NJ bank wouldn't notarize American Atheist documents for ‘personal reasons’
162 replies, posted
[img]http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Angry-business-woman-throws-documents-via-Shutterstock-615x345.jpg[/img]
[I]see how angry this has made this stock photo woman; I mean shit look at those papers[/I]
[quote=rawstory]
The managing director of American Atheists, Inc. reported on Tuesday that she was refused notary service at a TD bank in Cranford, NJ because of her atheist affiliation.
In a post on Facebook, Amanda Knief wrote, “I was just refused service — because I am an atheist. It was embarrassing, humiliating, and it pissed me off.”
According to Knief, she and American Atheists president David Silverman were in the process of getting documents notarized by one of the bank’s notaries public when the woman asked them what the documents were for.
“The documents were charitable organizations registrations for American Atheists in several states,” wrote Knief. “So I told her what AA is about. She looked down, [B]then looked at me and Dave Silverman and said she couldn’t sign the documents because of ‘personal reasons’[/B] and went to find another notary who was eating his lunch to come do the authentications.”
[B]“I have been called names, threatened, hated on and all manner of ridiculed because of my atheist activism, but I think sitting in a bank and having another professional refuse to do business with me because I am an atheist was the worst slight I have ever received,”[/B] she continued. “This is completely unacceptable, and far from over.”[/quote]
[url="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/26/nj-bank-wont-notarize-american-atheist-documents-for-personal-reasons/"] A little bit more in Source[/url]
Amazing that notaries in NJ can just outright refuse based on religious grounds. That's ridiculous.
what personal reasons
you're not [I]supporting[/I] the organization, you're just doing your job.
Hope the banker gets fired for not doing her job.
That's quite a petty action.
What's to say they wouldn't reject it for a Christian group or a Muslim group too? Maybe the woman just didn't want to get in the middle of any religion debate.
I think it's more sad the fact being an atheist is so stigmatised in america it's got to the point it needs such activism
"Personal reasons", come on
[QUOTE=matt000024;44363211]What's to say they wouldn't reject it for a Christian group or a Muslim group too? Maybe the woman just didn't want to get in the middle of any religion debate.[/QUOTE]
It's a fuckin bank, how the hell could she get involved in anything if she'd just do her job
[QUOTE=matt000024;44363211]What's to say they wouldn't reject it for a Christian group or a Muslim group too? Maybe the woman just didn't want to get in the middle of any religion debate.[/QUOTE]
If that's the case then she would be a pretty useless notary as there's not really much she would be able to sign.
I wouldn't want to bank with a bank that employed bigots.
bitch
[QUOTE=Explosions;44363230]If that's the case then she would be a pretty useless notary as there's not really much she would be able to sign.[/QUOTE]
Starting a business or buying a house isn't related to religion. She didn't want to fund a propaganda group, big deal. Please tell me how you all know she wouldn't reject a Christian group too? This article is really biased and we can't tell much about it since it has only one point of view.
Black, White, Jew, Muslim.. who cares who/what you are.. banks should only look at people as dollar signs.
[QUOTE=Justjake274;44362847]what personal reasons
you're not [I]supporting[/I] the organization, you're just doing your job.[/QUOTE]
Maybe she didn't want to catch atheism
good job lady
makin me proud of my state
[QUOTE=matt000024;44363211]What's to say they wouldn't reject it for a Christian group or a Muslim group too? Maybe the woman just didn't want to get in the middle of any religion debate.[/QUOTE]
Denying service on the grounds of religion is unconstitutional and wrong, period.
If they denied based on ethnicity or sexual orientation it would be all over the fucking news and she would lose her job, but since atheists are [URL="http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistbigotryprejudice/a/AtheitsHated.htm"]one of the most hated minorities in the US[/URL] it's A-OK.
[QUOTE=matt000024;44363292]Starting a business or buying a house isn't related to religion. She didn't want to fund a propaganda group, big deal. Please tell me how you all know she wouldn't reject a Christian group too? This article is really biased and we can't tell much about it since it has only one point of view.[/QUOTE]
Once another new agency reports on it I'll post another source; any other source right now just refers to my source
[QUOTE=Loen;44363406]Denying service on the grounds of religion is unconstitutional and wrong, period.
If they denied based on ethnicity or sexual orientation it would be all over the fucking news and she would lose her job, but since atheists are [URL="http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistbigotryprejudice/a/AtheitsHated.htm"]one of the most hated minorities[/URL] in the US it's A-OK.[/QUOTE]
She isn't denying a customer based on their beliefs. Religious groups are not the same as individual people. This is an organized group focused on promoting an ideal. American Atheists aren't people gathering to worship a being or read books together.
Key Phrase:
[quote]atheist activism[/quote]
It is literally a propaganda group.
Let me point out how we know nothing about the situation.
[quote]“The documents were charitable organizations registrations for American Atheists in several states,”[/quote]
Charitable organizations isn't specific at all. What the hell kind of charities?
[quote]“So I told her what AA is about.[/quote]
What did he say? For all we know he could've said something wacko like "eliminate religious scum from the planet."
