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Tag: atheism

  • Stephen Hawking Is an Atheist, But Does Have Faith in Something

    In a recent interview with El Mundo, Stephen Hawking confirmed that he is an atheist. This may come as a surprise to some, since Hawking has been known to speak and write about such things as knowing “the mind of God” by science expounding a “theory of everything”.

    Later, though, Hawking also said that the universe can be created “out of nothing, out of nowhere,” and that the idea of God is “not necessary” to explain its origin.

    The interviewer asked Hawking flat out what he himself believed about God.

    “Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t. I’m an atheist. Religion believes in miracles, but they are not supported by science,” he said.

    Does this mean that Hawking has no “faith”? Apparently not. The interviewer specifically talks about Hawking having “an abiding faith in the power of science to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.”

    “In fact, right now we’re close to achieving this goal. In my opinion, there is no aspect of reality beyond the reach of the human mind. ”

    In contrast to many theist beliefs, Hawking went on to talk about his hope for interstellar travel and for humans settling on other planets. He sees that as possibly essential for the survival of the human race.

    “It could prevent the disappearance of humanity by colonizing other planets,” he explained.

    In addition, Hawking emphasized that “space exploration has driven and continue to drive major scientific and technological advances.”

  • Stephen Hawking Says He’s An Athiest

    Stephen Hawking Says He’s An Athiest

    Stephen Hawking is a man who loves to talk science and very rarely religion. While Hawking references God often in reports and findings, he recently admitted that he is an atheist and doesn’t believe in God.

    While attending the Starmus festival in the Canary Islands, Hawking was interviewed by the Spanish paper El Mundo. He talked about the origins of the universe and said that he doesn’t think the universe was created by God or any other divine power.

    “Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t. I’m an atheist,” he said.

    Hawking has talked about religion and science before and believes that God and other deities were created by humans to make sense of space, time and the world before science came along to explain it.

    He said that while science and religion will constantly oppose each other, science will eventually win because it is based on facts and evidence instead of authority.

    While Hawking may not believe that God exists, he does believe in aliens or otherworldly beings. He says that meeting aliens may not be a good thing and thinks such an encounter would be similar to what the Native Americans experienced when Christopher Columbus came to America.

    He also claims that space travel could help save humanity.

    “It could prevent the disappearance of humanity by colonizing other planets,” he told El Mundo.

    Why do you think Hawking is so quick to dismiss God and religion, but so eager to believe in extraterrestrials?

  • 8THEIST License Plate: Woman Files Lawsuit Over Vanity Plate Rejection

    A New Jersey woman has filed a lawsuit after the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) denied her request for a vanity license plate that reads “8THEIST.” The license plate was rejected because it is considered “objectionable.” After the woman discovered that her request would have been approved had it been a Christian vanity plate, she felt that her First Amendment rights were violated and eventually decided to sue.

    Shannon Morgan applied for the 8THEIST license plate through New Jersey’s MVC website back in November. The system flagged her submission because the plate was deemed “objectionable.” According to the New Jersey MVC’s rules on vanity plates, “No personalized plate combination, which is considered offensive, will be approved for issuance.”

    After her first submission was rejected, Morgan then submitted “BAPTIST” for a vanity plate to see if a Christian license plate would be rejected. Unlike the 8THEIST plate, this submission was not flagged by the system. “There is nothing offensive about being atheist,” Morgan said. “I should be able to express my sincerely held beliefs with a license plate just like everyone else.”

    The Leesburg woman contacted the MVC to find out why her submission was denied when the Christian plate was accepted, but never received a response. Morgan eventually decided to file a lawsuit on the basis that her First Amendment rights were violated. She is being represented by a lawyer with the Americans United for Separation of Church and State group.

    “The state of New Jersey is favoring religion while disparaging non-belief,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “It simply has no right to do that. This license plate issue may seem like a small matter but it is indicative of a much larger problem–atheists are often treated by the government as second-class citizens.”

    The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. In addition to suing for the right to be granted the 8THEIST license plate, Morgan also wants to be reimbursed for legal fees.

    “Ms. Morgan is an atheist who wishes to display a New Jersey license plate that identifies herself as such. She is offended by the Commission’s decision to prohibit her from obtaining this plate,” the lawsuit reads. “The Commission’s declaration that this self-expression is ‘objectionable’ demeans her viewpoint.”

