# Atheists use 'unholy' water to unbless Florida highway **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 19, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234 "2012-03-19T16:19:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/1 "2012-03-19T16:19:33Z")
[http://now.msn.com/now/0318-atheists-unbless-highway.aspx](http://now.msn.com/now/0318-atheists-unbless-highway.aspx) > [@](#): > > ​A group of Floridian “free thinkers” converged on a strip of U.S. Route 98 Saturday with mops and a giant vat of “unholy water” to cleanse the thoroughfare of the blessing it received from a Christian group a year ago. The atheist group, “Humanists of Florida” says it scrubbed the road “of the oils of intolerance,” claiming that the original roadside annointment by Christian group Polk Under Prayer was an insult to non-Christians and that the highway should be “about welcoming everybody.” As an ex-altar boy I know howe to make Holy Water. How do you make “Unholy Water”? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/2 "2012-03-19T16:24:00Z")
You _don’t_ want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/3 "2012-03-19T16:26:47Z")
If a priest blesses water (that’s how you make it holy, right?), can a blessing be undone? What if you mix holy water with equal parts of non-blessed water? Does it become 50% holy? Does holy water ever lose its holy-ness? Is it still holy if you drink it? Piss it? So many questions! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/4 "2012-03-19T16:26:58Z")
Oh good grief. People on both sides of the road need to get over themselves and stop with this ridiculous nonsense. Next time these idjits decide they need a group project, I hope they spend time doing something worthwhile, like helping feed the hungry, or building homes with habitat for humanity, or for that matter watching paint dry. All of it will help more than this nonsense did. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/5 "2012-03-19T16:29:46Z")
> [@Mr.Accident](#): > > Oh good grief. People on both sides of the road need to get over themselves and stop with this ridiculous nonsense. Next time these idjits decide they need a group project, I hope they spend time doing something worthwhile, like helping feed the hungry, or building homes with habitat for humanity, or for that matter watching paint dry. All of it will help more than this nonsense did. By “these idjits”, may I assume you are referring to both sides? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/6 "2012-03-19T16:30:20Z")
I think they’re taking the wrong approach to this. What they really need to do is conduct a controlled experiment. Select segments of comparable road, and bless each one using a different religion. Keep one section unblessed as a control. A year later, compare accident rates and health statistics among users of all road segments. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/7 "2012-03-19T16:34:52Z")
Ugh, these are the worst kind of atheists. You’re not clever, and you’re not helping us. Stop! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/8 "2012-03-19T16:51:40Z")
> [@Mr.Accident](#): > > Oh good grief. People on both sides of the road need to get over themselves and stop with this ridiculous nonsense. Next time these idjits decide they need a group project, I hope they spend time doing something worthwhile, like helping feed the hungry, or building homes with habitat for humanity, or for that matter watching paint dry. All of it will help more than this nonsense did. Yeah, like we’re really gonna take road tips from **Mr. Accident**. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/9 "2012-03-19T16:56:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > As an ex-altar boy I know howe to make Holy Water. How do you make “Unholy Water”? It is simply “symbolic” in nature, phraseology if you will, you can’t undo a blessing. They had to call it something, or maybe they had Satan put a spell on it? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/10 "2012-03-19T16:56:59Z")
haha, I think it’s funny. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/11 "2012-03-19T17:06:48Z")
Great, now the vampires have another road they can use. Dicks. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/12 "2012-03-19T17:11:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > As an ex-altar boy I know how to make Holy Water. Boil the Hell out of it? ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/13 "2012-03-19T17:12:28Z")
For atheists they seem to have a lot of faith that: 1. it’s even possible to bless a highway (or anything else) 2. that the Christians who blessed the highway had any lasting effect on the road and 1. they’re able to undo a blessing. Most atheists that I know would simply roll their eyes and go on with their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/14 "2012-03-19T17:19:48Z")
Doesn’t their using “unholy” water imply that “holy” water actually exists, thereby negating the atheist angle? Real atheists know that water is just water. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/15 "2012-03-19T17:25:57Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > For atheists they seem to have a lot of faith that: > > 1. it’s even possible to bless a highway (or anything else) > > 2. that the Christians who blessed the highway had any lasting effect on the road > > and > > 1. they’re able to undo a blessing. > Most atheists that I know would simply roll their eyes and go on with their lives. Most atheists I know have a sense of humor and understand the use of mockery when it comes to getting people interested in a cause. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/16 "2012-03-19T17:28:10Z")
For my travels I’d much rather drive on a blessed road than an unholy road. Every day and twice on Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/17 "2012-03-19T17:33:00Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > Doesn’t their using “unholy” water imply that “holy” water actually exists, thereby negating the atheist angle? > > Real atheists know that water is just water. In law there is a doctrine called _Negative Pregnant_. It has nothing to do with giving birth, but simply an analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/18 "2012-03-19T17:54:38Z")
If they really wanted to show those christians a thing or two, they’d have repaved that road with some good intentions. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/19 "2012-03-19T17:57:46Z")
**Hypno-Toad** , you truly made me laugh out loud! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/20 "2012-03-19T18:11:22Z")
I don’t think the Christians blessing the road is an insult to non-Christians. As an atheist, I’m not insulted by harmless gestures done with good intent. This group sounds like the kind of humorless assholes who get pissed off if someone says, “Bless You,” after they sneeze. God forbid if someone says they’ll pray for them if they’re going through a rough patch which is the same thing as sending good vibes or keeping someone in their thoughts. (It’s different if someone prays for my soul or that I find Christ; that is insulting.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234.md?page=2)