Jessica Ahlquist has already displayed more courage at 16 then most of us will ever do in our entire lives. Thank you to Jessica for standing up for what is right and to the ACLU for helping her.
Standing up for what one knows to be true, denouncing what one knows to be unfalsifiable, and hence not worthy of consideration as true, is honorable, and honor is the first ingredient in any hero. The second requirement for any hero is a noble struggle. She stood up in an environment that sought to silence her and when she would not be silent, many vociferously maligned her in public and private before labeling her evil. She persisted and continued the fight, that is what makes her heroic.
Years from now, this brave young woman will be remembered in the same way that Rosa Parks is remembered nowadays. Someone in the minority that was fed up with the status quo and decided to speak her voice and stand up to tyranny and the oppression of the majority. Kudos Jessica. Between the choice of having you as my child versus Mitt Romney's Leave It to Beaver entourage, I'd pick you any day of the week. And yes, TWICE on Sunday. :-)
Exactly. Which is why her lawyer (as can be read in their official statements) put forth the fact that the banner was unconstitutional. But again, this was added later to strengthen their defense; it was not the catalyst for the entire legal campaign. As I said. To put it simply, the only reason she originally wanted the banner removed was because "It offends me". The fact that it was unconstitutional was a convenient foothold in getting it removed.
62680 dollars? Damn that was awesome! And Bravery was exactly the right memoline for that. She is awesome, I hope she feels really good and safe now. Atheists are so cool. This community spirit is so powerfull and strong. Such warm and supportive happy crowd. Organised superstition is the second biggest problem on this planet, but this gives me so much home for the better.
We are both right of course, he says in his most pompous headmasterish way. I think that it would be worthwhile for us to continue to make that point. I do give her, and her parents a great deal of credit and respect for weathering the storm as to few of us have been willing to do up to this point, and don't begrudge the notoriety that came with that. She is 16, at 16 this was not even on my radar.
A person who had the fortitude and skill to stand up for everyone's civil rights. The kids ARE alright. We all have the right to speak, the right to hear (including unpleasant things we disagree with) and the right to think any thoughts without being persecuted for them. Government however must not be made without sound reason, and never with supernatural, superstitious, and unreasoned foundation,
She said "I have a confession to make... I am *ingmolothing*?" Ink no law thing? Indoor no thing? Ain't go nothing? What? I replayed this dozens of times, I can't understand what she says. Please, someone explain me, it's driving me nuts. Thanks.
"Jessica is a Bigot" I LOL'd. The holier-than-thou types at her school tried the usual stuff of shoving their iron age myths down everybody's throat and she called them on that. Can't laud her enough for that.
I'm not religious. I never could be, since my beliefs are not a choice, but a reaction to evidence. I wasn't arguing for religious beliefs being pushed by the government (that is against the US constitution), I was arguing for giving criticism where criticism is due - including against religious beliefs. I was arguing against letting people "believe whatever they want to believe". I won't force my beliefs on to anyone, but I will argue for them and criticize, using my free speech.
Nobody made her read it or recite it. It was just there. All I'm saying is, if I were attending a school that had a Jewish or Islamic prayer hanging up somewhere, it would not bother me in the slightest. I certainly wouldn't wage a war against it. I wouldn't protest a sign that said "Happy Hanukkah" I wouldn't argue with the science teacher explaining the creation of the universe.... I know it doesn't matter, and I know it would just piss people off who do like having it there.
And what did she do that she would regret? Forcing her school district to follow the law when they refused to do so willingly? There's not much to regret there.
I think we're all forgetting (or perhaps many of us simply didn't know) that she originally began her campaign against the banner because she didn't agree with it. The fact that it's unconstitutional was brought up later in order to strengthen her legal defense. While she was ultimately in the right, her original intentions make her no different than the self-righteous Christians who do similar things out of an arrogant sense of self-entitlement. She's right, but she's not a hero.
I agree with everything that you just said. Including the "stand our ground and fight with the tools we have" portion. As I said in the begining, she was ultimately right. I support the seperation of church and state. However, I cannot help but take issue with her original intentions: having the banner removed because it offended her. It's arrogant, self-assuming and, as you said, weak. All other things aside, that was my main point.
