# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/81 "2012-03-20T13:12:30Z")
I’m an atheist and I have no idea why atheists would form associations. Are there “Not Stamp Collectors” clubs? Are there “Not Motorcyclists” clubs? ---
**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 20, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/82 "2012-03-20T13:17:00Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m an atheist and I have no idea why atheists would form associations. > > Are there “Not Stamp Collectors” clubs? Are there “Not Motorcyclists” clubs? Are there stamp collector clubss that actively and publicly put down and condemn non-stamp collectors? Are there Motorcycle clubs that use the public airways to say that non-motorcyclists aren’t _real_ Americans? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/83 "2012-03-20T13:17:53Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m an atheist and I have no idea why atheists would form associations. > > Are there “Not Stamp Collectors” clubs? Are there “Not Motorcyclists” clubs? Is there legislation, bigotry, and forced proselytization for non-philatelists or non-motorcyclists? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/84 "2012-03-20T13:21:16Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > So then to make it unholy again I presume you would boil the Christ out of it. No, you boil the “everliving Christ” out of it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/85 "2012-03-20T13:23:26Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m an atheist and I have no idea why atheists would form associations. > > Are there “Not Stamp Collectors” clubs? Are there “Not Motorcyclists” clubs? Are there stamp or motorcycle clubs attempting to strong-arm school boards into teaching about stamps and motorcycles? ---
**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 20, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/86 "2012-03-20T13:26:37Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m an atheist and I have no idea why atheists would form associations. > > Are there “Not Stamp Collectors” clubs? Are there “Not Motorcyclists” clubs? Two reasons atheists would form associations: 1)Antitheist activism like this group 2)Support group. If you don’t know any “out” atheists, it’s nice to get together and no you’re not the only one who thinks like you do. Given **MEBucker** ’s post, I’m more sympathetic to the unblessing and don’t think it was a _total_ waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/87 "2012-03-20T13:27:45Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Is there legislation, bigotry, and forced proselytization for non-philatelists or non-motorcyclists? 's Sure, there’s space for groups to oppose bigotry and discrimination. OTOH, living in the headquarters city of the “Freedom From Religion Foundation”, I attended a couple of their annual conferences, and found out that they spent so much time and energy ridiculing religions that they spent hardly any time on dealing with public policy issues. So I stopped attending. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/88 "2012-03-20T13:28:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Are there stamp or motorcycle clubs attempting to strong-arm school boards into teaching about stamps and motorcycles? Somewhere there probably are. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/89 "2012-03-20T14:00:20Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m an atheist and I have no idea why atheists would form associations. > > Are there “Not Stamp Collectors” clubs? Are there “Not Motorcyclists” clubs? Are there any organizations placing copies of _Philatelist Monthly_ or _Harley Owners Gazette_ in hotel/motel rooms?😃 ---
**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 20, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/90 "2012-03-20T14:47:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > That is intolerant. The kind of thing atheists complain about all the time. This is exactly point I was trying to make above. If you think a religious group is being intolerant (which I’m not really seeing in the act of blessing a patch of asphault, but whatever) and the best way you can come up with to combat this is to subject people to public mockery for their beliefs, you’re in no position to complain about intolerance. > [@Musicat](#): > > Since when do Humanists have to do the opposite of what Christians do? Well, this bunch apparently feels the need to do so. ---
**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 20, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/91 "2012-03-20T14:52:45Z")
On the other hand, if the blessing of a patch of asphalt isn’t mock-worthy, I don’t what is. ---
**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 20, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/92 "2012-03-20T15:35:18Z")
> [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](#): > > Well, this bunch apparently feels the need to do so. I will pray for them, that they see the light. Or the pavement. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/93 "2012-03-20T16:51:40Z")
This seems like a waste of time and likely will have a net negative effect. I think most people, theist, atheist, or agnostic, will just roll their eyes at it. The more religious people may get offended, and anyone who thinks it’s a good idea probably already agrees with them anyway. If you’re an atheist, any theistic beliefs or rites should be utterly meaningless to you and, thus, this sort of behavior seems to have the opposite effect of imbuing it with meaning. Really, this doesn’t seem atheist or humanist as much as it seems antitheist. If they’re really a humanist society, they should be expending their effort in humanist causes and just ignore any religious motivation to do so. Why do atheists and theists feel the need to antagonize eachother? At least a theist may hope that they can save a soul or something, but atheists, if you truly believe it’s all a meaningless waste of time, stop wasting your time. ---
