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Atheist group's slavery billboard is down, but anger, hurt remain for many


Someone partially tore down a controversial billboard in Harrisburg overnight.
Submitted photo

Video [embedded]
Atheists slave sign
Ralph Roberson of Harrisburg and Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland of the 159th Legislative District Delaware County talk about the billboard posted in Harrisburg by the American Atheists and Pennsylvania Nonbelievers.

By DIANA FISHLOCK, The Patriot-News
Published: Thursday, March 08, 2012, 9:00 AM
Updated: Thursday, March 08, 2012, 1:17 PM

The billboard is down [ http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/03/harrisburg_slave_billboard_was.html ], but the issue’s not gone.

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission [ http://topics.pennlive.com/tag/human%20relations%20commission/index.html ] sent a staff member to investigate a complaint about a billboard portraying an African slave with the biblical quote “Slaves, obey your masters” in Harrisburg.

Also, the commission has followed up with the atheists who sponsored the billboard and the NAACP to better understand the situation and stave off community tensions.

The atheists behind the sign said they were trying to draw attention to the state House’s recent designation of 2012 as “The Year of the Bible” [ http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/03/post_325.html ] — an action by lawmakers that the atheists have said is offensive.

But there were concerns that erecting such a billboard is playing with fire.

“If this had been Detroit, there would have been a riot,” said Aaron Selvey of Harrisburg, who visited the billboard site Tuesday and Wednesday.

That’s what the Human Relations Committee wants to prevent.

“We don’t want things to escalate into violence or community tension, so we try to address situations like that right away,” said Shannon Powers, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. “We would not recommend tearing down because it could lead to escalation. It hasn’t, and we’re tremendously thankful for that.”

The billboard at 13th and Paxton streets in Allison Hill, one of the city’s most racially diverse neighborhoods, was partially torn off Tuesday night, the first night it went up. By Wednesday morning, the controversial sign had been replaced by one trumpeting the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra with a smiling conductor Stuart Malina beaming from the high perch above Paxton Street, a main thoroughfare.

The fact that people were calling the earlier billboard a hate crime illustrates how horribly offended some groups were by the image of the black man in the metal collar, Powers said.

Hate-crime charges can be added to a crime that involves criminal mischief or other property damage, or that endangers a person, such as assault or terroristic threats, she said. It would be up to police, not the commission, to say whether putting up the billboard met those criteria.

A Harrisburg police spokesman said he had not seen police reports about the billboard and could not comment as to whether the image and words on the billboard constituted a hate crime.

But Harrisburg police do have a report on the vandalism of the billboard [ http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/03/controversial_slavery_billboar.html ] and hope to find who did it, Lt. Robert H. Fegan said.

Campaign to proceed

Ernest Perce V, state director of American Atheists, said he won’t press charges against whoever damaged the billboard he designed, but he has reported that he received death threats this week, he said.

“We hope people can see just a little bit of discrimination we get, said Perce, who dressed as the “Zombie Muhammad” in a Halloween parade in Mechanicsburg last year, offending midstate Muslims.

“We ask that you turn your anger toward the House of Representatives and join us in our endeavors to repeal “The Year of the Bible.” American Atheists does not support or condone slavery,” Perce said, calling the Bible “evil” and saying it condones slavery.

The atheists who sponsored the billboard said they are dismayed that people were offended by the image instead of the injustices in the Bible and legislators naming 2012 “The Year of the Bible."

Perce said he will proceed with a 25-billboard campaign against the Bible and the legislation.

Brian Fields, president of the Pennsylvania Nonbelievers, understands the image was provocative.

“I want to say that I’m truly sorry that many people have misunderstood this billboard. It was never our intention to use race as our message itself,” Fields said.

“I don’t know if that would have had the impact, the same meaning if it wasn’t tied into something visceral. The picture shows the consequences of the statement that the Bible makes,” he said.

More scrutiny planned

The billboard company will review all images from the atheists before posting any, a spokesman said.

In his 27 years at Lamar Advertising, Andrew Rebuck, general manager of the office in Lemoyne, said he has never known anyone to remove part of a billboard image. “Typically, if someone is upset, they will spray paint the message.”

At least 20 people have called his office to complain. Any more billboard proposals from the atheist groups will be carefully reviewed, he said. “We don’t endorse the message. That is not my intent to have the community upset.”

