# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/21 "2012-03-19T18:11:31Z")
> [@](#): > > ​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.” So, the Christian group blessed a highway, an act that had no effect whatsoever on the Humanists, to which the Humanists decided to make a big show of “undoing” the blessing. I’m not seeing the Christians being the intolerant ones here. I often hear Christians praying for various civic leaders (praying for guidance for the president or congress, for example). When are the Humanists of Florida going to be getting together to curse the president? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/22 "2012-03-19T18:12:25Z")
Idiots on all sides. A highway passing through Florida is by definition unholy. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/23 "2012-03-19T18:17:20Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > For atheists they seem to have a lot of faith that: > > [snip] > > Most atheists that I know would simply roll their eyes and go on with their lives. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > 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. Yes, that’s exactly what it is - mockery to draw attention to a cause. As such, they likely just used regular water and labeled it “Unholy Water” for grins. One can argue whether activities like this do any good, or do more harm than good, or are just a social outing for the atheists in question. But the point is the message that the community is larger than just Christians, and acts of one religion - even the predominate one in the area - are exclusionary. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/24 "2012-03-19T19:16:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > How do you make “Unholy Water”? I’d think either something with alcohol, or a bodily fluid of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/25 "2012-03-19T19:21:19Z")
> [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](#): > > So, the Christian group blessed a highway, an act that had no effect whatsoever on the Humanists, to which the Humanists decided to make a big show of “undoing” the blessing. I’m not seeing the Christians being the intolerant ones here. Q: How many evangelical Christians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: That’s not funny! A2: Are they married? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/26 "2012-03-19T19:21:26Z")
> [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](#): > > So, the Christian group blessed a highway, an act that had no effect whatsoever on the Humanists, to which the Humanists decided to make a big show of “undoing” the blessing. I’m not seeing the Christians being the intolerant ones here. Obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/27 "2012-03-19T19:30:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > 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. And you find that you get on with them? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/28 "2012-03-19T19:30:31Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I’d think either something with alcohol, or a bodily fluid of some sort. Or, both. All you really need is a case of beer, a few people, and a couple of hours. Bingo, unholy water. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/29 "2012-03-19T19:31:08Z")
> [@](#): > > 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”… They were trying to use plain ol’ water to get rid of oil? I know who I’m _not_ calling on next time I’m trying to clean my stove. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/30 "2012-03-19T19:36:07Z")
> [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](#): > > So, the Christian group blessed a highway, an act that had no effect whatsoever on the Humanists, to which the Humanists decided to make a big show of “undoing” the blessing. I’m not seeing the Christians being the intolerant ones here. > > I often hear Christians praying for various civic leaders (praying for guidance for the president or congress, for example). When are the Humanists of Florida going to be getting together to curse the president? Yes. A nonblessing would be the appropriate response. ---
**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, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/31 "2012-03-19T19:52:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > By “these idjits”, may I assume you are referring to both sides? Yup. The Christians for thinking it means something to baptize an inanimate object, and the atheists for thinking it matters if they try to unholy it. Also, I’d like to include the reporter who thought this was news, the editor who allowed it, and myself for taking the time to even read about it. > [@Vinyl Turnip](#): > > Yeah, like we’re really gonna take road tips from Mr. Accident Surprisingly I’ve never been in a car accident as an adult, and only in 1 as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/32 "2012-03-19T19:55:33Z")
A huge waste of time blessing a road countered by a huge waste of time unblessing it. Pay a game or read a book or something. ---
**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, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/33 "2012-03-19T19:58:24Z")
> [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](#): > > So, the Christian group blessed a highway, an act that had no effect whatsoever on the Humanists, to which the Humanists decided to make a big show of “undoing” the blessing. I’m not seeing the Christians being the intolerant ones here. The humanist group is merely trying to show the meaninglessness of a magic act called “blessing,” by performing an equally meaningless pseudo-magic act, “unblessing.” If anyone seriously objects or believes there is a value to either, their minds are hopelessly mired in the 12th Century. > [@](#): > > I often hear Christians praying for various civic leaders (praying for guidance for the president or congress, for example). When are the Humanists of Florida going to be getting together to curse the president? Since when do Humanists have to do the opposite of what Christians do? Atheists could get together and pray for the President just as well, with the same effect. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/34 "2012-03-19T20:01:05Z")
It is a joke, but of course religion really has no sense of humour does it? This atheist group are making a political point rather than a religious one. If the religious are offended…tough shit. ---
**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, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/35 "2012-03-19T20:06:12Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > They were trying to use plain ol’ water to get rid of oil? I know who I’m _not_ calling on next time I’m trying to clean my stove. Since the holiness of water is fictional, and the “oil of intolerance” is too, anytime you want to get rid of fictional water, or cast some spells, them Humanists are just the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/36 "2012-03-19T20:18:46Z")
I am going to sell bottled **Unholy Water** in the same way **Evian** is sold. I will guarantee that is 100% free from blessings. It will be tap water. ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/37 "2012-03-19T20:19:26Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > 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! I seem to remember once when a congregation sold their church building, they had some sort of rite to de-consecrate it. Maybe it was that Arlo Guthrie movie from way back when? But if it works for a building, why not water? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/38 "2012-03-19T20:25:28Z")
I get the “mockery to get people interested in a cause,” thing, but … what the hell’s the cause? To get Christians to stop standing in the middle of busy roads? Who am I to argue with their methods? I think I’ll sit with **PandaBear77** in the roll-eye section. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/39 "2012-03-19T21:06:03Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Boil the Hell out of it? > [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > If they really wanted to show those christians a thing or two, they’d have repaved that road with some good intentions. You two are really keeping up the good work. 🙂 I’m on the side of people saying that the Humanists were doing this tongue-in-cheek, to highlight how ridiculous it was to bless a highway in the first place. ---
**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, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/40 "2012-03-19T21:07:49Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I get the “mockery to get people interested in a cause,” thing, but … what the hell’s the cause? To get Christians to stop standing in the middle of busy roads? Who am I to argue with their methods? > I think I’ll sit with **PandaBear77** in the roll-eye section. Maybe it’s to get people to see these public religious displays as the farces they really are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234.md?page=3)