Talk about a close competition! This is what I mean about quality vs. quantity -- nominate the REALLY good quotes, and they will get voted for! It gives me great pleasure, first of all, to announce the winner of the Atheist Quote of the Month contest for September, with ten votes . . . CHIB!! --13-- "Perhaps atheists will spend a lot less time talking about god when we have our own meeting places on every other corner, when our organizations are tax-exempt, when our slogans are printed on your money, when we elect a president (or any other leader) who understands science, when those idiotic little fish disappear, when organ donor cards no longer have a blank space for religion, when holidays commemorate great ideas instead of mythological beings, when newspapers devote a weekly section to atheism, when people stop saying "God bless you" every time we sneeze, when we open a motel room drawer and find a copy of Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History Of Time", when pimple-faced kids stop coming to our houses on Saturday mornings to 'save' us, when...." Written by Chib Congratulations to our winner. As to our runners-up -- it was a very close race!! Liz tallies in at 9 votes, and Conrad Knauer and Skeptic X share third-place honors with 8 apiece. Wow! Congratulations to all of them. Here is the voting record. Keep those nominations coming! --1-- "Fundies seem to think that the only way of knowing something is to experience it firsthand; a strange contradiction since they've only met their god in a book..." Written by Conrad Knauer Nominated by raven1, seconded by Red Celt VOTES 8 HR Gruemm raven1 Magyck Yang Hu Mark Richardson Carl Funk Gregory Greenman Roy Thearle * * * * --2-- "The hard way out is facing your fears head-on, with no IPU standing behind you to cushion your fall. The hard way out is to sweat and dream and scream and bleed, and come out of facing your fears all in one piece. Many people don't believe in *god*. They face their fears all on their own and are better people for it." Written by Maddeline Hatteur Nominated by Aaron Spielman, seconded by John Popelish VOTES 1 Angelico * * * * --3-- "You can go off and delude yourself all you want, but when you start threatening nonbelievers, when you start damaging the education systems, when you start considering the evil and horror bestowed upon humankind by your religious beliefs in the past and you refuse to accept any responsibility for them, that's when things get a bit scary in the real world of which you and I are a part." Written by Dan Fake Nominated by Angelico, seconded by Tukla Ratte VOTES 2 Charles Ward Tom Stoudt * * * * --4-- "Worshipping a god out of fear is the same as a slave placating his master by being submissive." Written by Aaron Spielman Nominated by Czar, seconded by Chris Izzo VOTES 2 Darryl L. Pierce Dan McEwen * * * * --5-- "If I do have a religion, it's unique in that it's the only one based in logical thought and reason, and not unfounded superstitious faith in magical beings." Written by John Hattan Nominated by Elroy Willis, seconded by Mark VOTES 1 Peter Gavin * * * * --6-- "It is amazing how few religers actually sit down and decide for themselves what the "book of punishment" is all about. Whenever you quote one of the atrocities their deity commits, they will turn around and say, "But god is just." Never mind fictionally drowning millions, the important part is how "good" the deity is for doing it. The depth of fear installed by this monster's parasites (preachers) is a human disgrace. They take advantage of the "masses" and fill their heads with fear and punishment, just to propagate the institution of fear-based religion." Written by Stephen Knight Nominated by Dan Fake, seconded by Elroy Willis VOTES 1 Keith Brannen * * * * --7-- "You are right about that "curse and control" stuff though. It is a large part of how shamen, priests and that lot convince people to believe them. It is probably why "believers" fear atheists so much. They just can't seem to be able to cope with those that are uninfluenced by their "magic"." Written by Joe Zawadowski Nominated by erikc, seconded by Aaron Spielman * * * * --8-- "So, the Xian fundies want to slap the 10 commandments on the wall. I guess our school kids have a real problem with committing adultery and carving idols during school hours." Written by Dr. Monkeyspank Nominated by Medival Knievil, seconded by Dave Holloway VOTES 2 DarkAngel Jeff Heidman * * * * --9-- "As the status quo for the vast majority of two millennia in the Western World, Christianity has enjoyed unquestionable preeminence, cultural universality, and at times even the merciless state-enforced oppression of dissenters. Christians have become so used to a climate of social dominance and impunity many of them seem to think their civil liberties are being violated when they are encouraged to stop infringing upon the civil liberties of others. Just like a bully who's outraged because the position of someone else's nose has become a messy *imposition* upon his right to freely swing his fist." Written by Skeptic X Nominated by Mongo76, seconded by CTTheGreat VOTES 8 Michelle Martin Frank Wustner Mike Brian King Victor Danilchenko Mongo76 The Jester Tim Schultz * * * * --10-- (Replying to MrGoodsalt:) "In my opinion the reverse is true. You are in a way spiritually dead to me because of your delusions. They prevent you from seeing what the world and it's people really are." Written by Mark Gradwell Nominated by Nemo, seconded by Joe Zawadowski * * * * --11-- "What's this I hear about murals in the atheist worldview? Why can't they just write pamphlets, articles and books like other groups? And, what kind of murals would they paint, anyway - a picture of that Robert Inkersaul fella? What did he write, anyway? Did he ever sell a story to the Saturday Evening post? Heh? Atheist murals, huh? And, what about... What's that? Morals? Are you sure? "...Never mind. :)" Written by Michelle Malkin Nominated by Landis Ragon, seconded by Charles Ward VOTES 3 Landis Ragon Eileen Ed Stoebenau * * * * --12-- (In response to:) >>Why does it seem they always resort to irrational name-calling when put >>to the test? Because they do not have the answers; they cannot have the >>answers. "Actually, it's because we have had to answer the same question a zillion times. Think of it this way: this newsgroup is kinda like a car, and we atheists are the drivers. The theists who come in are like the small children in the back seat saying "are we there yet" ten thousand times in a row. No matter what we say to them, they ask the exact same question. I dare you to not get a little irate in a similar situation." Written by Jessica Wolfman Nominated by raven1, seconded by Dan McEwen VOTES 2 Michael Nash Mike Smith * * * * --13-- "Perhaps atheists will spend a lot less time talking about god when we have our own meeting places on every other corner, when our organizations are tax-exempt, when our slogans are printed on your money, when we elect a president (or any other leader) who understands science, when those idiotic little fish disappear, when organ donor cards no longer have a blank space for religion, when holidays commemorate great ideas instead of mythological beings, when newspapers devote a weekly section to atheism, when people stop saying "God bless you" every time we sneeze, when we open a motel room drawer and find a copy of Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History Of Time", when pimple-faced kids stop coming to our houses on Saturday mornings to 'save' us, when...." Written by Chib Nominated by Nemo, seconded by Maria Elena VOTES 10 Liz Senebyte Nemo Graham Wanless Leon Workman Paul the Wall Maria Elena Fish Tukla Ratte Frank * * * * --14-- (In response to:) > Yes, well maybe I do find it attractive, but that's because I find it > logical. I don't know why! "If you don't know why you find it logical, you don't find it logical." Written by Michael Nominated by Colin Day, seconded by Sylvan Korvus VOTES 1 Decimal * * * * --15-- "Christianity still practices virtual cannibalism by eating their GodŽ's body and drinking his blood during their rituals. They also venerate his execution by placing its depiction in a prominent position in their sanctuaries. Worshipers even go so far as to wear a miniature of the murder weapon as a necklace. Then, they have the temerity to complain about the violence depicted on television." Written by Liz Nominated by Stephen Knight, seconded by Chani VOTES 9 George Ricker Treelo Elroy Willis Electric MessiahX DJ Nozem John Hattan Stoney Diem Marshall Dave Holloway * * * * --16-- "Atheist: not theist Theist: someone who believes in some kind of god Agnostic: person who's not sure (or doesn't want to be killed by some theist) Deist: thinks god exists but doesn't give a damn" Written by TF Nominated by Eric99gt, seconded by Petteri Sulonen VOTES 1 Eric99gt Quotemeister Dave