A local business owner decided to take a break and wander down the street to the event and have a listen for himself. He wandered down and heard one of the speakers commenting on Christianity and it's faithful and the wheels quite literally came off. He went back to his small business, grabbed the first piece of cardboard and marker he could find and fashioned this little gem and hung it in his shop window.
Apparently, the word of one speaker, for a mere handful of minutes, incited this kind of response.
Now, I get it - believe me. When it comes to running off at the mouth (or the keyboard ) I am the FIRST to say that I'm in need of some good cool-down time before I comment on most things. When I have ignored that and spouted off, I find myself wishing I hadn't. The internet is a wonderful and horrific place where some of our worst mistake and callous words will live on in infamy.
Having said that, how on Earth did this seem like a good idea? As Atheists, are we not constantly accused of thinking X, Y and Z about "all christians"? Don't they just automatically assume that if you're a believer we hate you or don't understand you and your complex faith and thus we just decide to call it a day and call ourselves atheists? Of course not. So WHY would someone assume based on a few words of 1 person speaking at an event, that anyone at Skepticon is not worthy of patronizing your business?
The thing I have the biggest problem with is the elaborate apology that was issued. Apparently, the fact that the sign was "only up for 10 minutes" and the fact that he probably made a killing that weekend thanks to those very skeptics, should mean that we should somehow let this go.
In my eyes though, this is a hate crime. Had this sign said "Christian's are not welcome in my Atheist business" or "Blacks, Jews, Asians are not welcome in my business", "Women are not welcome in my business" would we be having the same discussion? Hell no we wouldn't. If it were ANY other group of people we'd be outraged as a society that someone thought it was ok to put such hateful words into action and actually post it in the window of the business. Namely a small business who we've been hearing so much about lately. Someone who literally bit the hand that feeds him, issues an apology and tries to pacify us with weak excuses and this is ok? It most certainly is not. This is the wording of the law
Discrimination on the basis of religion is prohibited by law in the area of public accommodation.
Businesses that offer services to the public, whether privately or publicly owned, are subject to anti-discrimination laws.
All individuals, regardless of their religion, are entitled to the same goods and services without discrimination or segregation.
There are recourse procedures for discriminatory acts.
These procedures may include civil actions.
Those who believe they have been discriminated against, must be aware of mandatory time frames for filing complaints.
If you feel that you have been discriminated against, we encourage you file a complaint with the Mayor's Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations.
-- Kelly Johnson, vice chair of the Mayor's Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations.
"All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin."
-- Section 2000a of Title 42, Chapter 21 of the U.S. Code
His apology
To the World:
Hello, my name is Andy and I’m the owner of Gelato Mio, a gelato shop located in Springfield, Missouri. There has been quite a lot of buzz and discussion concerning a picture of the sign I briefly posted in my front window Saturday evening. I’d like to take this opportunity to tell my story and offer a heartfelt apology to your community. I messed up, plain and simple. This is NOT an excuse, but how it happened from my perspective.
I decided to welcome the convention downtown by offering the attendees 10% off their purchases at my store. A lot of the group from the convention were stopping by, being very polite and enjoying my Gelato. Saturday night started out as a great night. Once the store slowed down, I decided to walk down the street to learn more about the convention, fully thinking it was something involving UFOs (“skeptics”). What I saw instead was a man conducting a mock sermon, reading the bible and cursing it. Instead of saying “Amen”, the phrase was “god damn”. Being a Christian, and expecting flying saucers, I was not only totally surprised but totally offended. I took it very personally and quickly decided in the heat of the moment that I had to take matters into my own hands and let people know how I felt at that moment in time.
So, I went quickly back to my business, grabbed the first piece of paper I could find, wrote the note and taped it in my front window. This was an impulsive response, which I fully acknowledge was completely wrong and unacceptable. The sign was posted for about 10 minutes or so before I calmed down, came to my senses, and took it down. For what it’s worth, nobody was turned away. I strongly believe that everybody is entitled to their beliefs. I’m not apologizing for my beliefs, but rather for my inexcusable actions. I was wrong.
Guys, I really don’t know what else I can do to express my apologies. I’ve received dozens of calls and hundreds of emails since the incident, and have done my best to reply to each and every one and express my regret for what happened. For the thousands of you whom I’ve offended, I sincerely apologize. I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. This is me as a human being sincerely apologizing for my actions.
To those of you who accept my apology, Thank You; it means a lot. To those of you who haven’t, I hope you will. I’m just a 28 year old small business owner who made a big mistake. I hope you see that I have not made any excuses, I’ve owned up to what I did, and I apologize.
For what it’s worth, an Atheist reached out to me to help me work through all of this and contact your community directly. I graciously accepted his offer.
I will give everyone who comes to my store this week 10% off as a token of my apology. Really, what’s more universal than ice cream?
Sincerely, Andy
I understand the act of forgiveness. I applaud those of you who can accept this apology. All I see here is a snarky cutesy attempt to make light of ignorant and hateful behavior. Perhaps if being an atheist were easier it wouldn't sting so bad. Perhaps if I wasn't confronted daily with explaining why I believe facts, if I didn't have to explain the fact that I don't believe things just because I'm told to, I'd feel differently. As a christian though, he's completely oblivious, in my opinion. Once word of this spreads he's probably be a local hero. It's too bad. For once people should take themselves out and look at this objectively. He selected a group of people to discriminate against. Sure he says nobody was turned away but, why are we to believe the word of a bigot covering his own ass?
Please stop. Please think. Please consider that just as 1 militant Christian doesn't represent all of Christianity, 1 speaker doesnt' represent all of the skeptics. If we look beyond private beliefs and learn more about each other as people, maybe the hate can stop. It has to start somewhere though and that place is clearly not, Gelato Mio.
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