Bigotry at the Tea Party Protest

[readherring.livejournal.com]

Given some of the discussions generated from my last post, I wanted to share with you one last picture from the April 15 Tea Party protest.

But first, I wanted to thank everyone for all of the positive comments. I was trying very hard to be open minded and fair, and I am genuinely happy that people found my post to be so. I am even more happy that people from "both sides" liked it for that reason. This is an incredibly positive political sentiment - that we have a common preference for fair and balanced presentation. It gives me some hope that this hyper-polarized climate might collapse one day.

I also wanted to apologize for not being on line much after posting - I'm on limited internet these days.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't destroy the fair and balanced vibes, but a lot of the commenters believed that the Tea Party is a bigoted movement. Not only do I insist that this is wrong, but I also believe that making this wrongful accusation needlessly pushes Tea Partiers and their liberal counterparts further away from ever listening to each other, or making any compromise. I therefore wish that I could say that I saw no evidence of bigotry at the Tea Party, but I can't. Here's the last picture:



This is one of the counter-protesters. Her shirt reads "F*ck your God". I didn't intentionally leave this out of the original post because I was embarrassed by it, although I am embarrassed by it. I only left it out because in choosing from my hundred photos to post, this one was just va poor quality shot.

I'm not trying to make liberals look bad with this picture. I'm just trying to show that while there are people with ugly beliefs on both sides, these ugly beliefs don't define those sides. The Anti-Tea-Party movement (or Coffee Party, or whatever) isn't an anti religion movement, even if some members of the Atheist Takfiri show up in the crowd. The same goes for racists (of which I saw none) or anti-abortionists (of which I saw the nutter truck driver - his rear billboard was all about fetuses) who show up for an anti-tax movement. The movement isn't about those other things, even if some of the participants go way off message.

Sorry if this post doesn't offer much new information over the last one, but given that there was such a strong belief in Tea Party racism in the first set of comments, I felt that I had done everyone a disservice by leaving this picture out.

Comments

first? as if it mattered....

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Ya know, if God was not invoked to do all sorts of terrible things, I wouldn't mind the religious folks. I'd still disagree with them--cause a theistic God is absurd--but whatever. If it harms no one and makes them happy, AWESOME.

Problem is, the first part is not true. It is not the case that religion harms no one.

I like her socks.

Re: first? as if it mattered....

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Neither is it the case that Communism harms no one. But nobody craps on people like Gillen these days. Because reality itself did so in the years 1989-91.

Re: first? as if it mattered....

[readherring.livejournal.com]

Leaders invoke whatever they can to get the masses riled up enough to kill. The religion-free communist regimes were every bit as brutal as their religious counterparts. The British fought bloody wars under the belief that British culture was superior.

Some people have a psychological need to be a warrior for a cause. The actual cause isn't relevant - people kill each other over soccer matches. It was an evolutionary advantage when mankind lived in primitive tribes. Now it's just a clusterfuck. I don't blame religion for this behavior.

It's the socks.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Good point. The socks
clinch it. She rocks.

[squidb0i.livejournal.com]

Thats not ugly.
That's just honest.

Fuck your god.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Eris is pretty hot.
After a few drinks, she looks even better.... ;)

[http://users.livejournal.com/aviation_/]

I love when people hide behind terms like "honest" and "straight forward" when they are really just being a douchebag. It is possible to hold any opinion with tact.

[readherring.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked 'em.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

I have a sweatshirt that I've worn on the front it says "Have you forgotten Jesus?" On the back it says "Isn't it about time you did!"

Letting people know that one has absolutely no respect for anyone's religion isn't bigotry. I'm starting to believe that you don't even know bigotry when you see it.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

'Letting people know that one has absolutely no respect for anyone's religion isn't bigotry.'

Yea... like those shirts that show no respect towards slavery with "100% cotton... and you picked it". Totally not bigotry.

Getting back to the discussion. Saying "Fuck your God" tends to betray a persons bias on an issue. In fact, it'd be offensive to those people who are religious. There's a difference between respect and bigotry. Not showing respect doesn't make someone a bigot, true. But that shirt, isn't just about disrespect. I'd venture anyone who wears it has a bigotry against religion.

[existentme.livejournal.com]

I like her whole ensemble.

[mrsilence.livejournal.com]

Yeah same.

[paft.livejournal.com]

Except, see, the leftists aren't the ones buying up guns at a massive rate -- or bringing them to rallies.

Rather a significant difference, don't you think?

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

The left hates Jesus.

Rather a significant difference, don't you think?

Oh wait, you already made the quota for non-sequitor and crazy points. Just ignore my prior comment.

Buying a gun or carrying a gun means nothing towards violence.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile in the parking lot...

The movement may not be about those things but considering it's sudden organization almost immediately after Obama was elected, it does seem to act like a lightning rod for the more reactionary members of the right.

[readherring.livejournal.com]

Agreed. But then, the anti-War movement act as a lightning rod for the reactionary members of the left. Politics makes strange bedfellows. Politics on the sidewalk on a Thursday afternoon make especially strange bedfellows.

[gillen.livejournal.com]

Look bad? How? I quite agree with her. Fuck their God. Fuck him right in the ass.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

I have a question for Atheists; why do some Atheists feel it's necessary to tear down people who choose to have a belief that you don't? I find it hilariously ironic. Atheists believe there are no gods and yet a bunch of them spend their time thinking of ways to insult people who believe in a higher power. What's the point? Why are you trying to convert people to one school of thought that's dependent on another?

[paft.livejournal.com]

Actually, Christians are a bit more prone to doing that than atheists. Often, merely an atheist stating his or her belief that there is no God is denounced as "insulting" Christians, as the recent reaction to atheist billboards, and atheist bus ads indicates.

[medea34.livejournal.com]

"Thats not ugly.
That's just honest."

and

"Letting people know that one has absolutely no respect for anyone's religion isn't bigotry."

i agree 100%

people are are free to believe what ever fairy tale tale they choose. just because i don't pretend that their beliefs are true, doesn't mean i disrespect them personally (lots of smart, decent people have been indoctrinated into believing that one fairy tale or another is TRUE, usually by their loving parents). just because i don`t believe (or respect their belief) in the big sky fairy, his virgin incubator and the rest of them, does not mean that i am a bigot. i am not obligated to agree that their fairy tale is true, or that their adherance to it is sane.

i am not intolerant or bigoted. people can live their lives as they see fit, even if it is according to the edicts of imaginary pixies or talking farm animals. i don`t want people who believe in god, allah, chakras, benevolent or malevolent aliens, fairies, angels or what have you to be hurt, imprisoned, sent away, denied public services or access to anything. i do want them to know that i am not buying what they are selling and `Fuck Your God`- that`s a pretty clear statement of that fact.

however, I am old and have lost my nerve to wear something as confrontational as that. I will wear my plain old (curse word free) `THERE IS NO GOD` t-shirt.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

"Fuck Your God" is about as sensible and reasonable of a debate starter as "God Hates Fags."

[ex-restless.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that's Abbey from NCIS...

[ex-restless.livejournal.com]

Except she's totally Catholic :)

[cory-nickolatos.livejournal.com]

Wonder if she got the shirt from a Perfect Circle concert....

[light-over-me.livejournal.com]

LOL...I was thinking the same.

[sgiffy.livejournal.com]

I don't really think you can be bigoted toward an idea. I don't see why religion gets to claim some kind of special rights when it comes to disagreement and discourse. While one might, I don't, object to the use of fuck, it is no more wrong to say "fuck your god" than it is to say "fuck liberalism", or "fuck communism".

Religion, unlike say race, is both a choice and carries with it values, outlooks, etc like any other ideology. If we can't disagree with that then we really don't have a free society.

I do not however think that people should face discrimination for their religious or other beliefs in and of themselves. So a butcher shop can't say " No Muslims or Jews" but they should be to refuse to hire someone how won't touch or sell pork.

[thies.livejournal.com]

[christinablue.livejournal.com]

Haha.

[rainynights.livejournal.com]

To me that shirt just makes her look ignorant. I would not carry on a conversation with her. If your going to protest something maybe you should carry your self with a little more dignity. I wouldn't use that word just because I find it vulgar. Am I saying she shouldn't use her first amendment rights? No, not at all. What I am saying is if you want people to take you seriously, you first have to take your self seriously.

I am a Christian. Even if I was not I wouldn't ever say F your God, or F buddha, or F muhammad. It is more than disrespectful. I guess I just have common decency where alot of people now just could care less about others.

