Controversy Over Atheist Display That Mocks Religion In Illinois State Capitol

CBS reports: A conservative activist and Illinois comptroller candidate was escorted from the Illinois State Capitol building Wednesday when he tried to remove a sign put up by an atheist group. William J. Kelly announced Tuesday that he planned to take down the sign put up by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and on Wednesday, he tried to make good on his plan. But Kelly said when he turned the sign around so it was face down, state Capitol police were quick to escort him away. Illinois Secretary of State's office spokeswoman Henry Haupt said Kelly was escorted from the rotunda by state Capitol police, who briefly detained him, wrote an incident report, and directed him to leave the building... [K]elly called the sign "hate speech," and said he does not believe it is appropriate for a sign that "mocks" religion to be placed next to a Christmas tree and also near a nativity scene. "I don't think the State of Illinois has any business denigrating or mocking any religion," Kelly said, "and I think that's what the verbiage on the sign was doing." The sign reads: "At the time of the winter solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is just myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." The sign was also on display at the Capitol at this time last year. The group says it filed for a permit to post the display in response to the state's decision to put up the nativity. But Kelly said he believes the problem is not only the verbiage of the sign, but also its proximity to the Christmas tree. "The fact that sign was immediately in front of the tree, I found that to be disturbing because any family and any child would run up to that tree with a smile on their face, and they would immediately see that sign," Kelly said. Haupt said Kelly had been advised not to return to the state Capitol for the rest of the day on Wednesday. The Madison, Wis.-based Freedom from Religion Foundation has placed the sign in several state Capitol buildings across the country. As to Kelly's claims that the sign mocks religion, foundation co-President Dan Barker said: "He's kind of right, because the last couple of sentences do criticize religion, and of course, the beginning is a celebration of the winter solstice."

The sign is there to mock religion and religious people, and the organization which sponsors the sign openly admits the purpose of the sign is to mock people of faith. This sign should not be allowed in the Capitol building. It is not the fault of the religious that those "free from religion" have no holidays and nothing to celebrate. But their lack of ability to celebrate anything at all should not be an excuse to rudely mock all religions in the Capitol building, and to place the sign right near a nativity scene. It's a matter of common decency. Christmas trees, nativity scenes, Chanukah menorahs, or other religious symobls appear in these sorts of places in conjunction with religious holidays that many citizens celebrate. They are not there to mock or denigrate other religions or atheists at all. There is no equivalence between religious holiday symbols and a sign with a message meant to disparage many of the citizens of Illinois as being without "reason" whose hearts are hardened and minds enslaved. It is literally a display of both arrogance and rudeness.

Imagine the sign said this: "At the time of Christmas, let the one truth prevail. There is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, heaven and hell. There is a world to come. Those who have not seen the light of Christianity believe in myths and superstitions that harden hearts and enslave minds." How long do you think that kind of a sign would last? I don't think it would last twenty seconds, and rightfully so. Now, pray tell, how is this sign any different than the one that now stands in the Illinois Capitol building? Tweet