" Itâs time to stomp out atheists in America"

John, that is seriously the funniest op-ed I have ever read. Thanks for sharing. "Get off my country..." she says. Priceless.

> Atheists are the reason crime is rampant

Sure, that's why less than 0.5% of the prison population is atheist, while for the general population this number of more than 10%.

Hmm. You can pick any religion you like, then, as long as it's along the lines of "Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, etc." I see that Alice is a bit stuck on mainstream Christianity. That little "etc." has a heavy burden to carry if it's supposed to cover the rest of the field.

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised she put "Catholic" in there. Big of her.

This exact same letter was making the rounds here or at Pandas Thumb @ 3-6 months ago...

This makes me want to move Alice Shannon to Alaska and feed her to the bears. Let her try praying her way out of trouble.

Jereon said:
"Sure, that's why less than 0.5% of the prison population is atheist, while for the general population this number of more than 10%."

I'm sure there's a good explanation for this, such as Atheists are better at evading the law or religious folk are burdened by their sins they allow themselves to be captured and punished for their crimes. ;)

Let's send those Atheists back to Atheistland, where they came from!

So.... then does that mean that since she didn't mention Mormons, Jews and agnostics, they have to go too? Goodness gracious...

It's much funner to read it as "... get the hell out of this country." Alas.

er, funnier ...

Once the atheists are gone and crime is still "rampant", Shannon will have to decide which group to expel next. I suspect this is why she has already created her list: "Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, etc." The next to go will be at the bottom of the list: Scientologists? Wiccans? Agnostics? If things haven't changed by the time she gets up to Methodists, she may need to revise her strategy.

This letter to the editor was published in the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai, Alaska on January 29th, so there has been lots of time for reaction, including subsequent letters to the editor from around the world.

Austin Cline at atheism.about.com did a pretty good job of following up by printing some of those letters.

http://atheism.about.com/b/a/258794.htm

He publishes the link to the Clarion's index of letters that made it easy for him to access the replies.

Curiously, as you will see if you follow the link, the next day an anti-muslim letter was published and ended up sharing the spotlight. For me that tends to confirm that the editors were deliberately allowing bigots to expose themselves.

It will take a bit longer before everyone who wants to let off steam in their local little paper realises that potentially the world may take note.

People like that should be put into "Happy Camps" and murdered em masse, hey they will be happy then surely since they get to go to heaven, right?

Atheists are not the reason for crime or anything other than trying to show people that they have been lied to for centuries, Religion is the root of all bigotyy and evil in the world, stamp religion out!

In all seriousness now, if someone wrote an article like my previous post and it somehow got published in a new paper there woudl be outcry and probably some hate crimes against atheists committed.

But its fine for christians to call for hate against other people, to kill other people, to control countries and censor ppl and tell them whats right and wrong.

Ahh never mind there no getting throught to those people anyways i dont know why i bother, but someday, maybe we can move on as a people and realise that the world was not created by god and he doesnt exist or have a plan for all the starving, tortured people in the world.

Suppose there is a god and if this truly is his plan, then id argue that he is more like a devil than a god and anyone worshiping him is evil. Telling other people how to run their lives and to get ou of the country certainly is evil....

Thats small change.

In "The End of Faith" Sam Harris argues that it is ethical to KILL people for their beliefs if he judges them dangerous. (p. 52)

For their BELIEFS, not just their ACTIONS.

Whenever practitioners of atheistic philosphies have gotten political control, believers have be mass murdered.

Whenever practitioners of atheistic philosphies have gotten political control, believers have be mass murdered.

Last time I heard, the atheists over in China are making their country into a superpower. Last time I heard, the secular nation of America has been a superpower for decades, and guarantees in its Constitution a freedom from oppression and freedom of speech. Last time I heard, the secular nations of Iceland, Switzerland and so on have become wonderful places to live. Why havent YOU heard?

Whenever practitioners of atheistic philosphies have gotten political control, believers have be mass murdered.

Last time I heard, the atheists over in China are making their country into a superpower. Last time I heard, the secular nation of America has been a superpower for decades, and guarantees in its Constitution a freedom from oppression and freedom of speech. Last time I heard, the secular nations of Iceland, Switzerland and so on have become wonderful places to live. Why havent YOU heard?

"In 'The End of Faith' Sam Harris argues that it is ethical to KILL people for their beliefs if he judges them dangerous."

The quote is:

"Some propositions are so dangerous that it may even be ethical to kill them for believing them. This may seem an extraordinary claim, but it merely enunciates an ordinary fact about the world in which we live. Certain beliefs place their adherents beyond the reach of every peaceful means of persuasion, while inspiring them to commit extraordinary acts of violence against others. If they cannot be captured, and they often cannot, otherwise tolerant people may be justified in killing them in self-defense."