{"id":11122,"date":"2012-03-19T11:12:27","date_gmt":"2012-03-19T15:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=11122"},"modified":"2012-03-19T11:14:50","modified_gmt":"2012-03-19T15:14:50","slug":"the-blaze-atheists-use-unholy-water-to-scrub-away-olive-oil-used-to-bless-highway-because-theyre-not-going-to-tolerate-bigotry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2012\/03\/the-blaze-atheists-use-unholy-water-to-scrub-away-olive-oil-used-to-bless-highway-because-theyre-not-going-to-tolerate-bigotry","title":{"rendered":"The Blaze: Atheists use “unholy water” to scrub away olive oil used to bless highway — because they\u2018re not going to tolerate ‘bigotry’"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Christopher Santarelli
\n<\/strong>of The Blaze<\/a> staff<\/em><\/p>\n

The latest fight between atheists and religious groups leaves one asking who really crossed the line.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A tank of "unholy water" used to ceremonially defile roadway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Polk County, Florida, sits smack in the middle of the Sunshine State containing several highways drivers travel through to make their way between major cities in the state. Last year, area religious leaders formed a group, Polk Under Prayer (PUP), that decided to bless the Pasco-Polk county line along Highway 98. PUP\u2019s director said the act was done so that \u201cGod would protect us from evildoers, mainly the drug crowd, that they would be dissuaded to come in to the county.\u201d<\/p>\n

This gesture has apparently offended area atheists deeply enough that they felt the need to organize an event Saturday to symbolically scrub away the holy oils used by PUP to bless the county line. Bay News 9 reports that the atheists, organized by Humanists of Florida, used \u201cunholy water\u201d to remove the blessing and wash the road because it made them feel uncomfortable:<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Humanists of Florida members don\u2019t see it that way. They say it makes them feel unwelcome.<\/p>\n

\u2018It sends a very bad signal to everyone in Polk County, and (anyone) who travels through Polk county who doesn\u2019t happen to be Christian,\u2019 Palmer said, \u2018This event is not about atheist rights; this is about welcoming everybody into Polk county.\u2019<\/p>\n

So they took their \u2018unholy water\u2019 and washed the road.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been an ongoing feud between the groups in the county: the atheists are also unhappy with prayer bricks PUP members buried along I-4 and various other roadway leading in to the county, engraved with Psalm 37.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018For the wicked shall be destroyed, but those who trust the Lord shall be given every blessing,\u2019 Geringswald (PUP director) said, reading the psalm from his Bible.<\/p>\n

Geringswald said PUP is trying to do something positive \u2013 to keep crime out and encourage faith. He says they also plan to run TV ads later this year that will say they are trying to send a positive message about criminals turning their lives around.<\/p>\n

The humanists say they don\u2019t plan on stopping their protests any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellen Beth Wachs, the president of Humanists of Florida Association and Atheists of Florida, further explained to ABC News the motivation of the eight atheists who scrubbed Saturday:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019This anointment ritual was to call out the angels to check each car that entered the county, to make sure they were Christian, and if they weren\u2019t Christian, they would either follow Christian beliefs or get put in jail,\u2019 Wachs told ABC News.<\/p>\n

Wachs said the eight members of the Humanists of Florida Association who brought buckets of water to the roadway today did so in jest.<\/p>\n

\u2018They understand that a year later, there\u2019s no oil left on the roadway. It\u2019s just a symbolic gesture to show that we can poke a little bit of fun at the Polk Under Prayer gesture. We\u2019re not going to tolerate their bigotry,\u2019 Wachs said.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atheist groups have found themselves in national headlines of late for campaigns against those with religious believes that raise the question of which side is really intolerant. American Atheists carried out a multi-state campaign around the holiday season last December, posting billboards on major highways that associated Jesus Christ, Santa Claus and the Devil, to myths. The same group filed a lawsuit last summer to stop a steel cross found at Ground Zero from being displayed at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Here is more on the latest clash between atheists and religious groups in Florida:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Christopher Santarelli of The Blaze staff The latest fight between atheists and religious groups leaves one asking who really crossed the line. Polk County, Florida, sits smack in the middle of the Sunshine State containing several highways drivers travel through to make their way between major cities in the state. Last year, area religious…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[674],"tags":[987],"class_list":["post-11122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atheist","tag-atheists"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Blaze: Atheists use "unholy water" to scrub away olive oil used to bless highway -- because they\u2018re not going to tolerate 'bigotry'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2012\/03\/the-blaze-atheists-use-unholy-water-to-scrub-away-olive-oil-used-to-bless-highway-because-theyre-not-going-to-tolerate-bigotry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Blaze: Atheists use "unholy water" to scrub away olive oil used to bless highway -- because they\u2018re not going to tolerate 'bigotry'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Christopher Santarelli of The Blaze staff The latest fight between atheists and religious groups leaves one asking who really crossed the line. 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