The treatment of this young woman doing nothing but upholding the constitution which seems severely neglected has been sickening. The seperation of church and state is there for a reason and is not just in place for christianity but every supernatural belief, it is the duty of every citizen to uphold the constitution and monitor the government. I hope that one day this seperation will be a global occurance and that no individual will need to be threatened for upholding it.
As far as being jealous, 62k for me isn't difficult to come by. I don't get checks for 62 grand, but I do pretty well. She must not be popular if "her entire community pretty much turned against her." I just think it's ridiculous that self entitled complaining gets rewarded. It's like giving a small child ice cream when they start crying.
Ok, I'll agree to that. They are adults and they shouldn't be acting like jackasses. They probably could have reached a peaceful compromise if they would have listened to each other.
What do you mean by "you guys?" People should just not try and piss other people off. I don't like sports, but when there's sports on the TV at a restaurant, I don't demand that they turn off the TV. I just acknowledge that some people like sports and I eat my food. What she did would be like me complaining about a picture of a sports team hanging on the wall at said restaurant. It's just stupid.
Freedom! Thats what God has given to mankind; including denying his existence. So the brilliant lady's stance is not out of place. I can only advise her not to do same to Satan
I have repeatedly said that her removing the banner because of the Constitution does would not make her a Bigot, what makes her a Bigot is her comments when the banner was originally discovered and also her many comments since. Read my other comments first next time before calling me a Bigot. I have been fighting for fair treatment of Atheists and all other religions and all races too, unlike Jessica whose negative comments about Christianity as a whole make her a Bigot.
No. I will not let people believe lies like homosexuality being a choice, and global warming not existing. Lots of people believe those things, and they are false. If I can do anything about that, I will. Letting people "believe anything they want" is a stupid idea. Secondly, ideas should be criticized and scrutinized so that open minded people can look at each others ideas, argue, and improve upon them. And if you don't like that, I still have free speech.
I am an Atheist that finds the "that offends me" argument weak and fruitless. I also see the "sue for every public expression of religion" crowd as misguided. I believe we should have more exposure of their unfalsifiable beliefs, not less, and get the feeling that we are in agreement on that. But I also know, that we have to stand our ground and fight with the tools that we have. More over, how many non believing kids out there fell a little less alone because of Jessica Alquist?
"Strong atheism usually bases its arguments in dismissals of the existence of gods. Depending on the epistemological stance, some atheists can either claim that gods are inherently contradictory and therefore cannot exist (an "a priori" argument), or that the concept of (some) gods are inconsistent with our observations (an "a posteriori" argument)." No proof needed for Strong atheism. Got any proof for god yet?
Please cite the exact words that prohibit the display of a popular prayer banner in a public school. Hint: it's not there. Laws are written down for the lowest layer of society--those who can't think for themselves and make rational judgments based on the situation. Basically, the written law, such as the constitution and the bible, is a one-size-fits-all solution to the general ignorance of our society. The rest of us (smart) can discern right from wrong and choose not to steal from walmart.
I don't even know what this prayer said. It's not even about religion vs. atheism. Her community turned against her because she bitched and moaned and complained until she got her way, and she made the people who originally put it up, bunch of senior citizens cry. Honestly, it's been up there for 50 years and nobody said anything about it. Why do we as a society have to empower one person out of the million who attended the school since the banner was put up?
Why would it need to be in violation of what they believe? The Bible contains genocide endorsed by god (for a few references to Biblical violence: evilbible(.)com/Murder(.)htm). I don't know what sort of relationship there is between secularism and moral progress, but moral progress is real enough: /watch?v=ramBFRt1Uzk
I don't get it why do people worship and think they can learn morals and values from an inept carpenter and a 33 yr old mama's boy (who can't and wont move out and yet has the audacity to rebuke her countless of times) ^_^ Seriously
I am an atheist. I just don't respect people who claim to be offended by inanimate objects and then throw a hissy fit to have them removed under the ruse of constitutional defense. That's not what the constitution is for. Be rational and have some empathy for once. That banner was harmless, and it wasn't violating anybody's personal freedom.
Quite the sweeping generalization you've made there. And here I thought I became an atheist because of a significant lack of evidence for God, as well as a plethora of evidence against the God story itself. Little did I know all I wanted to do was do drugs and sleep around. Thank you for revealing this to me!