Thank you for showing the other other side of a tea party. Not all of us are bigots or racists or even full of hate. I liberals just not their policies. I have tons of liberal friends we just don't discuss politics.

But this group constantly trashes tea party members and it does get real old because not all of us are "wing-nuts" I believe is the word thrown around in the group. There is always a small minority that are the crazy ones. Same could be said of the liberals. I am sure not every liberal protest is insane. I mean we just have to stop infighting and eventually come together as a nation and have a middle ground. Nothing is going to get done if we constantly trash each other and fight. Our system is made to work with a BALANCE. If you have a democratic president and a democratic congress or vice versa I fear it does more harm than good.

I am really not a party person. I am simply a Reagan Conservative. I just really want someone to step up and do something good for our country. I have a feeling that is not going to happen anytime soon. Greed has taken over politics.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

Saying Fuck Buddha, or Fuck Muhammad, or even Fuck Jesus or Fuck YHVH is different than saying Fuck your god.

[mrsilence.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one here who thinks she looks, at first glance at least, to be extremely fuckable?

[op-tech-glitch.livejournal.com]

Maybe the t's got a more literal meaning than we initially assumed.

[luxinthemachine.livejournal.com]

Honestly, who cares? Everyone is going to get offended sometime. If you're an Atheist, you're going to be offended by a bunch of bible-thumping evangelicals who cite God as a reason for war. If you're an evangelical bible-thumper, you're going to be enraged when a teenage girl in a purposely inflammatory t-shirt rains on your parade. I enjoy it when people are offended, because then you can really pull apart the thinking from the gut reactions. What feelings contribute to being offended? Are there valid reasons for being offended (for example, does it make sense to be offended by a bare nipple or a man decapitated on TV?)? Is it needless and obscene or does it try to make a larger point? I understand *your* larger point is about how there are "radical" feelings on either party line that misrepresent the more...uh...moderate members. I guess I'm crazy, but a shirt that reads "Fuck Your God" doesn't seem all that out of line to me. Her beliefs don't really effect me personally -- if I am religious, I still love my god regardless of someone's shirt and I would ignore it. Her shirt is not actively changing my life. Personally, I'm more offended by people using religion in a direct or indirect way to control the lives of others.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

"Everyone is going to get offended sometime"

Absofuckinglutely (http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/494671.html). (Pun intended).

Stupid 1. Political correctness. Level of stupid: * * * * *

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

God doesn't exist, so yeah, what she said.

[op-tech-glitch.livejournal.com]

Except, how can one fuck what doesn't exist?

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

I don't know where she got the t-shirt, but I'd be willing to bet they had something available for people who don't share her opinion, maybe:

"Fuck Your Goth"?

You are not neutral

[sealwhiskers.livejournal.com]

She has a Doug Stanhope t-shirt, from the album Die Laughing, most likely.
Incidentally, the sentiment is about keeping god out of politics.

I think there would be an enormous difference if the t-shirt said "fuck you christians" or "fuck you teabaggers" or some such.

Incidentally, there are plenty of God related signs at tea party events, making a "keep religion out of politics" message quite relevant, even if this punk-rock middle finger attitude might not be the best way of expressing it.

Also, I'm doubting your complete honesty in your references about the tea party, even though I praised you in your previous post. I went back and looked through it and saw not ONE sign about Obama bin Laden or "Hussein" or domestic terrorism. While I've seen several at much smaller tea party events than Washington.

I call bullshit about posting this picture and not a single sign about Obama/Bin laden/Hussein/vague terrorism/muslim references.

Re: You are not neutral

[readherring.livejournal.com]

I call bullshit about posting this picture and not a single sign about Obama/Bin laden/Hussein/vague terrorism/muslim references.

I just went back through the unposted pictures, and couldn't find one. I wasn't really looking for signs in particular. I snapped plenty with God references, and I posted the one with the pictures of Hitler & Mao. Bin Laden may or may not have been obscured by that guy's face - I don't recall whose picture was there. But I thought comparing Obama to Mao & Hitler represented the wackiness well enough. The overwhelming majority of the slander was directed at Obama=Communist.


So, are you suggesting that I am secretly a Tea Partier? That's funny.