    Interestingly enough, the New Jersey DVC was faced with a similar issue last year when David Silverman wanted to put “ATHE1ST” on a vanity plate. Silverman (posing with a retired “ATHEIST” vanity plate above) was initially denied the plate, but the decision was later reversed.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Bill Nye Is Set To Debate Creation Museum Founder On Feb 4th

    In what could create a great deal of controversy among both atheists and creationists, a debate has been set at the creationism museum in Kentucky.

    The debate will take place on Tuesday, February 4th, and will feature science expert Bill Nye, or “Bill Nye The Science Guy” and Ken Ham, who started the creationism museum, being a proponent of creationism over science.

    Proponents of creationism could be excited for the museum’s founder to be able to take on such a figure in the world of science.

    Although some atheists or science supporters will be rooting for Bill Nye in the debate, some of them believe that it is not a debate that he should even be having, and that it simply brings more attention to the idea of creationism.

    When it was first announced that Bill Nye would be making the trip to Ham’s museum, a great amount of debate was rightfully stirring with people, and the controversy that surrounds the museum has been brought up.

    The idea for the upcoming debate was sparked after Bill Nye posted a video on Youtube that said that teaching creationism was bad for children. The video received over 6 million views, and Ham wanted the chance to be able to prove him wrong.

    Those who saw Bill Maher’s documentary Religulous are likely to remember the creationism museum since Maher also made a visit to the museum during the film.

    An important thing to keep in mind when going into the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham is that the two sides are not aiming to change people’s minds or win the debate necessarily, but simply being able to bring the issue up, and give people the information to decide on their own.

    In relation to the upcoming debate, Ken Ham said “I don’t think it’s about winning or losing. For me, it’s about overcoming censorship about getting information out there to get people thinking critically.”

    Ken Ham will have the home advantage as they say with it being held at his museum, which could be an intimidating factor for Bill Nye, and Ham’s many followers may hurt Nye’s chances of being able to debate.

    The event is being labeled as “Is Creation A Viable Model Of Origins” and Bill Nye and Ken Ham will square off in an intense debate that will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Tickets to the event were originally $25, but they are all sold out now.

    However, for those that want to watch the debate from home, you can go here. There are also people gathering in various places around the country to watch the event.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Atheist Billboards Used to Promote Religious Freedom

    The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation consists of a group of non-believers, who aim to promote religious freedom. They are engaged in a campaign that will continue to advance the separation of the church and state through their use of fifty-five billboards. In order to bring broader visibility to their lack of religious faith, the billboards will be placed throughout the Sacramento Valley, California landscape with featured slogans and pictures of local residents. This campaign follows similar ones that have taken place in other major U.S. cities in recent years.

    The messages are used as a vehicle of expression, in order to encourage other non-believers to “come out of the closet” and to be open about their atheism, especially during the holiday season. By doing so, the messages create widespread controversy, deeply impacting the hearts of “believers” throughout the country. The atheist billboards have become a part of the public debate between religious conservatives and atheist individuals, who prefer to set religion aside and out of the public life.

    “The whole month of December is taken over in a celebration of the religious beliefs, in particular Christianity, and it’s just as if the whole month turns non-believers into outsiders,” stated Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Foundation. She also stressed that the campaign is not meant to insult Christmas or any other holidays, but to inspire individuals to ignore the religious undertones. According to Gaylor, the group sought out Sacramento-area members to share their views from their perspectives as non-believers. The response was so extremely positive that the organization had to build a contract with a second billboard company to meet the high demand.

    “I believe in people, not gods,” reads a message from Liz Shoemaker, a Sacramento teacher. Another statement from Matt and Kimberly Martin, a Sacramento couple, reads, “Integrity and compassion require no gods.” These billboards portray residents against “softly colored backgrounds” that list their names and the communities in which they reside. Gaylor said, “We’re a free society, and it’s the free marketplace of ideas. It should be debated publicly. What’s wrong with open debate?” In fact, it would be unconstitutional under the First Amendment to prohibit freedom of expression, and conversely, the Amendment also protects the right to freedom of religion, or, in this case, lack thereof.

