Comments on: Fury over Obama’s nicked note to God

By: Eric

Eric — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:44:42 +0000

Metal guy,
When you say christians and athiests tend to be the most pushy, arrogant… I have to say on the part of Athiests, it’s hard not to get frustrated when it seems you’re surrounded by delusional maniacs who talk to god, or sane people who humor them and respect their mental illness. So you’re right, we can come across as arrogant at times, but sometimes we just feel like we’re surrounded by lunatics.

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:41:02 +0000

Actually, I think it’s kind of private. I mean, isn’t it along the same lines as monuments? It’s common manners to not mess with those types of things to not offend others. What ever happened to a separation of church and state? Surely if there was a better division of the two, this would not have happened.

By: Scep

Scep — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:00:46 +0000

Yet again religion is accorded special treatment, even by self-proclaimed atheists.

By banging on about privacy everyone is missing the point. Writing private stuff on a piece of paper and sticking it into a crack in a wall in the middle of a public place is a really brainless thing to do. But because it was a “prayer” (i.e. a begging letter to an invisible, ineffable deity) it is somehow sacrosanct. Why is this? If I wrote a love poem to my wife and left it hanging out of a wall I could hardly bitch if it got into the public domain. If I complained about my privacy then people would quite rightly tell me to quit whining. Non volenti fit injuria and all that.

Here’s a life tip: if you don’t want your teenage angst poor me letters to be read then don’t jam them into a crevice in a wall in the middle of a city. Tuck them behind the fridge - god can read them from anywhere, he’s got eyes on omnipotent stalks that guy.

By: TurboFool

TurboFool — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:46:06 +0000

As an Atheist, I still find this despicable. His privacy should be respected, and while I don’t agree with his beliefs, they should be respected so far as they don’t encroach upon anyone else’s. Writing a note to his god and putting it in a wall harms no one, and as such should be respected as something he takes comfort in or, given a more cynical view, decides to use as a display of faith to his constituents. Either way, his treatment in these circumstances is dreadful.

The fact that he either believes this or is forced to do so for votes isn’t really relevant here. We all know how the politics in the USA work, and we know the statistics on the sickening majority of Americans who claim they wouldn’t vote for an Atheist. I have no idea what Obama’s internal beliefs truly are, and never will. But on the outside he has no choice but to play the political game if he wishes to reach the White House, and I can’t dock him for this any more than I dock ANY politician for it. Any honest politician has a very short career path ahead of them in this system.

And yes, despite my low opinion of him, I’d be just as outraged if this were done to McCain. Everyone deserves some level of basic human respect.

By: 6uold

6uold — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:25:54 +0000

When I left a note at the wall a decade ago, I was approached by several hucksters wanting money. Very low class. All over the Old City. I’m not surprised that someone took the note. Folks around there have probably been doing this to tourists for many centuries.

By: Michael Draga

Michael Draga — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:22:01 +0000

Racism raises up it’s ugly head everywhere it seems.

By: beatlebuddha

beatlebuddha — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:48:18 +0000

Oh, my source was: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire

By: beatlebuddha

beatlebuddha — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:47:52 +0000

Here is the background of the quote SmokeyDemon mentioned:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

* Though these words are regularly attributed to Voltaire, they were first used by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writing under the pseudonym of Stephen G Tallentyre in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), as a summation of Voltaire’s beliefs on freedom of thought and expression.
* Another possible source for the quote was proposed by Norbert Guterman, editor of “A Book of French Quotations,” who noted a letter to M. le Riche (February 6, 1770) in which Voltaire is quoted as saying: “Monsieur l’abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write” (”Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire”). This remark, however, does not appear in the letter.

By: Ignorant Athiest

Ignorant Athiest — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:35:24 +0000

It was a private message to a mythological being. The privacy of that message should have been respected. It’s not like he stole a cracker, lol.

By: SubOne

SubOne — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:39:17 +0000

I too am an atheist, but what does my ‘religion’, political preference, skin color, gender, sexual preference, etc, have to do with this at all? The man made a private ‘deposit’ in a place that traditionally accepts private ‘deposits’ and disposes of them in a manner ideal to it’s users. As far as I am concerned, this is no less than a breech of personal privacy and vandalism. No other factors should be involved.