Posted by Hemant Mehta in Pastor Roger Byrd of the Jonesville Church of God in South Carolina recently put up this sign:
I know, I know. I couldn’t believe it either. We all know the proper spelling of the word is “HMM.”
It gets better.
Pastor Byrd was asked why he put the sign up:
Pastor Byrd says the sign is not meant to be racial or political but rather to make people think. “His name is so close to Osama I have a feeling he might be Islamic therefore he doesn’t recognize Christ,” Pastor Byrd said.
He has a feeling?! Well then, don’t bother looking into the matter at all. No research necessary. Your gut settles everything…
You would think his congregation would speak out against this. Surely someone who attends the church would note how obscenely wrong this sign is, on so many levels.
Pastor Byrd told News Channel 7 he would ask his congregation to vote on whether to keep the sign. They voted unanimously to keep the sign up Sunday night.
*sigh*
By the way, the church has no African-American members.
(via Cynical-C Blog)
[tags]atheist, atheism, Christian[/tags]
No fucking way =(
Bill Hicks said once that in some places people are asking for revolution, but in some other places people ask’s for evolution.
SC is largely a rural, poor state. I looked up Jonesville its a tiny town in Union, SC – population 943, with negative population growth. The median income is $22, 273 and the median home price is $45,000. The largest ethnic group is African American, at 33%. 8% of the population over the age of 25 has a college degree.
I think the only way to evolve in Jonesville is to get out.
I think this speaks to that discussion in the other thread about whether or not the members of these churches agree with everything the pastor says…
[...] when I thought that I could leave it alone Extreme ignorance at a South Carolina [...]
Doesn’t that violate the whole “nonprofit = don’t go for/against specific candidates” thing?
Well, they’re not technically endorsing/cutting-down anyone… they’re just saying… you know… *IF* Obama was Osama’s brother… that would be information voters should know about…
The whole thing just reinforces every negative stereotype you can have about churches, lack of critical thinking, ignorant of reality, etc.
I hope someone in the community can convince the pastor or his followers that they’re making a mockery of themselves.
Hannibal was obviously a cannibal, his name is one letter away, and it rhymes. Just in case you thought this kind of manipulation doesn’t work on people.
Does he also think that there are no Arab Christians at all? That “true Christians” are all white? That maybe Obama (or somebody name Abdul or Sultan or Rakim) could convert? (Leaving aside the point that Obama is a surname and Osama is a given name.)
This is one example of why I am not so sure the USA can ever really win in the war on terror. I think Iraq and the whole GWOT in general will just drain this country economically. They know more about us than we know about them, and a lot of people here do not even want to actually understand them at all. Multiculturalism isn’t all nicey-nicey-touchy-feely. It is also good politics and maybe even militarily useful as well. If the people in the Bush Administration who were the most gung-ho about invading Iraq had known that Shiites and Sunnis DO NOT LIKE EACH OTHER maybe the USA would not be throwing $6 billion a month down the drain. (Was that off-topic?)
Would he say that Bush has been a Bust?
Roger Byrd…Big Bird
Hmmmm
Might they be brothers?
**of course I mean this in no way to insult birds..they show a lot more intelligence than this particular byrd**
It represents a complete lack of creativity, I think all of those sayings that people think are so funny and cute should be banned from church message boards.
Obama claims to be a “devout Christian”, maybe they should question his policies and their relation to his world view.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…
The sad thing is, that pastor probably thinks he’s being awfully witty pointing this out.
Oh brother.
Why don’t these people ever do any research instead of operating on ill-conceived and preconceived notions?
Mriana – because thinking is haaaaaaaaaaard. And it huuuuuuuuurts! Copying and pasting an incorrectly spelled e-mail forward onto your church sign is much less hurt-y on the brain.
Hemant, you’ve got it all wrong! I say “humm” all the time!
I bet its the same feeling that says god is real.
Well IF they worked that muscle more often maybe it wouldn’t hurt so bad or be so hard.
My father-in-law recently said something very similar to what this pastor wrote. He also went on to say that Hillary should not be president because she belongs in the kitchen. Then, he exasperatedly said, ” Obama… You know what he wants to do. He wants to sit down and TALK to those people!” Of course, he likes McCain because McCain “is not afraid to blow them all up.” (I assume he’s speaking of the people of the Middle East). It’s sad that there are so many people like him….and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many of them belong to fundamentalist churches.
Stephanie said,
The problem with this line of thinking is they are not afraid of dying. Can you fight a war against people who are not afraid to die, who may actually welcome it?
Wow, just wow. The Pastor doesn’t know Obama’s ethnicity, doesn’t believe the sign is racial or political.
Scary that at least 51% or his congregation agrees with him. Well, the ones that still come to his church despite the sign.
Jonesville ? Obviously founded by pastor Jim Jones, of Guyana fame ? The name tells all, doesn’t it ?
[...] Friendly Atheist) Add [...]
