Posted on Dec 21, 2012 in FFRF banner, local | 7 comments

Who is vandal Joe McDonald? Here’s his Facebook profile.

Many have been asking questions concerning the person who vandalized the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s freethought holiday banner which was placed on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre following city approval.

Who is Joe McDonald? What are his motivations? Why would he climb thirty feet and perhaps risk his life or risk injury to commit a crime and go on television to tell everyone about it?

Some investigation revealed his public Facebook profile which includes the following:

Interesting…is it really the case that Wilkes-Barre police officers would see someone who had admitted to crime on television and ignore it or even shake hands? I hope not. Being proud of vandalism seems quite awkward considering that you could have erected a banner with your own thoughts or a position you wanted representation for. Free speech is important here…and this means that you ought to tolerate opposing viewpoints which do you no harm no matter how much you may disagree. You don’t see me vandalizing a nativity scene or Jewish materials on Public Square. I don’t resort to criminal activity when I have grievances.

In many cases concerning legal matters in the United States, it’s actually not the case that the ‘majority rules.’ The Bill of Rights, for starters, guarantees certain rights/freedoms which are granted by government (not gods) and may not be legally taken away – no matter what a majority of people happens to believe. Further amendments to the United States Constitution which, for instance, allow women to vote and bar slavery shall stand regardless of how many people may happen to disagree.

Why should speech from atheists be restricted to the internet as you seem to propose? Why is it the case that people who lack belief in gods should have different types of freedoms/rights? We atheists in America are generally hard-working, productive, well-meaning human beings just like most theists in America. We are all afforded the same rights/freedoms and should be treated with dignity just like everyone else. Your ‘fight’ with atheism, in which you resort to criminal activity and censoring of free speech, is not laudable. Why not instead have a ‘fight’ about ideas and resort to more productive methods which do not include vandalism?

Some spook? Really?

Atheism has been since the beginning of humanity. Can one honestly believe that doubt in God’s existence is a recent occurrence Joe should read some Ancient Greek philosophy and perhaps some more recent philosophical work by David Hume written in the 1700s.

The FFRF doesn’t want a state religion, but rather wants a government which is neutral in regards to religion – one that neither promotes nor endorses atheism or religion. Religion should, as I see it (and as Pennsylvania founder William Penn seems to have seen it), should be a matter of one’s own conscience free from government interference or involvement. The FFRF works to preserve a separation of church and state – not some atheistic state religion. Atheism, anyway, isn’t a religion, but rather is a word people use to identify lack of belief in any gods.

Misogyny? We might actually have a real case here… A ‘real woman?’ ‘Her man?’ I hope this is a joke, but it’s certainly one I wouldn’t make or otherwise would not find funny.