Pastor Mike Stahl is the head of an “internet church” called the Church of the Living Water and has drawn national attention due to a proposal he made a year ago: a national registry for atheists. We have seen religious and political leaders in the last year attacking atheists and even comparing them to terrorists. Stahl’s proposed national registry is the natural outgrowth of such demagoguery.
Here is Stahl’s proposal:
Brothers and Sisters , I have been seriously considering forming a ( Christian ) grassroots type of organization to be named “The Christian National Registry of Atheists” or something similar . I mean, think about it. There are already National Registrys for convicted sex offenders, ex-convicts, terrorist cells, hate groups like the KKK, skinheads, radical Islamists, etc..
This type of “National Registry” would merely be for information purposes. To inform the public of KNOWN ( i.e., self-admitted) atheists. For example, let’s say you live in Colorado Springs, Colorado , you could simply scroll down (from the I-Net site /Blog ) I would have , to the State of Colorado , and then when you see “Colorado Springs” , you will see the names of all the self-admitted atheist(s) who live there ( e.g., if an atheist’s name happened to be “Phil Small” ). The individual’s physical address, and other known personal information would NOT be disclosed (though, perhaps a photo could be).
Now , many (especially the atheists ) , may ask “Why do this , what’s the purpose ?” Duhhh , Mr. Atheist , for the same purpose many States put the names and photos of convicted sex offenders and other ex-felons on the I-Net – to INFORM the public! I mean, in the City of Miramar, Florida, where I live, the population is approx. 109,000. My family and I would sure like to know how many of those 109,000 are ADMITTED atheists! Perhaps we may actually know some. In which case we could begin to witness to them and warn them of the dangers of atheism. Or perhaps they are radical atheists, whose hearts are as hard as Pharaoh’s, in that case, if they are business owners, we would encourage all our Christian friends , as well as the various churches and their congregations NOT to patronize them as we would only be “feeding” Satan.
Frankly , I don’t see why anyone would oppose this idea – including the atheists themselves (unless of course, they’re actually ashamed of their atheist religion, and would prefer to stay in the ‘closet.’).
It is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of intolerance. It is particularly interesting to see Stahl talking about hate groups in the midst of an intolerant proposal like a national registry.
Source: Free Thought as first seen on Reddit.
For outreach purposes, no doubt. Help find the lost.
The thing is, is there anything to stop him from doing it, if he got it into his, you know, mind, to do it? Could one, opt-out for example.
These are the people who fear Sharia law so much? Who call those who disagree with them Nazis?
I read somewhere this guy and his sympathizers also want a legal requirement for atheists to wear a symbol indicating atheist status when they go out in public. Sound familiar?
I’ll have my Atheist! bar-code/microchip on the back of neck thanks.
I wonder how our “constitutional law professor” president might find reasonable accommodation room here? It seems he finds no seemingly sacrosanct principles he can’t negotiate about, at least if objection emanates from anywhere to the right of progressive values.
This “Pastor” sounds like a total prick
emw1, you are insulting pricks. Careful there.
Well, since all atheists are criminals and potential terrorists this makes complete sense! I mean when was the last time you heard of a religious person committing an act of terrorism? But atheists? All the time! Oklahoma City, The Atlanta Olympic bombing, The clinic bombings & shooting of doctors, That church shooting in Tennessee, The synagog shootings in LA, hell even 9/11 – were all the work of atheists – right?
There’s a lunatic religious leader? On the Internet? Shocking.
Frankly,
My thoughts exactly. Also a cursory count of the wars started over atheism is quite revealing as well.
Church of the Living Dead –Zombie Christian’s! Be very afraid, it doesn’t do any good to shoot them in the head.
All’s I can do is shake my head…
Oh, Oh! How about this! — a national registry of Chrhistians, you know, for the same purposes!
Big problem, do we list those who claim to be Christains (like Pastor Stahl) or make them prove they are Christians? I think the latter list would be much shorter and eaasier to maintain, but the former much more helpful.
Oro Lee, you’re insulting zombies. Careful there.
Zombies don’t want to put you on a registry, make you were labels and (eventually) round you up into camps.
They just want to eat your brain.
Could this be a ex post facto list, for those who have already returned to diust. You know, someone like Thomas Paine, founding father, author of Common Sense, and adamantly (militantly?) an atheist.
“wear labels”
I blame the brain eating zombies.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this proposal becomes a plank in the Republican platform … teabaggers would love it.
I seem to recall I’ve heard these lines before . . . I’m thinking it was in the TV alien show “V” – about spooky extraterrestrials who could blend in with humans.
“I would sure like to know how many of those 109,000 are ADMITTED atheists! Perhaps we may actually KNOW some.”