SATAN….SANTA
HUMMM
ARE THEY BROTHERS?
Byrd is slang for penis
Hmmmm
Therefore he’s a dick.
It doesn’t work that way . . scheesh.
Only words that rhyme are related and last time I checked Byrd rhymed with turd.
What a bunch of bigots!…
Don’t you listen to you’re pastor?
The correct spelling is HUMM
Not to mention, in the case of said Bird, a constant desire to learn new things and help others do the same. Dammit, you know what this means? Sesame Street is teh debbul.
Of course, we all knew Bert was evil.
[...] one of those fake sign generators as much as I wish it was. News story with video. (via Friendly Atheist) Of course the first thing I thought of was this [...]
You do realize that Bert and Ernie have been “roommates” for nearly forty years? They even share a bedroom. Yes, they have twin beds – but my pastor told me that’s just for the sake of appearances.
There really are intelligent people in South Carolina. I live in the state and I assure you that in certain areas there are plenty of atheists, pagans, Muslims and even communities of Buddhists. Its these little hick towns that are a constant embarrassment. If they would just stay out of the news the state’s rep would greatly improve.
I had a guy from one of the small towns in the upper part of the state try to convince me that Spanish wasn’t a real language, that the Mexican immigrants were just speaking mumbo jumbo around him to piss him off. Couldn’t conceive of a language other that his own… a good baptist boy.
“Byrd” rhymes with turd.
Coincidence?
Or sign of something sinister?
Unlike Obama, Bert *has actually been linked* to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida:
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/bert.asp
My god, that’s funny! Art imitating life, eh?
Does Ernie know?
That’s for sure. There’s so much information on this topic – and it’s only a tiny mouse click away. Yet people like this don’t want to know the truth. They only want to hear what Pastor Hicky McStupid tells them to believe.
Yeesh.
*snort*. Sorry, but I am so going to use that line:)
Pastor Byrd then proceeded to dig around in the mud with his nose, snatch up an earthworm between his teeth, and carry it off to a large pile of sticks he had arranged behind the church.
Humm…
it’s nice to know bigotry is alive and well ::rolls eyes::
Unfortunately, his impatient, hungry babies had all been eaten by atheists by the time he returned.
sabrina said,
April 22, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Pastor Hicky McStupid
*snort*. Sorry, but I am so going to use that line:)
—
Speaking as someone whose family is from Ireland, I must ask you not to. One ethnic slur does not justify another. (I realize this Mc$SOMETHING_BAD meme is due to McDonald’s.)
Didn’t we already figure out that this was bullshit months ago? I am a little afraid to google the two names, but I am sure the information is out there.
Besides, lying to get rid of a black guy is the way of Jesus, or something.
One would have thought Pastor Byrd would have latched onto Obama’s REAL middle name, ‘Hussein,’ instead of this idiotic rhyme, if he wanted to persuade his congregation that Obama is one of them Moss’lims. But then again, now that Saddam is dead and can’t hit us with any of those WMD’s he had stockpiled, maybe being his brother isn’t that big of a deal.
I’m sorry. I never even realized it could be seen as an ethnic slur. I was thinking along the lines of Mc’s; like McMansions, etc. It never entered my head; just as soon as I read it I started laughing. But that may be more of from Pastor Hicky:) Thank you for letting me know that it could be seen that way.
this doesn’t even surprise me – it is so very ‘Christian’ to judge the person – and give their acct. on who does and does not know their Lord – I hate organized religion – what a joke what a farce
[...] Friendly Atheist made a comment on a previous article on the topic. I felt the need to comment here in a little more detail for one reason – it is a clear example that the far right is completely devoid of logic, not just when it comes to creation/evolution, but irrationality is open season for these people. I might disagree with Obama’s religious stance, but I’ll happily take him at his word rather than question his authenticity based on his name and/or skin color. This Roger Byrd character is a sad sack who should probably consider reading some of the parts of the Bible that have to do with kindness as opposed to being a shit head. [...]
If Obama sounding similar to Osama is a valid argument for being a non-Christian then what would having the exact same name validate?
Let’s see what R. Byrd uncovers:
http://www.georgia-sex-offenders.com/maps/offender.php?id=43824
Note that the address of this particular offender is only 204 miles away from Jonestown, SC. Not only must they be kindred spirits but they live practically next door to each other.
I tried finding a website for this so-called “church” but then I realized they can’t possibly be intelligent enough to know how to use one of these “devil boxes”. This is what happens when you deny education to impoverished people. Just look at their “god” georgie bush.
Cheers!
Sean
Hello,
Hicky McStupid – I love it!
My name is McCaffery and it never occurred to me that the poster could be using an ethnic slur or an insult to people with McNames. He was obviously slamming an ignorant southern pastor not Irish people. I think some people are overly sensitive.
It is so depressing that there are so many ignorant bigots likes this pastor (and his whole congregation) out there.