The NAACP didn’t advocate taking the sign down, “but, boy, was I pleased it was done,” said Greater Harrisburg Branch President Stanley Lawson. “It caused a lot of hurt and a lot of pain in the community. I’ve gotten more phone calls about this than I have about any issues in the past three or four years. It wasn’t just elderly people, it was young people, across the board.”

Selvey called the billboard a hit to his soul.

“That image, that was my ancestors. That represents their struggle and all the pain they went through,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of people understood how offensive that is. Schoolchildren will just see that black face and the words. They don’t understand the context.”

He hopes the billboard’s coming down is the first step toward understanding and progress on a host of problems.

Linda Singh spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday at the site of the billboard.

“This is my first time ever getting involved in anything like this. I am not one to protest, but someone’s got to do it,” she said.

Like Selvey, she said she feels the sign coming down should be a call for bigger things.

“I think the community needs to be proactive and not reactive,” Singh said. She thinks the atheist groups should be sued. “People think of that as freedom of speech. That’s harassment and intimidation.”

How to help

Harrisburg police ask that anyone with information about the tearing down of the billboard [ http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/03/controversial_slavery_billboar.html ] contact Sgt. Deric Moody at 717-255-3156 or [e-mail].

Staff writer Matthew Kemeny contributed to this report.


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Pennsylvania Judge Throws Out Charge For Harassing Atheist While Calling The Victim A Doofus



JONATHAN TURLEY
Published 1, February 24, 2012

There is a surprising story out of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania that seems the perfect storm of religious tensions. You begin with Ernie Perce, an atheist who marched as a zombie Mohammad in the Mechanicsburg Halloween parade. Then you add Talaag Elbayomy, a Muslim who stepped off a curb and reportedly attacked Perce for insulting the Prophet. Then you have a judge (Judge Mark Martin) who threw out the criminal charges against Elbayomy and ridiculed the victim, Perce. The Judge identifies himself as a Muslim and says that Perce conduct is not what the First Amendment is supposed to protect. [UPDATE [ http://jonathanturley.org/2012/02/26/judge-in-zombie-mohammed-case-responds/ ]: The judge says he is not a Muslim despite what is heard by most listeners on the tape. That being the case, the criticism of the comments remains.] [UPDATE2 [ http://jonathanturley.org/2012/02/27/atheist-in-zombie-mohammad-case-responds/ ]: Perce has responded to our blog and denied many of the factual representations made by Judge Martin].

Perce is the American Atheists’ Pennsylvania State Director and marched with other atheists, including one dressed as a creepy Pope. Here is the tape of the incident [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP-X3hpCfR8 (embedded)]:

Perce says that Elbayomy grabbed him and tried to take his sign. Elbayomy was at the parade with his wife and children and said that he felt he had to act in the face of the insult. The officer at the scene, Sgt. Brian Curtis, correctly concluded that Perce was engaged in a lawful, first amendment activity. He therefore charged Elbayomy. While it looks like an assault, he was only charged with harassment.

The case, however, then went to District Judge Mark Martin who not only threw out the charge of harassment but ridiculed Perce as a “doofus.” He also proceeds to not only give an account of his own feelings (and say that he was offended personally by Perce’s action) but suggests that Elbayomy was just protecting his “culture.” The judge not only points to the Koran in the courtroom but his time in Muslim countries as relevant to his deliberations. Putting aside the problem of ruling in a case where you admit you have strong personal feelings, the lecture given on the first amendment is perfectly grotesque from a civil liberties perspective.

Here is part of the hearing transcript:

Well, having had the benefit of having spent over two-and-a-half years in predominantly Muslim countries, I think I know a little bit about the faith of Islam. In fact, I have a copy of the Quran here, and I would challenge you, Sir, to show me where it says in the Quran that Muhammad arose and walked among the dead. I think you misinterpreted a couple of things. So before you start mocking somebody else’s religion, you might want to find out a little more about it. It kind of makes you look like a doofus. …

In many other Muslim-speaking countries, err, excuse me, many Arabic-speaking countries, predominantly Muslim, something like this is definitely against the law there, in their society. In fact, it could be punished by death, and frequently is, in their society.

Here in our society, we have a Constitution that gives us many rights, specifically First Amendment rights. It’s unfortunate that some people use the First Amendment to deliberately provoke others. I don’t think that’s what our forefathers intended. I think our forefathers intended to use the First Amendment so we can speak with our mind, not to piss off other people and cultures – which is what you did.