    James Murphy, Monsignor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, agrees that people can do good without being religious and that atheists have a right to express their views on billboards and anywhere else. “I wish they weren’t up there…but I’m not going to fight their rights,” he said. Though, he did find it ironic that the billboards plan to be deployed after Thanksgiving, which is a holiday that shows a culture deeply rooted in religion. The billboards are set to go up in Sacramento on the day after Thanksgiving, yet there are other reports stating that they will be put up on Monday, December 2, 2013. The organization also plans to make their mark in Chicago as well. They plan on placing a large “A”, for atheism, in Chicago’s Daley Plaza, which is the site of an annual Christmas display.

    Gaynor firmly believes that the campaign can show non-believers one significant point: that they do not have to hide their views in a polarized nation where atheists and agnostics often feel isolated. “Those of us who are free from religion, who work to keep dogma out of government, science, medicine, and education, have a lot to offer society,” she exclaimed. Bishop Jaime Soto, of Sacramento’s Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, states, “While I’m not happy about this kind of propaganda going out, particularly in this area, I am fairly certain that people still, when they look deep down in their soul and in their heart, there is this spark of faith.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Atheist Billboards to Pop Up in California

    First we heard about atheist churches springing up around the country, and now a group is planning to put up billboards in California to promote an atheist campaign–just in time for Christmas. The billboards are part of the “Out of Closet” national campaign that is sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) and will be put up the day after Thanksgiving.

    While it is easy to assume that the group is just trying to create controversy around the holidays, Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, says that they want to prove that atheists have a lot to offer society as well. “Those of us who are free from religion, who work to keep dogma out of government, science, medicine and education, have a lot to offer society,” said Gaylor.

    Gaylor also says that the month of December isolates atheists who don’t participate in the holiday festivities. “The whole month of December is taken over in a celebration of the religious beliefs, in particular Christianity, and it’s just as if the whole month turns non-believers into outsiders,” Gaylor said.

    The group will put up 55 atheist billboards in the Sacramento area, and the billboards will contain varying messages. “A life of love, no Gods required,” “No Gods, no devils, no worries,” and “Live for now, not for after” are a few of the messages that will be displayed on the billboards. Check out some of the billboards below.

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    Even though seeing such billboards erected around Christmas will surely strike a chord with some Christians, Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento doesn’t think the billboards will have much of an impact. “While I’m not happy about these billboards, I am certain people still, when they look deep down in their soul and in their heart, find a spark,” said Soto. “They believe in a higher power.”

    A lot of people seem rather indifferent to the atheist billboards, but a few people have spoken out on the issue on Twitter. Check out the comments below.

    [Images via FFRF]

  • Atheist Churches Are On the Rise in the U.S.

    A new type of church is springing up these days, but these aren’t your run of the mill churches. Sure, you’ve got people congregating on Sunday morning as well as participating in a lot of other things that are part of your average Christian church service. However, these new churches that are popping up aren’t worshiping Jesus Christ, nor do they care about any other religion, as these are atheist churches.

    This probably sounds like a joke; after all, you don’t often hear “atheist” and “church” put together. So far, these atheist mega-churches have popped up throughout the U.S. in California, Tennessee and New York. The people who attend essentially want a lot of the things a traditional church offers, but without the religion. The people who attend enjoy each other’s company, music, come up with ideas to serve the community and more. And like traditional churches, the atheist churches take up money.

    Sixteen percent of Americans say they have no religious affiliation, but it looks like they could have a place to bond with like-minded people soon. This group of churches that are popping up are part of The Sunday Assembly, which was founded by Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans.

    Jones reportedly got the idea to start The Sunday Assembly a few years ago after attending a Christmas concert. “There was so much about it that I loved, but it’s a shame because at the heart of it, it’s something I don’t believe in,” Jones said. “If you think about church, there’s very little that’s bad. It’s singing awesome songs, hearing interesting talks, thinking about improving yourself and helping other people–and doing that in a community with wonderful relationships. What part of that is not to like?”

    Jones and Evans are working to raise money to found more Sunday Assemblies. Their goal is to raise close to $1 million to help other atheists start their own churches around the world. According to their website, they want to see “a godless congregation in every town, city and village that wants one.”

