she got away with not getting beat up yet
   Brb ima go drown that atheist in holy water.

You can check out THIS WEB SITE for screen captures of these and many more abusive comments by "good Christians."

A very brave person indeed. Worthy of all the support we can give her.


EDIT: Activated link to article.

[Asmodean]

   May that little, evil atheist teenage girl and that judge BURN IN HELL!
   She just destroyed a piece of Cranston West's history. Hope you're happy, stupid_bitch!
   why the f**k does it matter?  it's basically history.  just don't look at it.  Bitch Drama and emphasis is good and well, but is there not a relation between short sentences and the lack of IQ?
   If this banner comes down, hell I hope the school burns down with it!
   You little brainless idiot, hope you will be punished, you have not won sh*t. Stupid little brainless skunk!
   How does it feel to be the most hated person in RI right now? You're a puke and a disgrace to the human race.
   she's not human--she's garbage
   I think everyone should just fight this girl
   F**k Jessica Alquist! I'll drop anchor on her face
   definetly -lol laying it down on this atheist tomorrow_?_anyone else?
   i'm sabotaging her site on FB. Lets just say its going to be nuts you need in on dat dawg? -It's "Want in on that, dawg?", dawg.
   Let's all jump that girl who did the banner -Uh... Interesting wording.
   But for real somebody should jump this girl
   Hmm jess is in my bio class, she's gonna get some sh*t thrown at her
   I want to punch the girl in the face
   I hope there's lots of banners in hell when your rotting in there you atheist f**k
   jessicaalquist is gonna get punched in the face
   i hope you go to hell i honestly do youre a sh***y person
   gods going to f**k your *ss with that banner you scumbag
   if I wasn't 18 and wouldn't go to jail I'd beat the sh*t out of her idk how she got away with not getting beat up yet
   Brb ima go drown that atheist in holy water.

Bleh! My red ink ran out.

These people can't even tie three fucking words together properly. Potentially dangerous, yes, but still pathetic.

[The Magic Pudding]

Some people reject god because god doesn't live up to the idea of what he should be, maybe he lets a loved one die.
I didn't find the god botherer community an attractive group largely because they didn't live up to what god was supposed to be asking of them, they were so hypocritical.  That forgiveness idea lets people get away with too much.

[Crocoduck]

Hate crime is so ugly.

[Guardian85]

If only christians actually cared what Jesus supposedly said.....
Lots of loving thine enemy and cheek turning going on here.

The sad thing is, I worry for this girl's safety. People with stones that big are needed in the States right now.

[Asmodean]

If only christians actually cared what Jesus supposedly said.....
Lots of loving thine enemy and cheek turning going on here.

The sad thing is, I worry for this girl's safety. People with stones that big are needed in the States right now.

Except they tend to get stoned with their own stones, if in a more metaphorical fashion than in Mohammedstans

[Ali]

Nothing like Christianity + the seemingly inherent tendencry of some high schoolers to be bullies to create some serious ugliness.

I'll never forget in my high school government class, we were talking about a case where a girl (with an obvious Jewish last name) was suing because a teacher was handing out bibles and encouraging bible studies in his classes.  We were debating whether or not that was constitutional.  I wasn't even totally an atheist yet then, but even then I knew that was wrong.  I'll never forget some of the arguments that people were throwing out; they weren't even about whether or not it was constitutional, it was things like "She's just mad because she probably has a big nose."  (!!!!)  Disgusting.  But I learned something interesting about group dynamics that day.  The way the teacher had us do it, everyone who thought it was constitutional had to line up on one side of the room, and everyone who thought it wasn't had to line up on the other side of the room.  When you changed your mind, you crossed the room to to join the other side.  The people who were arguing against bibles being handed out in school were citing the Establishment Clause, and using examples like "Would it be okay if the teacher was a Satanist and handing out Satanist Bibles and encouraging Satanist Bible Study (I doubt any of us knew anything about Satanism at that point, we just knew it was EVIL.)  The uglier the people on the side FOR bibles got ("She's just mad because she's ugly and doesn't have any friends") the more people crossed over to their side, even though the arguments were completely rubbish.  I think they just didn't want to be associated with the idea that people who object to bibles in school must be ugly and not have any friends, you know?  The teacher finally stopped it when it was just me on the side against bibles, and I refused to budge because a) I knew it was wrong and b) I was so disgusted by the other side's arguments that they could have set my side of the room on fire and I still wouldn't have crossed. 

Afterwards, several people came up to me and told me that they agreed with me and they thought it was cool that I wouldn't back down.  My thought was "Well why the f*ck didn't you stand with me then?"

Anyhoo, yes, this girl is brave and needs our support.  I think I'll donate something to her college fund. 

[Tank]

@ Ali

If a teacher allowed a situation like that to happen in the UK, specifically the abuse of a person due to their physical appearance, they would probably get disciplined if not sacked!

[Ali]

@ Ali

If a teacher allowed a situation like that to happen in the UK, specifically the abuse of a person due to their physical appearance, they would probably get disciplined if not sacked!

I don't know if this matters, but the girl they were abusing wasn't actually there in my class, we just read an article about the case and then debated it.

But yeah, it definitely got ugly.  And so freaking stupid, too!

[Sweetdeath]

This s bullying alright...

And isn't there any legal action she can take? This is so horrible. How can anyone call themselves a good person, but treat another human being like that?

[Tank]

@ Ali

If a teacher allowed a situation like that to happen in the UK, specifically the abuse of a person due to their physical appearance, they would probably get disciplined if not sacked!

I don't know if this matters, but the girl they were abusing wasn't actually there in my class, we just read an article about the case and then debated it.

But yeah, it definitely got ugly.  And so freaking stupid, too!

Even if the subject were not in the classroom then the attitude displayed by the 'anti' kids would have been stopped and corrected. If the teacher failed to do this I think they would be in serious trouble.

[Buddy]

I am honestly worried for this girl's safety. We see what the students and other citizens of Rhode Island think, but what does the faculty of the school have to say?

[Ali]

I am honestly worried for this girl's safety. We see what the students and other citizens of Rhode Island think, but what does the faculty of the school have to say?

According to the articles, at least some of them fought the decision.

[Sandra Craft]

   why the f**k does it matter?  it's basically history.  just don't look at it.  Bitch
   

A very brave person indeed. Worthy of all the support we can give her.

Agreed.  The fight to keep church and state separate is the most important one I can think of.  And it just floors me when people try to defend the tradition of mixing the two with such things as "why does it matter?" that they aren't kept apart. That is so dishonest -- if it truly didn't matter it wouldn't be causing this kind of a reaction.

[Firebird]

I am honestly worried for this girl's safety. We see what the students and other citizens of Rhode Island think, but what does the faculty of the school have to say?

I'm worried for her too. But she seems like she standing up for herself quite well. A couple of other links, including her own blog:

http://jessicaahlquist.com/
http://cranston.patch.com/articles/ahlquist-fight-over-mural-despite-harrassment-threats-worth-it

Really impressive. I wish I had been as brave as she is, especially at her age. I'll probably post a message of support on her blog, because I'm sure she needs it. I wonder if we should mention this forum too? Or would this community prefer to remain under the radar to avoid possible spamming by others? I'm still fairly new, so I don't know how people here feel about that.