Again its like your dodging the question, I don't care if the banner is illegal, its a banner!! who cares. Do you not think she could be doing better things with her time and THE MONEY than complain about some banner.
As a fellow demon I resent that remark. Instead of whining about it why don't you help us rally all the Muslims and New Agers to fight in the battle of Armagedon so that our swim in the lake of fire will come closer.
Never said I was. No, I don't care about anybody's religious beliefs or lack there of. I'm just not in to empowering the one kid out of 10,000 who can't eat peanuts by banning peanuts, metaphorically speaking. OK, I'm out for real this time, Good luck to you.
"it's atheism that's caused all of the worlds problems" Is that why 900 million people have been killed in religious wars? Is that why civilization becoming more secular has leaad to all of our moral progress?.
No no no. The Constitution only mentions religion in the "Free Exercise Clause" and the "Establishment Clause." It NEVER says religion should be a part of politics. All these clauses say is that the government can never sponsor a religion. Please read the treaty of Tripoli. It states clearly the US is NOT a christian nation. This will negate your next attempt which will be to say we are a christian nation.
Christians wars and the millions atheism has killed, & the difference. In atheism it can logically emerge. Within christianity it would have to be in violation to what they believe. By the way, what moral progress?
Yeah, I don't see fire fighters and soldiers getting 60k checks for risking there LIVES! but ok! Sure! This is "bravery" and yeah I use the word kids because everyone in this audience is being completely childish.
It's crazy that people make such a fuss about religion or atheism. In my country it's almost weird to be religious. It's mostly for the backwarded natives or the muslim immigrants (also often from backwarded areas). Thank fuck I'm a disbeliever! =D But yeah, the United States are still a very young country so you lot have still a lot of growing up to do ;)
It wasn't christians expressing themselves, it was a government funded school. This isn't the first time someone has complained for this. In previous times it wasn't atheists of course, since people like you hated them and discriminated them even more back then. Instead it was different religions, like jewish and so on.
Only if she suffered a head injury. Which is what I assume happened to you. Although it could also be attributed to a basic genetic insufficiency as it pertains to logic and critical thinking. Which is the hallmark of the standard dogmatic christian.
Jessica Ahlquist has already displayed more courage at 16 then most of us will ever do in our entire lives. Thank you to Jessica for standing up for what is right and to the ACLU for helping her.
Standing up for what one knows to be true, denouncing what one knows to be unfalsifiable, and hence not worthy of consideration as true, is honorable, and honor is the first ingredient in any hero. The second requirement for any hero is a noble struggle.
She stood up in an environment that sought to silence her and when she would not be silent, many vociferously maligned her in public and private before labeling her evil. She persisted and continued the fight, that is what makes her heroic.
Jessica has done more in her 16 years of life then I'll probably ever do in my entire life.
Years from now, this brave young woman will be remembered in the same way that Rosa Parks is remembered nowadays. Someone in the minority that was fed up with the status quo and decided to speak her voice and stand up to tyranny and the oppression of the majority.
Kudos Jessica. Between the choice of having you as my child versus Mitt Romney's Leave It to Beaver entourage, I'd pick you any day of the week. And yes, TWICE on Sunday. :-)
Exactly. Which is why her lawyer (as can be read in their official statements) put forth the fact that the banner was unconstitutional.
But again, this was added later to strengthen their defense; it was not the catalyst for the entire legal campaign. As I said.
To put it simply, the only reason she originally wanted the banner removed was because "It offends me". The fact that it was unconstitutional was a convenient foothold in getting it removed.
62680 dollars? Damn that was awesome! And Bravery was exactly the right memoline for that. She is awesome, I hope she feels really good and safe now.
Atheists are so cool. This community spirit is so powerfull and strong. Such warm and supportive happy crowd.
Organised superstition is the second biggest problem on this planet, but this gives me so much home for the better.
Did you employ the warp stabilizer?
Jessica Ahlquist for president, hopefully one day she can run for office.
She was given a $60,000+ check, if I understood correctly? Why is it / for what cause?
We are both right of course, he says in his most pompous headmasterish way. I think that it would be worthwhile for us to continue to make that point.
I do give her, and her parents a great deal of credit and respect for weathering the storm as to few of us have been willing to do up to this point, and don't begrudge the notoriety that came with that. She is 16, at 16 this was not even on my radar.