    While a lot of people might assume these atheists churches are trying to stir up trouble, Elijah Senn (no, this name isn’t a joke, either) says that isn’t the case.

    “I think the image that we have put forward in a lot of ways has been a scary, mean, we want to tear down the walls, we want to do destructive things kind of image is what a lot of people have of us,” Senn said. “I’m really excited to be able to come together and show that it’s not about destruction. It’s about making things and making things better.”

    What do you think of the new atheist mega-churches? Add your comments below.

    [Image via YouTube]

  • Reddit Gets New Default Subreddits, Boots r/atheism & r/politics

    Reddit Gets New Default Subreddits, Boots r/atheism & r/politics

    Reddit has just announced that they are changing up the default subreddits – the ones you see on the front page when you’re logged out or if you’ve never taken the time to customize your own list. It’s been nearly two years since reddit has made significant changes to the default subreddits, so it’s a pretty big deal.

    The changes involve 5 news additions and 2 removals, the latter of which will please a great deal of redditors who have complained about those particular subreddits for quite some time. It’ll probably piss off a good number of users as well – thus is the nature of big changes. You can’t please all the people all the time, right?

    Anyway, r/atheism and r/politics are now gone from default subreddits list. Here’s reddit’s no-BS reason for the removal:

    “We could give you a canned corporate answer or a diplomatic answer that is carefully crafted for the situation. But since this is reddit, we’re going to try things a bit differently and give you the real answer: they just weren’t up to snuff. Now, don’t get us wrong, there still ARE good parts about them. Overall, they just haven’t continued to grow and evolve like the other subreddits we’ve decided to add.”

    The new additions are r/books, r/earthporn, r/explainlikeimfive, r/gifs, and r/television. These were picked based on a combination of traffic, rate of subscriber increase, and increase in submissions.

    “We’ve tried our best to make sure that the new additions are fairly “general,” and a few of the new additions are also there to help cover some areas that have never had a home on the front page. With these updates, we hope there will be an appropriate default for many of the most popular topics,” says reddit.

    Of course, these changes only apply to new users – for the most part. Anyone who spends any time at all on reddit is likely to create their own account and customize what they see. Or, if you’re a glutton for punishment, you can just browse r/all.

  • First Public Atheist Monument To Go Up In Florida

    In a move that will generate absolutely no comments on the Internet whatsoever, a county in North Florida is going to allow the installation of a monument dedicated to atheism in front of the Bradford County Courthouse. Perhaps the juiciest detail about the upcoming monument that celebrates the rejection of deities and god-like figures is that it will be displayed next a monument for the Ten Commandments. Apparently, the committee involved in such decisions are eager to attract hordes of Internet commenters who, instead of sharing their thoughts in the following manner, normally follow the flowchart created by The System.

    According to reports from The Gainesville Sun, the monument–a 1500-pound granite bench–will be installed by the members of the American Atheists organization and will feature quotes from Thomas Jefferson, among others, while drawing attention various passages, and the punishments involved, from the Bible:

    The 1,500-pound granite bench will include a panel inscribed with quotes from American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Thomas Jefferson and others, as well as Bible excerpts listing the punishments — often execution — for breaking each commandment. It will also quote the Treaty of Tripoli, a peace agreement from the late 18th century that states the U.S. government is not founded on Christianity.

    Further details reveal the project–which appears to be a cry for equal time, considering the Ten Commandments monument–was funded by Todd Stiefel’s foundation. Stiefel is a millionaire who is also an atheist. As you might imagine, the decision to include the additional monument has sparked some conversation in both the community, and, of course, from online reaction.

    An example from the Gainesville article, first from the text:

    Geraldo Ortiz, a 29-year-old Gainesville resident, didn’t think the atheist group should erect its own monument. He said it feels like “a slap in the face” because this country was founded on Christianity… “It’s like, what is atheism doing?” he asked. “Nothing.”

    And because equal time is the message of the day, here’s an example of how some readers feel:

    To the close-minded Christians (vocal minority) out there, your days of bullying and bigotry are numbered. Gay marriage and atheist monuments are just the tip of the iceberg. Your numbers are dwindling around the world as those of non-theists are steadily rising…

    Which is pretty much what you can expect anytime you introduce two delicate subjects into an open forum where you can still (somewhat) hide behind a keyboard and a monitor. For those concerned, the actual monument is scheduled to be introduced later this month (June 2013).