I don’t think you’re aware, Sir, there’s a big difference between how Americans practice Christianity – I understand you’re an atheist – but see Islam is not just a religion. It’s their culture, their culture, their very essence, their very being. They pray five times a day toward Mecca. To be a good Muslim before you die, you have to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, unless you’re otherwise told you cannot because you’re too ill, too elderly, whatever, but you must make the attempt. Their greeting is ‘Salam alaikum, wa-laikum as-Salam,’ uh, ‘May God be with you.’

Whenever it is very common, their language, when they’re speaking to each other, it’s very common for them to say, uh, Allah willing, this will happen. It’s, they’re so immersed in it. And what you’ve done is, you’ve completely trashed their essence, their being. They find it very, very, very offensive. I’m a Muslim. I find it offensive. I find what’s on the other side of this [sign] very offensive. But you have that right, but you are way outside your bounds of First Amendment rights. …

I’ve spent about seven years living in other countries. When we go to other countries, it’s not uncommon for people to refer to us as ‘ugly Americans.’ This is why we hear it referred to as ‘ugly Americans,’ because we’re so concerned about our own rights, we don’t care about other people’s rights. As long as we get our say, but we don’t care about the other people’s say.

The judge’s distorted view of the first amendment was magnified by Elbayomy’s counsel, R. Mark Thomas who called this lecture “a good dressing down by the judge. The so-called victim was the antagonist and we introduced evidence that clearly showed his attitude toward Muslims. The judge didn’t do anything I wouldn’t have done if I was in that position.”

I fail to see the relevance of the victim’s attitude toward Muslims or religion generally. He had a protected right to walk in the parade and not be assaulted for his views. While the judge laments that “{i}t’s unfortunate that some people use the First Amendment to deliberately provoke others,” that is precisely what the Framers had in mind if Thomas Paine is any measure.

Notably, reports indicate that Elbayomy called police because he thought it was a crime to be disrespectful to Muhammed. The judge appears to reference this by noting that in some countries you can be put to death for such an offense. Those countries are called oppressive countries. This is a free country where it is not a crime to insult someone’s religion — despite a counter-trend in some Western countries [ http://jonathanturley.org/2009/10/19/just-say-no-to-blasphemy-u-s-supports-eygpt-in-limiting-anti-religious-speech/ ].

I also do not see how the judge believes that he has the authority to tell a religious critic that “before you start mocking somebody else’s religion, you might want to find out a little more about it.” Let alone call a person a “doofus” because he opposes religion.

To make matters worse, the judge is reportedly threatening Perce with contempt for posting the audio of the hearing.

The reference to the cultural motivations for assaulting Perce seems to raise a type of cultural defense. I have spent years discussing this issue with state and federal judges on the proper role of culture in criminal and civil cases [ http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=InsideTrack&Template=/CustomSource/InsideTrack/contentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=99712 ]. This is not a case where I would view that defense as properly raised. There are certainly constitutional (and yes cultural) norms that must be accepted when joining this Republic. One is a commitment to free speech. If culture could trump free speech, the country would become the amalgamation of all extrinsic cultures — protecting no one by protecting everyone’s impulses. Those countries referenced by the court took a different path — a path away from civil liberties and toward religious orthodoxy. It is a poor example to raise except as an example of what we are not. The fact that this man may have formed his views in such an oppressive environment does not excuse his forcing others to adhere to his religious sentiments.

Martin’s comments also heighten concerns over the growing trend toward criminalizing anti-religious speech in the use of such standards as the Brandenburg test, a position supported by the Obama Administration [ http://jonathanturley.org/2011/12/29/pakistani-police-arrest-christian-for-blasphemy-in-church-on-christmas/ ].

There are legitimate uses of the culture defense. However, when it comes to free speech, that is not just our controlling constitutional right but the touchstone of our culture.

I can understand the judge’s claims of conflicting testimony on the crime – though it seems to be that the officer’s testimony and the tape would resolve those doubts. However, I view this as an extremely troubling case that raises serious questions of judicial temperament, if not misconduct [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv9IyrpOnbs (embedded)].

Source: ABC [ http://www.abc27.com/story/16986440/midstate-judge-rules-against-attack-on-atheist-in-costume ]

Copyright 2012 Jonathan Turley (emphasis in original)

http://jonathanturley.org/2012/02/24/pennsylvania-judge-throws-out-charge-for-harassing-atheist-while-calling-the-victim-a-doofus/ [with comments]