**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 20, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/94 "2012-03-20T17:09:13Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > This seems like a waste of time and likely will have a net negative effect. I think letting religiously oppressive crap like this pass without comment will have a net negative effect, and I think thousands of years of history back me up on that. Why don’t you go back and reread **MEBuckmner’s** account of what transpired, and who supported it. Ignore it and it’ll go away? I don’t _think_ so. ---
**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 20, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/95 "2012-03-20T18:13:34Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > This seems like a waste of time and likely will have a net negative effect. I think most people, theist, atheist, or agnostic, will just roll their eyes at it. The more religious people may get offended, and anyone who thinks it’s a good idea probably already agrees with them anyway. If you’re an atheist, any theistic beliefs or rites should be utterly meaningless to you and, thus, this sort of behavior seems to have the opposite effect of imbuing it with meaning. Theistic beliefs meaningless to us? Haven’t been following the Republican campaign, have you? If the believers are right, they have a point about enforcing gods laws on us. So we need to convince them that either they are not right or there is a good chance that they aren’t right. One way is to challenge the veracity of their beliefs, but we’ve been doing that since Tom Paine and before and you get the usual crap of you can’t prove God does not exist so he must. So I think mocking is a good additional course, especially when they do something mockable. No one should mock Unitarians, but Unitarians don’t try to keep the devil off the highway. If the response to someone saying that God doesn’t want us to use contraceptives is a belly laugh, we might have gotten somewhere. And too bad it upsets them. Bullies hate to be laughed at. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/96 "2012-03-20T18:30:40Z")
I roll my eyes at a bunch of people doing things like this too. Unfortunately, our government in general and, it looks like, the government of Florida in particular thinks it is a great idea when the religious folks do it. One need only walk through any town in America to see eye- roll worthy religious activity but Og help anyone who actually rolls their eyes at that. If a few athiests want to get together for similar voodoo hand-waving it’s news worthy. Why is that? I roll my eyes and applaud these goofballs at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/97 "2012-03-20T19:05:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Why are they blessing a road? It’s not like another road is going to slam into it, causing grievous harm. I see no concrete benefit to this. That’s because it’s asphalt. > [@stpauler](#): > > Interesting that MSNBC calls it “unholy water” but [holy water doesn’t need quotation marks.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38282753/ns/health-pet_health/t/holy-water-dog-food-pet-sitters-face-odd-requests/) They are both equally fictitious. While they may both be equally fictitious, one is an established cultural referent, the other is a newly coined gimmick term with no clear referent\*. \*Ergo, different treatment. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/98 "2012-03-20T19:12:22Z")
And where was that water from 😉 Reminds me of the joke where scientists in the future call up God and say we can make anything now, so we don’t need you anymore. God challenges them one last time to make life from dust. The scientists get started, then God interjects by saying, ‘No you have to get your own dust’. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/99 "2012-03-20T19:15:16Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Just to point out, as has already been alluded to in the thread, but the original “anointing of the roads” wasn’t just some nice little “God, please keep drivers on this road from getting into wrecks, and everyone buckle up for Jesus!” sort of thing. “Polk Under Prayer” is a group which has been publicly endorsed by the mayor of the county’s largest city, the county sheriff, and the superintendent of the county public school system, and the “blessing” was reportedly described by a supporter thusly: > > Which sounds pretty creepy, especially since (according to that atheist blogger) the local sheriff (and PUP endorser) has been pretty free with locking up local atheist gadflies on what sound like pretty flimsy charges (arresting someone for using the title “esquire” in a request for information from the county government? 😕 ). So PUP and their “blessings” definitely sound like a bunch of wannabe theocrats, and the whole “un-blessing” was intended as a light-hearted propaganda event to call attention to a weird and authoritarian bunch of Christian Dominionists with considerable clout in the local power structure. Okay, that does put a different spin on it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234/100 "2012-03-20T19:21:11Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > And where was that water from 😉 Probably the local treatment plant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-use-unholy-water-to-unbless-florida-highway/616234.md?page=6)