Talk about religious bigotry, a Lakeland Florida sheriff's department is harassing an atheist woman for having the temerity to point out their illegal use of taxpayer funds. Yes, they used taxpayer funded items as donations for religious institutions, which would constitute a clear violation of church and state. Instead of acknowledging their errors or even seeking the courts to make a ruling, they've decidehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifd instead to go after this woman,http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif arresting her for impersonating a lawyer, some marijuana charge, and a felony sexual charge.
Wow, this woman must be a horrible person you say, right?
Well, their case against her for impersonating a lawyer seems to be that she wrote "Esq." after her name. Oh no, they couldn't actually be that stupid/transparent/whatever, right? Apparently, this woman (who actually is a lawyer, just not currently licensed) is somehow impersonating a lawyer because she used the "Esquire" title, which as anyone knows is not reserved for lawyers. (See here and here, especially this part, "No court in the United States has ever held that merely using the title "Esquire" is evidence of anything.".)
And, her marijuana charge? Perhaps stupid of her to have marijuana, but it's a misdemeanor at most and could very well be trumped up, especially in light of the previous charge and the next one.
The felony sex charge? Well, that was for moaning too loudly and repeatedly during sex in her own home. Yes, you heard that correctly. Apparently the sheriff's office found fit to charge her for a felony for having sex in her own home.
This is nothing more than Xian fundamentalists trying to use the weight of the law to silence dissent. They are attacking and harassing a woman for speaking out for equality and equal treatment under the law. Once again, religious intolerance rears its ugly head and it seems that the perpetrators (in this case at least) have no shame nor morality to speak of. I certainly hope that this obvious case of police misuse of power is stopped and the perpetrators are summarily dismissed from service.
5 comments:
I'm more of an agnostic, but I have strong sympathies for the atheist community, and during the past nine to ten years, despite my evangelical/fundamentalist upbringing, have come to know atheists and humanists, and have come to trust them more than I ever will again the religionists I was raised among. I am considering identifying as an agnostic humanist, because I'm just so disgusted with all the foolishness going on in my faith community of origin. I am now a Unitarian Universalist, and our 2 congregations in Central Florida are atheist/humanist friendly, which is where I learned what good people the majority of atheists and humanists actually are. Do you know what it's like to try and enjoy a book by Carl Sagan, and have your mother or some anonymous fanatic come up and warn you to "be careful, he was an atheist, you know"...I do. I have been following this story and I hope this lady will eventually be able to get the legal help to sue the crap out of these people for what they have done to her. I hope she sues them for millions. I can no longer understand the visceral repulsion and hostility I see in a conservative Christian when they see an atheist billboard, let alone decide to deface it, or even hear the word atheist. Must be all the propaganda they've been saturated with over the years...none of the anguish I experience in life is attributable to atheists or humanists. It all comes from what Christians in politics have been up to for the past 30 years....My sympathy and empathy for atheists and humanists increased a thousandfold last weekend when we were picketed by Operation Save America, which, by the way, has ties to domestic terror....and ***I'm*** supposed to fear atheists? Come on...good article, here, thank you for writing it...
You are more local to the action than I am, so if you have any updates, that would be appreciated, now or in the future. No pressure, it's up to you. Thanks for the comment.
They misspelled unchurched
Also misspelled worship
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