A person who had the fortitude and skill to stand up for everyone's civil rights. The kids ARE alright.
We all have the right to speak, the right to hear (including unpleasant things we disagree with) and the right to think any thoughts without being persecuted for them. Government however must not be made without sound reason, and never with supernatural, superstitious, and unreasoned foundation,
Was that Paul Dinello speaking before and after her?
(Any Strangers With Candy fans out there know who I'm talking about?)
Wow, holy shit; did anyone else see that guy just completely disappear?!
She said "I have a confession to make... I am *ingmolothing*?" Ink no law thing? Indoor no thing? Ain't go nothing? What? I replayed this dozens of times, I can't understand what she says. Please, someone explain me, it's driving me nuts. Thanks.
I could only wish to have half her courage and determination.
"Jessica is a Bigot" I LOL'd. The holier-than-thou types at her school tried the usual stuff of shoving their iron age myths down everybody's throat and she called them on that.
Can't laud her enough for that.
Jessica has a bright future and will be a major player when it comes to secularism.
I'm not religious. I never could be, since my beliefs are not a choice, but a reaction to evidence. I wasn't arguing for religious beliefs being pushed by the government (that is against the US constitution), I was arguing for giving criticism where criticism is due - including against religious beliefs. I was arguing against letting people "believe whatever they want to believe". I won't force my beliefs on to anyone, but I will argue for them and criticize, using my free speech.
you can tell how intelligent she is, its no wonder she's an athiest
she's got a bright future ahead of her!
dog bless! :)
Nobody made her read it or recite it. It was just there. All I'm saying is, if I were attending a school that had a Jewish or Islamic prayer hanging up somewhere, it would not bother me in the slightest.
I certainly wouldn't wage a war against it. I wouldn't protest a sign that said "Happy Hanukkah" I wouldn't argue with the science teacher explaining the creation of the universe....
I know it doesn't matter, and I know it would just piss people off who do like having it there.
The fact that she was called an "evil little thing" tells you all you need to know about religion.
Thank you atomicsteve for sharing this vid.
I need to find and marry Jessica. She's only one year younger than me, so it's not weird or anything..
The girl is an inspiration.
And what did she do that she would regret? Forcing her school district to follow the law when they refused to do so willingly? There's not much to regret there.
She suied her school to take down a prayer banner. She won the lawsuite. But her community harassed her consistantly.
the speech starts at 3:14
I think we're all forgetting (or perhaps many of us simply didn't know) that she originally began her campaign against the banner because she didn't agree with it. The fact that it's unconstitutional was brought up later in order to strengthen her legal defense.
While she was ultimately in the right, her original intentions make her no different than the self-righteous Christians who do similar things out of an arrogant sense of self-entitlement.
She's right, but she's not a hero.
I agree with everything that you just said. Including the "stand our ground and fight with the tools we have" portion. As I said in the begining, she was ultimately right. I support the seperation of church and state.
However, I cannot help but take issue with her original intentions: having the banner removed because it offended her. It's arrogant, self-assuming and, as you said, weak.
All other things aside, that was my main point.
Jessica is a hero to me.
...and for all that torture she was awarded $25.
The treatment of this young woman doing nothing but upholding the constitution which seems severely neglected has been sickening. The seperation of church and state is there for a reason and is not just in place for christianity but every supernatural belief, it is the duty of every citizen to uphold the constitution and monitor the government. I hope that one day this seperation will be a global occurance and that no individual will need to be threatened for upholding it.
"...not much smarter than believers."
And you're here to demonstrate that?
and what country do you hail from? i wanna move there! :P
And so is the teapot orbiting the sun.
Atheist always have the "I'm better than you." attitude. God loves them just the same.
As far as being jealous, 62k for me isn't difficult to come by. I don't get checks for 62 grand, but I do pretty well.
She must not be popular if "her entire community pretty much turned against her."
I just think it's ridiculous that self entitled complaining gets rewarded. It's like giving a small child ice cream when they start crying.
Ok, I'll agree to that. They are adults and they shouldn't be acting like jackasses. They probably could have reached a peaceful compromise if they would have listened to each other.
What do you mean by "you guys?"
People should just not try and piss other people off. I don't like sports, but when there's sports on the TV at a restaurant, I don't demand that they turn off the TV.
I just acknowledge that some people like sports and I eat my food.
What she did would be like me complaining about a picture of a sports team hanging on the wall at said restaurant.
It's just stupid.
Freedom! Thats what God has given to mankind; including denying his existence. So the brilliant lady's stance is not out of place. I can only advise her not to do same to Satan
Was there a wounded cyborg filming this?
How do you like our drones? ~~~ATHEIST COALITION
Empty words. Nothing in the natural world points to god as an explanation, so many things are now explainable through science.
"Jessica blindly enforced the law of separation of church and state with complete disregard for its intent."
I LOL'd.
The intent was to protect the church, not the state.
So does Gandalf and the Seven Dwarfs...
We need more "evil little things" like her.
Flying Spaghetti Monster is....basic fact life.
Only for stupid people.
@@CygnusRoc this video and comment was from NINE YEARS AGO. What are you doing with your life!?
@@kylezehner841 More important things than you, I guarantee it. You’re the one who felt the need to respond to what I just said now, loser.
@@CygnusRoc okay sure, you do you weirdo. Go respond to some Gangnam Style video comments while you're here to. 😂✋
@@CygnusRoc Yo you wanna be friends on Myspace? What's your Limewire account? I got some WiiU games if you wanna play!? 😂
Man 2012 was lit!
I have repeatedly said that her removing the banner because of the Constitution does would not make her a Bigot, what makes her a Bigot is her comments when the banner was originally discovered and also her many comments since. Read my other comments first next time before calling me a Bigot. I have been fighting for fair treatment of Atheists and all other religions and all races too, unlike Jessica whose negative comments about Christianity as a whole make her a Bigot.
No. But I imagine "Moooom, tell them to stop doing that, it's annoying me" was.
So are unicorns.
No. I will not let people believe lies like homosexuality being a choice, and global warming not existing. Lots of people believe those things, and they are false. If I can do anything about that, I will. Letting people "believe anything they want" is a stupid idea.
Secondly, ideas should be criticized and scrutinized so that open minded people can look at each others ideas, argue, and improve upon them. And if you don't like that, I still have free speech.
hmmm, interesting but, how do you know that god is hurrying? and where is he hurrying from? and what can take an omnipoten being's time?
She deserves this.
Wow, that chick that was randomly yelling needs to learn how to shut up.
Facts can be proven.
I am an Atheist that finds the "that offends me" argument weak and fruitless. I also see the "sue for every public expression of religion" crowd as misguided. I believe we should have more exposure of their unfalsifiable beliefs, not less, and get the feeling that we are in agreement on that. But I also know, that we have to stand our ground and fight with the tools that we have. More over, how many non believing kids out there fell a little less alone because of Jessica Alquist?
"Strong atheism usually bases its arguments in dismissals of the existence of gods. Depending on the epistemological stance, some atheists can either claim that gods are inherently contradictory and therefore cannot exist (an "a priori" argument), or that the concept of (some) gods are inconsistent with our observations (an "a posteriori" argument)." No proof needed for Strong atheism. Got any proof for god yet?
Please cite the exact words that prohibit the display of a popular prayer banner in a public school. Hint: it's not there.
Laws are written down for the lowest layer of society--those who can't think for themselves and make rational judgments based on the situation. Basically, the written law, such as the constitution and the bible, is a one-size-fits-all solution to the general ignorance of our society. The rest of us (smart) can discern right from wrong and choose not to steal from walmart.
Sounded like 'media darling' to me.
I was trolling brah lol
I don't even know what this prayer said. It's not even about religion vs. atheism.
Her community turned against her because she bitched and moaned and complained until she got her way, and she made the people who originally put it up, bunch of senior citizens cry.
Honestly, it's been up there for 50 years and nobody said anything about it. Why do we as a society have to empower one person out of the million who attended the school since the banner was put up?
you are...missing article
but you said religion....not opinion
Why would it need to be in violation of what they believe? The Bible contains genocide endorsed by god (for a few references to Biblical violence: evilbible(.)com/Murder(.)htm). I don't know what sort of relationship there is between secularism and moral progress, but moral progress is real enough: /watch?v=ramBFRt1Uzk
Wow, thank you very much. $60K for.. Nothing? Just her wallet? Thought it was to cover the trial at least. Whatever.