  • Pope: Atheists Have Been Redeemed, Are Good People

    In a surprising move, Pope Francis has come out in defense of atheists.

    Reuters reports that the Pope recently spoke on atheists and said that those who do good, regardless of their beliefs, are redeemed. Here are his remarks via Vatican Radio:

    “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

    The new Pope’s comments are a stark contrast to a lot of religious leaders that equate atheism with a lack of morals. In this case, the pope is stating that morality is not mutually exclusive to Christianity, or religion, at large. He argues that everybody has the potential for good and that people of all beliefs should come together under the common goal of doing good.

    Pope Francis may elaborate on his comments in the coming days via his official Twitter account. It will be interesting to see if he responds to the criticism from some evangelicals who say he went too far.

  • Wolf Blitzer Tells Tornado Survivor To Thank The Lord, Finds Out She’s An Atheist

    Anybody would be thankful to survive the massive tornado that recently wrecked areas of Oklahoma. The person, or deity, being thanked might be different though. CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer found that out the hard way as he was talking to survivors.

    While on the scene of the destruction today, Wolf Blitzer began talking to a young woman about her experience. At one point he said, “I guess, you gotta thank the Lord, right?” The woman, no doubt finding herself in an awkward situation, responded that she was in fact an atheist. Even so, she says that she doesn’t “blame anybody for thanking the Lord.” In the end, they all had a good laugh about it.

    After what she and thousands of others went through over the last few days, I don’t blame them either.

    [h/t: Raw Story]

  • Atheist Books Next To Bibles? Could Happen In Georgia’s State Parks

    Georgia’s state parks are now allowing Bibles to be placed in rental cabins. An atheist group arguing for equal representation is now presenting a plan that would allow them to place books with atheist philosophies in those same cabins next to the Bibles.

    The AP reports that David Silverman, president of the American Atheists organization, is now waiting to hear back from the state of Georgia on its plan to place atheist books in cabins. The plan, if approved, would see the group donating several books to state parks. These books will explain atheist philosophy.

    According to Silverman, this isn’t about competing with Christianity. It’s all about fair treatment and allowing multiple viewpoints to be presented:

    “We expect fair treatment, we anticipate fair treatment and we look forward to fair treatment. If the state is going to put Bibles in the cabins, they must allow alternate points of view — all alternative points of view without taking sides.”

    All of this started when an atheist named Ed Buckner was dismayed to find nine Bibles at the cabin he rented. The state promptly removed the books, but soon returned them after the state Attorney General deemed them legal. Afterwards, Governor Nathan Deal said that literature from any religious group was welcome to donate literature.

    So now Silverman plays the waiting game as Georgia works on new regulations regarding the distribution of materials. It’s likely that Silverman will have his way. A win for him will open the floodgates, however, as other religious groups may be jumping at the bit to put their own books in Georgia’s state parks. Visitors may soon even find that their rented cabin has been converted into a library full of religious texts.

    [Image: justenableme/tumblr]

  • Do These Vile Facebook Comments Deserve Free Speech Protection? [UPDATED]

    Last week, we asked you whether or not social media sites should censor offensive content. The issue that spawned that debate was the possible removal of certain trending topics by the folks at Twitter. After a certain hashtag (#reasonstobeatyourgirlfriend) gained steam two weekends ago, a large group of users demanded that Twitter remove that topic from their trending list.

    It’s unclear whether Twitter removed the topic or it simply fell off the list naturally (evidence suggests the latter), but the question remained: Should they censor that offensive content?

    Your comments last week provided a pretty clear answer to the question: No. Although the distinction was made that social networks like Facebook and Twitter are private companies who aren’t compelled to operate under the same free speech allowances as the U.S. Government, a majority said that it would be wrong to remove the offensive content.

    This week we ask a similar question, but with raised stakes. What about content that advocates violence? Let us know in the comments.

    Let it be known, the following article will contain no religious opinions from yours truly – whether heavy-handed or carefully cloaked. At the heart of this, for me at least, is simply the issue of anonymity online and the tendency for people to say crazy things when staring at a keyboard and a monitor. Oh, and some of these posts are simply epic in their jaw-dropping hypocrisy.

    Here’s how the story goes:

    Blair Scott, Communications Director for American Atheists made an appearance recently on America Live with Megyn Kelly on the Fox News Channel.

    The reason that he appeared was to discuss the recent lawsuit filed by the American Atheists group over the cross-shaped steel beams at the World Trade Center site know as the “World Trade Center Cross.” The cross would form part of an exhibit at the September 11th Memorial and Museum.

    The lawsuit alleges that the cross-shaped steel beam display promotes Christianity over all other religions and it diminishes the civil rights or non-Christians since it is included on public property.

    To them, it’s a matter of church and state separation. Either that or it’s about the singularity of the religious celebration. According to ABC News, the American Atheists said that they “have contacted the 9/11 Memorial and Museum requesting to display their own atheistic memorial next to the steel-shaped cross, possibly in the form of an atom or an American flag, to represent the ‘500 non-religious Americans’ who were “among the victims of the 9/11 attack.”

    They say that their request was met with silence.

    After Mr. Scott’s appearance on the show, Facebook users flooded the Fox News Facebook page with comments.

    UPDATE: Fox News has issued a statement about the comments in question:

    “We make every attempt to keep our Facebook page as safe as possible,” said Peter Drace, Fox News VP and creative director of promotion, “and we take immediate steps to remove all hateful and dangerous language.”

    Fox News deleted the post containing the comments after identifying over 200 threatening comments. The post containing the comments went up on the night of July 28th. The post was removed on the morning of July 30th.

    Although the content is no longer available as it has been removed, multiple sources managed to grab screencaps of the comments. Here are the ones culled by American Atheists themselves –

    From the mouth of one gentleman, “few groups are filled with more hatred than atheists.” Just before that, “can we start killing them now.” Isn’t it ironic? Dontcha think?

    Some bloggers who also screencapped many of the comments blurred out the names of the commenters. Others specifically brought attention to their names. Their argument is that the internet needs accountability. Basically, if you have the balls to say something, you should have the balls to answer for it. Nobody should protect people on the internet who post controversial content for public consumption.

    Anonymity: Is it the landmark achievement of the internet or its central problem? Last year, a Facebook product design manager wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times where she called for content providers to stop allowing anonymous commenting. She pushed the importance of accountability.

    And just recently, (former) Facebook employee Randi Zuckerberg said that anonymity on the internet has to go. She said that “people behave a lot better when they have their real names down” and “people hide behind anonymity and they feel like they can say whatever they want behind closed doors.”

    Well, the majority of the commenters above didn’t hide behind closed doors. They used their reals names to post their misguided comments. You can check out their Facebook pages – many of them aren’t set to fully private. Is the fact that people aren’t having to talk directly to people’s faces enough? Is that all the anonymity they need?

    We talked yesterday about new research linking Facebook use to aggressive behavior. Is this what they were talking about? Is all of that anger and hatred a product of Facebook use in general? Or is Facebook simply a platform that can be used for everything, good and bad – and Facebook just enables some people with certain predispositions to bad behavior?

    Motivations for the behavior aside, controversial content finds its way to social media sites. This is a fact. And once it gets out there for public consumption, decisions must be made regarding how to deal with it.

    From the various reports from people who were screencapping these comments as the rolled in, the pace at which the truly extreme “death wishes” disappeared was pretty quick. It’s much more likely that the Fox News Admins were fighting to remove the content as opposed to Facebook stepping in. But the debate remains: if the comments above had been left alone, should Facebook have removed them?

    Or do the inarguably vile comments deserve free speech protection within the realm of social media speech guidelines?

    I know that few topics of conversation could be filled with more sensitive issues than vile threats to atheists over a Christian monument at 9/11. That’s hitting all the hot spots – religion, national tragedy, politics, etc. And it’s virtually impossible to separate those sentiments from a free speech debate. But let’s try to think about this as Christians, Atheists, Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists – whatever title your identity merits.

    Does this violent speech have a place on Facebook? Even though it doesn’t advocate the death of any singular person, is it prone to incite violence?

    Should it remain as a testament to free expression? Let us know what you think in the comments.

    [Lead Image Credit]