[quote]She looked down, then looked at me and Dave Silverman and said she couldn’t sign the documents because of ‘personal reasons’ and went to find another notary who was eating his lunch to come do the authentications.”[/quote]
The bank didn't even deny shit, she personally didn't want to be part of it. You're acting like you are giving her the boot. For all we know the atheist could've been someone she knew, but didn't recognize. Never was explicitly stated why she refused to sign.
This article is honestly one of the most blatantly biased ones I've ever read. It is pretty much one person ranting about an incident leaving out major details. Just because you want something be the truth doesn't mean it is the full truth.
Isn't this similiar to the case of where a supermarket let religious people not touch pork, and instead call upon another cashier to handle said meat?
Hell, as long as it doesn't break any laws or anything, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't help them.
Do they have the right to not sign for personal reasons in the first place?
[QUOTE=matt000024;44363519]She isn't denying a customer based on their beliefs. Religious groups are not the same as individual people. This is an organized group focused on promoting an ideal. American Atheists aren't people gathering to worship a being or read books together.[/quote]
Yer like religious groups don't preach at all! And what has worshipping gods and reading books got to do with anything??
[quote]Key Phrase:
It is literally a propaganda group.
Let me point out how we know nothing about the situation.
Charitable organizations isn't specific at all. What the hell kind of charities?
What did he say? For all we know he could've said something wacko like "eliminate religious scum from the planet."[/QUOTE]
Fucking fuck do you even know what AA are about
Their affiliated charities can't be anywhere near as bad as many christian-motivated ones
[QUOTE=Laputa;44363924]Yer like religious groups don't preach at all! And what has worshipping gods and reading books got to do with anything??[/quote]
What I'm saying is that there is a huge difference between people practicing religion in private and going out and actively campaigning for one.
[quote]Fucking fuck do you even know what AA are about
Their affiliated charities can't be anywhere near as bad as many christian-motivated ones[/QUOTE]
I never said Christian ones are better. If this was a Christian group I wouldn't change my opinion on the matter.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Atheists#Billboards[/url]
They are going out and specifically targeting other groups. If a Christian organization went out and made a "God Hates Fags" billboard I'd denounce them too. They aren't trying to inform the public, they're a propaganda group.
At least AA aren't shaming people for things they can't help, maybe the religious should grow a damn skin
They want people to know it's ok to be skeptical and that there are likewise people they can talk to in the current heavily religious society. There are so many people in america who have to keep their lack of belief closeted for fear of retribution
[QUOTE=matt000024;44363211]Maybe the woman just didn't want to get in the middle of any religion debate.[/QUOTE]
If she didn't want to get in the middle of a religious debate she should have just signed the fucking papers, because now she is in one
[QUOTE=Furioso;44364296]If she didn't want to get in the middle of a religious debate she should have just signed the fucking papers, because now she is in one[/QUOTE]
She called someone else over to do it instead of her. I don't get why you all even care. Can you please look at how bias the article is?
[QUOTE=matt000024;44364405]She called someone else over to do it instead of her. I don't get why you all even care. Can you please look at how bias the article is?[/QUOTE]
She didn't sign it because her beliefs weren't the same as the customer's. That type of conduct is [I]ridiculous[/I] for an employee of her position. Not to mention the fact that the "someone else" she asked to sign in her stead was on his damned lunch break!
[QUOTE=Furioso;44365358]She didn't sign it because her beliefs weren't the same as the customer's. That type of conduct is [I]ridiculous[/I] for an employee of her position. Not to mention the fact that the "someone else" she asked to sign in her stead was on his damned lunch break![/QUOTE]
She didn't deny them based on their personal beliefs, she denied them because they were an active propaganda group that purposely mocked her beliefs (I assume) on billboards. There is a huge difference in deny someone based on their religion and denying a religious group.
If WBC came up to her and she denied their plan to get money to stage protests at funerals would you still be against her?
[QUOTE=matt000024;44365386]If WBC came up to her and she denied their plan to get money to stage protests at funerals would you still be against her?[/QUOTE]
Absolutely. As shitty as the WBC is, what they do is well within the boundaries of the law. She wouldn't be doing her job if she denied them (just as she isn't doing her job by denying the American Atheists)
[QUOTE=matt000024;44365386]She didn't deny them based on their personal beliefs, she denied them because they were an active propaganda group that purposely mocked her beliefs (I assume) on billboards. There is a huge difference in deny someone based on their religion and denying a religious group.
If WBC came up to her and she denied their plan to get money to stage protests at funerals would you still be against her?[/QUOTE]
You don't know that. She could have simply thought "I don't like these atheists" and refused to notarize their documents.
[QUOTE=matt000024;44364405]She called someone else over to do it instead of her. I don't get why you all even care. Can you please look at how bias the article is?[/QUOTE]
She could have done it an easier way than saying she couldn't sign it for "personal reasons" right after the lady described what she was getting the notarization for involving Atheism. You're right; there is a lot we don't know based on the only source I have at this point. I'll update it if anything comes out
For now we have this
[img]https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/400x400q90/23/ue9v.png[/img]
(sorry for shit quick crop)
[editline]26th March 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=Explosions;44365473]You don't know that. She could have simply thought "I don't like these atheists" and refused to notarize their documents.[/QUOTE]
And also this
I don't care if you're trying to get money into the bank for the "American Baby-Murder Hitler Terrorist Society", it's your fucking [I]job[/I] to move that people's money around.
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