I don't get it why do people worship and think they can learn morals and values from an inept carpenter and a 33 yr old mama's boy (who can't and wont move out and yet has the audacity to rebuke her countless of times) ^_^
Seriously
Read chapter 3 of the first Harry Potter book if you want to know the real god.
So proud of her!
For me, the proposition of "God" has not even been sufficiently specified to have cleared the bullshit threshold.
But why are you telling me that? :)
I am an atheist. I just don't respect people who claim to be offended by inanimate objects and then throw a hissy fit to have them removed under the ruse of constitutional defense. That's not what the constitution is for.
Be rational and have some empathy for once. That banner was harmless, and it wasn't violating anybody's personal freedom.
Are you serious?! What a silly thing to say.
Cameramen should not be around the audience. The cheering is heart-warming yet so fucking annoying at the same time.
Quite the sweeping generalization you've made there. And here I thought I became an atheist because of a significant lack of evidence for God, as well as a plethora of evidence against the God story itself.
Little did I know all I wanted to do was do drugs and sleep around. Thank you for revealing this to me!
Again its like your dodging the question, I don't care if the banner is illegal, its a banner!! who cares. Do you not think she could be doing better things with her time and THE MONEY than complain about some banner.
Tax atheists
they are breathing the air made by God
Oh no. "Wooo girls" are there.
Are the people who filmed this Christians?
Again you dodge my one and only question, should we not be spending time and money helping the poor rather then complaining about some banner?
I was about to make a comment that I'm glad I didn't :)
heh heh heh, that quote is to die for! die laughing, that is! :D
The Netherlands.
As the bible says: "As finishing touch, god created the Dutch" ;)
Not really, but the Dutch did create The Netherlands =D
As a fellow demon I resent that remark. Instead of whining about it why don't you help us rally all the Muslims and New Agers to fight in the battle of Armagedon so that our swim in the lake of fire will come closer.
Never said I was. No, I don't care about anybody's religious beliefs or lack there of. I'm just not in to empowering the one kid out of 10,000 who can't eat peanuts by banning peanuts, metaphorically speaking.
OK, I'm out for real this time, Good luck to you.
How did she display bigotry?
"it's atheism that's caused all of the worlds problems"
Is that why 900 million people have been killed in religious wars?
Is that why civilization becoming more secular has leaad to all of our moral progress?.
No no no. The Constitution only mentions religion in the "Free Exercise Clause" and the "Establishment Clause." It NEVER says religion should be a part of politics. All these clauses say is that the government can never sponsor a religion.
Please read the treaty of Tripoli. It states clearly the US is NOT a christian nation. This will negate your next attempt which will be to say we are a christian nation.
yeah, that was rude.
I tend to agree.. what she did was great.. but really.. come on.
Unlike god there is a great deal of evidence supporting teapots orbiting the sun. I.e. here on earth as we orbit the sun lol. : - )
Prove it
Yea watching too many edward current vids LOL
Super little thing!!!
She super sucks.
Christians wars and the millions atheism has killed, & the difference. In atheism it can logically emerge. Within christianity it would have to be in violation to what they believe. By the way, what moral progress?
The loony bin has been notified of your escape.
Yeah, I don't see fire fighters and soldiers getting 60k checks for risking there LIVES! but ok! Sure! This is "bravery" and yeah I use the word kids because everyone in this audience is being completely childish.
Wish my daughter could be that awesome one day *tear*
It's crazy that people make such a fuss about religion or atheism. In my country it's almost weird to be religious. It's mostly for the backwarded natives or the muslim immigrants (also often from backwarded areas).
Thank fuck I'm a disbeliever! =D
But yeah, the United States are still a very young country so you lot have still a lot of growing up to do ;)
It wasn't christians expressing themselves, it was a government funded school. This isn't the first time someone has complained for this. In previous times it wasn't atheists of course, since people like you hated them and discriminated them even more back then. Instead it was different religions, like jewish and so on.
Only if she suffered a head injury. Which is what I assume happened to you. Although it could also be attributed to a basic genetic insufficiency as it pertains to logic and critical thinking. Which is the hallmark of the standard dogmatic christian.
"I am not worthy of being the goodly Christian"
'goodly'? LMAO!