And then there’s little little peak into this frightening pea-brain:
“Frankly, I don’t see why anyone would oppose this idea.”
Religiosity on steroids does have one cool advantage: it allows one to actually see through a keyhole with both eyes at the same time.
“Or perhaps they are radical atheists , whose hearts are as hard as Pharaoh’s , in that case , if they are business owners , we would encourage all our Christian friends , as well as the various churches and their congregations NOT to patronize them as we would only be “feeding” Satan .”
(from Free Thought)
Guys like this take their cues from those in power:
Illegal Surveillance: A Real Security Threat
by James Bovard, February 27, 2006
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0602j.asp
Excerpt:
“The FBI inflicted its wrath on speakers, teachers, and writers. A 1976 Senate report noted hundreds of COINTELPRO operations aimed “to get university and high-school teachers fired; to prevent targets from speaking on campus; to stop chapters of target groups from being formed; to prevent the distribution of books, newspapers, or periodicals; to disrupt news conferences; to disrupt peaceful demonstrations.”
The FBI smeared anyone they disapproved of, from Martin Luther King on down. In 1968 the FBI ordered field offices to gather information illustrating the “scurrilous and depraved nature of many of the characters, activities, habits, and living conditions representative of New Left adherents.” FBI headquarters commanded all FBI agents, “Every avenue of possible embarrassment must be vigorously and enthusiastically explored.”
“Other federal agencies also trampled citizens’ privacy, rights, and lives during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The IRS used COINTELPRO leads to launch audits against thousands of suspected political enemies of the Nixon administration. The U.S. Army set up its own surveillance program, creating files on 100,000 Americans and targeting domestic organizations such as the Young Americans for Freedom, the John Birch Society, and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.
The more information government gathers on people, the more power it will have over them. The more expansive and secretive government intrusions become, the easier it becomes for government to rule by fear.” (end excerpt)
How about a national registry of people who harbor prejudices and bigotry?
Oops!
Don’t we already have it?
The Census?
“the ones who protest the loudest” Watch’em!!
“There are already National Registrys for convicted sex offenders, ex-convicts, terrorist cells, hate groups like the KKK, skinheads, radical Islamists, etc..”
*****************
Personally, I would like to cross reference these registries with the list of fundamentalist Christian pastors for obvious (and comedic) reasons.
From a philosophical standpoint, many seem to believe that atheists are immoral or amoral. That a person won’t “do what’s right” unless he believes in God. A stronger version of that is that people won’t “do what’s right” unless they are afraid of eternal damnation.
But I don’t see the logic of this. In, say, the old Soviet Union, the vast majority of people ( including the atheists among them ) were not robbers, murderers, thieves, or even jay-walkers.
you have got to be kidding.
“Personally, I would like to cross reference these registries with the list of fundamentalist Christian pastors for obvious (and comedic) reasons.”
yep, I am sure there are a few skinheads, sex offenders, ex-cons and klu kluxers in that data base.
Jay S:
good point a professor by the name of Tara Smith has a book on normative ethics which posits ethics on a rational, human basis and not on a supernatural, eternal damnation basis.
A couple of reviews are below:
http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/25160-ayn-rand-s-normative-ethics-the-virtuous-egoist/
http://www.reasonpapers.com/pdf/30/rp_30_5.pdf
Roco, I remember hearing someone being interviewed on public radio once who was trying to tell Randi (the illusionist) that since he was an atheist he was unable to have ethics or morals. In other words, according to that fellow, if you did not believe in God, or Jesus (I forgot which brand of fundamentalism he was selling) you were without morals or ethics. Said you have to have a belief in religion in order to understand ethics. Some things just make you go, Hhmmmmmmmm…….
Otteray Scribe:
If you take God and Jesus out of the bible it can be used in a secular manner as a model for treating people and living your life [ethics].
Do unto others . . . and love your neighbor as yourself are pretty universal dicta
Roco, we have disagreed on some things, but we are certainly on the same page on this issue. I think you have a big heart. Wrong economics, but big heart.
Also, I have more than a thousand dollars worth of books on professional and medical ethics on my bookshelf here in my office. If you look in the index of any of them, you will not find a single reference to religion except in the context of respecting the beliefs of the patient and their families. A courtesy many (perhaps even most) fundamentalists are unwilling to extend to others.
Boy, Hitler would be proud. Good grief.
Does he want to register ALL atheists, including those who SAY they believe in “God” but don’t really (Daniel Dennett’s category of those who believe in belief)? If so, He had better be ready to spend the rest of his life gathering names.
“Boy, Hitler would be proud. Good grief.” -erykah
He would, he would…
And he could start his list here on this site….you naughty ,naughty bunch of atheists!!!
anon nurse and erykah,
I think you hit the nail on the head.
Roco,
I have to echo OS’s comment that it is nice to be on the same side of the issue with you!
And he could start his list here on this site….you naughty ,naughty bunch of atheists!!! -MetroCowboy
Metro,
Appearances are sometimes deceiving…
Well, if it would keep the prosthelytizers from banging on my door I’m all for it!!!
Looks to me like the assclown already has the names tattooed on his arms, or are those discolorations caused by the parasites in the Living Water?
I just added his name to my National Registry of Dimwits and Road Apples.
TOOTIE
come out come out were ever you are
Pete-
Tootie is busy pulling the wings off of flies and sorting them into boxes marked “Godless Liberals” and “Enemies of Tootie”.
Rafflaw/OS:
thank you.
Tootie:
I think you need to answer those accusations.
How about a national registry of people who operate internet scams for profit and call them “ministries”?
And while we’re at it, how about a national registry of evangelists who call themselves “Dr.” because they received a piece of paper from some unaccredited Bible school in Podunk, Tennessee?
I make water almost every day and would be all too happy to send him some. There are those who say they’ve seen what’s-his-name’s face in the foam.
I don’t know about atheists but a registry of American Christians classified by type might be a good idea. If I lived in the US I would certainly want to know whether there were any members of the New Apostolic Reformation living near by so that I could take precautions.
Allan Bean’s Friends of Justice blog has recently posted several articles on these crazies. This is the latest of them.
The hate movements are all about insecurity IMO. If you see homophobes on the street corner or in the Congress/Statehouse you’re seeing people that are insecure in their own sexuality. If you see racists on the street corner or in the Congress/Statehouse you’re seeing someone that is insecure about their own self worth- ‘if you’re not better than -fill in the blank- then what are you?’. If you are a religious person and you see a successful atheist, someone that has a strong moral compass, deals with others ethically, has people to love and that loves him/her in return, then you have to be insecure in your prescription for leading a successful life. I think Mike Stahl is a very insecure man and has less faith in his faith than he would like people to believe.
Well, if you are concerned that such a national registry of atheists might be abused, the solution is obviously to pass legislation declaring that only Christians be allowed to hold public office. Then, surely, there could be no danger of abuse of power, since being a Christian renders one immune to such temptations.
Very well said, lottakatz. (I’d refer him to your comment
but, apparently he’s blocking his website, or so I’ve heard… )
I don’t think it is illegal for anyone to put any list they like online. I am more comfortable with any list being public rather than private. (Thinking of the no-fly list, the people disappeared, …)
Starts out with an off the wall comment “lets start a registry of KNOWN athiests” Trying to be provacative for his nutjob followers… gets picked up by them and becomes some sort of rallying cry. A nutjob congresscritter trying to get more teaparty votes picks up on it. Michelle Bachman, Rick Perry and all other prez hopefulls jump on the band wagon. Then why just admitted athiests. Why not those who aren’t members of a church. How bout those who are members but lax in their attendance. How bout we erect some stocks on the courthouse steps for those good christians who lapse in the eyes of the pastors such as this ass. Start sewing those Scarlet As as well as a whole lotta other scarlet letters. I think I’ll start sewing one right now JIIA (Jesus Ignoring Intolerant Ass) for this (ahem) pastor
Jo-
Best Gravatar ever! And a great comment.
COME AND GET ME BITCHES!!!!!
When I first read this article, I shuddered in fear at the notion of being included on the pastor’s list. But, then, I remembered … I’m an agnostic apatheist, and he is only concerned about atheists … so I guess I’m off the hook.
HenMan I’m the one with the hippo. Flashy dresser but hell on your feet in a waltz
I’m sure that there are lots of the ‘faithful’ who are not only on some of the lists referenced above, “KKK,” etc, but who are proud card-carrying members of them.
What if we take this one more step, and make the ‘true believers’ be put on a registry so we can track their steps and hound them for their belief in an imaginary being?
That way we can give them the medications they so desperately need, by force.
Roco -
“If you take God and Jesus out of the bible it can be used in a secular manner as a model for treating people and living your life [ethics].”
Yeah. We could get a lot of mileage out of His Divine Word:
“And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: ” (Exodus 21:7-10).
Sounds like something written by some seriously self-centered mid-Eastern fellows.
Doesn’t being a Christian mean that you love all and leave the judging to the one and only judge, God?! No one has the right to tell anyone how to live and what to believe. I am a Christian, but do not look down upon anyone for their religious belief. I know quite a few Christians who are hypocrites, racist, do not live like a Christian, but I know some Atheists that live like Christians but do not believe in a higher power. Should we make these “Christians” wear a symbol saying that they are racist among other things? Please!!
If you asked me one has to have a lot of faith to be an athiest.