Please help me compose a response to this DUers

[lavenderdiva]

Tonight I received this e-mail from my hubbie's way-right wing Aunt. She is always sending me this kind of stuff (she just LOVES Shrub!), and I'm sick of it. Hubby says to just shrug it off, but I am ready to send her something that more accurately explains my position. However, I am at a loss for words. I know I can count on my DU buddies to help me out.

text of e-mail:
!!!! MY KIND OF JUDGE: !!!!

In Florida, an atheist became incensed over the preparation of

Easter and Passover holidays. He decided to contact his lawyer

about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant

celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their

holidays while atheists had no holiday to celebrate.

The case was brought before a wise judge. After listening to

the long,passionate presentation by the lawyer, the .Judge banged

his gavel and declare "Case dismissed!"

The lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling and said;

"Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case?

The Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances.

Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah... yet my client and

all other atheists have no such holiday!"

The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said;

"Obviously your client is too confused to know about, or to

celebrate the atheists' holiday!"

The lawyer pompously said; "We're unaware of any such holiday for

atheists. Just when might that holiday be, your honor?"

The judge said; "Well it comes every year on exactly the same

date---April 1st!"

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God."'

Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53

PRAY THAT SOME DAY OUR COURTS WILL BE FULL OF THESE KIND OF JUDGES MAYBE THEN,
WE CAN PUT GOD BACK WHERE HE BELONGS
IN EVERYTHING WE DO...
Way to go, Judge

I'm a Christian, but it scares the you-know-what out of me if we are going to use someone's religious beliefs as a 'litmus test' for their worthiness as a judge. Her rhetoric truly scares me! Its people like this that have hijacked our government. Please help me figure out what to say. Any ideas would be most welcome...

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Send her this with a hearty "You've been fooled!"

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/atheist.asp

[Anakin Skywalker]

13. Thanks, Mrs. Grumpy (for the Debunking)!

:) Who's the fool now? All those urban legend believers, that's who! Hah hah hah! Too rich!

Oh, and I have noticed that the RW likes to make up these FEEL-GOOD urban legends to get their troops to stay loyal.

[Nomad559]

2. Snopes

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/atheist.asp

[LiberalUprising]

3. Snopes has this to say

Origins: This
item, which began its Internet life in 2003, is another politics-cum-humor item which has prompted numerous "Is this real?" inquiries from readers, even though it is presented in a standard joke format: no specific details, a somewhat farcical set-up, and a punchline pay-off. It's clearly a fictional humor piece, not a literal account of an actual court case. Indeed, in substance it mirrors this item, which was unambiguously circulated as a joke on a humor mailing list in 2002: ....

....Sometimes the clearest view of what a text like this one is all about comes from those who take inspiration from it, through their voicing of what they perceive as its message. For example, these trailing comments added by unknown forwarders who identified with the piece (and presumably mistook it for a summary of a real court case) speak directly to its nature:

PRAY THAT SOME DAY OUR COURTS WILL BE FULL OF THESE KIND OF JUDGES...

MAYBE THEN, WE CAN PUT GOD BACK WHERE HE BELONGS — IN EVERYTHING WE DO...

Way to go, Judge!

The power of illustrative anecdotes often lies not in how well they present reality, but in how well they reflect the core beliefs of their audience.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/atheist.asp

[QC]

4. Tell her you donated $50 to the ACLU in her name...

and will do the same next time she sends you this crap. That should shut her up.

[Webster Green]

8. Thats a great response!

Perfect! 50 bucks to the ACLU

Maybe 50 bucks to the Hillary campaign too.

Fucking freepers!

[SoCalDem]

5. Just say.. "Thanks, but no thanks"

bounce it back to her, and tell her you do not appreciate being spammed with political lies and propaganda.

[mn9driver]

6. It's not a real story. So make one up and send it back.

Maybe something along the lines of:

Once upon a time there was a really, really devout Christian woman who couldn't see any harm in having laws that would make everyone believe just the way she did. She spent her days sending stupid-ass emails with judgmental subtexts to friends and relatives until everyone was sick of her and wanted nothing to do with her.

One day she found herself very old and about to die. Having nobody who didn't have her on their spam blocker, she called her minister who said he would be right over. When he got there, she said, "Oh, Reverend, I'm about to die and all of the friends and relatives that I have tried to Save by getting them to believe exactly the way I do, want nothing to do with me."

The minister replied, "Gee, that's too bad. By the way, before you die could you post date a couple of checks?" And then she died.

The End.

[The Doctor.]

12. Nice piece...

May I use it sometime?

{OE}- or some variation, that is...

[mn9driver]

16. Be my guest...

Maybe it'll become an urban legend...now it's time for popcorn!

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

[foreigncorrespondent]

7. Just tell her...

...that while you understand the religious significance of April 1st, it wasn't an Atheist who tortured Jesus and leave it at that.

[Dr.Phool]

9. First of all, tell her an atheist

Couldn't give a rats ass what holidays Christians, Muslims or whoever celebrate. As normal human beings, we also enjoy celebrations and holidays. We just may not celebrate the same meaning they do. We also don't file stupid lawsuits such as that. Some of us do object to state sanctioned holidays for religious observance, such as Good Friday off for worship.

Also, almost all holidays celebrated by Christians were stolen a long time ago from Pagans, to make their religion more palatable to the masses.

Jesus also said in the New Testament that any man who calls another man a fool is damned! She can involve her god in anything she wants, just as I can not involve imaginary beings in my life.

You can find a whole treasure trove of info at www.infidels.org. Check out their library. You can also find a lot of info at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, www.ffrf.org web site. Especialy the history of holidays.

I hope this helps.

[seabeyond]

10. my response

as a christian i have just had enough of the arrogance of the christian of late. i am disappointed and sadden that we feel the need to behave in this manner and so much worse. in my humble opinion i dont feel we are following christs lite, and i have no desire to play in this game. in the future when you want to make someone less, i would appreciate it if you didnt include me in this. as a christian i oppose this behavior, and i would like to see more fellow christians take this stand. then maybe we could move away from hate and seperation to finding common ground and love

respectfully

[Anakin Skywalker]

11. Why Can't You Just Block Her Emails?

I would.

[The Doctor.]

14. "Keep your friends close...

and your relatives closer." - Old Greek addage.

No need to over react.

[oasis]

15. Tell your dimwit auntie-in-law that no such trial ever took place and to

stop bothering you with unsubstantiated drivel.

[pretzel4gore]

17. her bush got an underaged kid pregnant, then an illegal abortion

back in early 70's texas- it's all been documented (robin lowman married an fbi agent)...tell her fox'news' reported on it...

[Az]

18. Does she think this is a real story?

In our debating groups we often came across this silly argument. "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God." Our simple response to this was if a fool can figure it out why can't you?

Inform your aunt that atheists are citizens too. When we say We The People it means atheists too. Atheists make up about 10%-18% of the population. If she thinks atheists are so easily dismissed ask her to rip five stars of the flag. Pick 5 states to kick out of the union. That is representitive of the number of atheists in this nation.

So ask her why she hates America. Ask her why she harbors so much hate in her heart. Ask her why she can't treat others as she wishes they would treat her.

[BuyingThyme]

19. I find that email nonsensical.

Somebody with nothing better to do made it up.

Why respond to it at all?

[lavenderdiva]

20. you guys are great.

Thanks for all of your input. Sorry that I didn't realize that this was an old story making the rounds again. I did realize that the story was an allegory, however, I'm not so sure Aunt-in-law does! Truly frightening. Your ideas for responses are fabulous, and I will work on crafting some sort of direct response using your inspirations... Thanks again! :applause: