These are some of the most cringe-inducing signs deemed appropriate to place in front of houses of worship.
Last month, we rounded up up some of the most absurd right-wing Christian billboards that accost drivers with messages of fire and brimstone. But the billboards are dwarfed by the seemingly countless number of offensive plain old church signs. Apparently, creativity flows when there are fewer financial constraints. So, without further ado, here are 10 cringe-inducing signs deemed appropriate to place in front of houses of worship.
1. Offensive and illiterate. To make this sign, just take the Obama/Osama classic and add three pinches of stupidity. First assume that parents give their sons the same name, minus one letter. Then misspell “hmmm” or “hmm.” And finally, omit all punctuation. The genius behind the sign, Pastor Roger Byrd of the Jonesville Church of God in Jonesville, South Carolina, explained his process as well as the deep meaning not immediately evident: “See, it asks a question: Are they brothers? In other words, is he Muslim? I don’t know. He says he’s not. I hope he’s not. But I don’t know.” Byrd was going for totally non-offensive fear-mongering, Muslim-baiting: “And it’s just something to try to stir people’s minds. It was never intended to hurt feelings or to offend anybody… It’s simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ.”
2. The meek shall NOT inherit the earth.Contrary to Jesus Christ’s consistent and unequivocal “I’m with team poor” teachings, this church thought a good way to honor the son of God would be to adorn his house with a sign saying, “laziness and poverty are cousins.” The saying is so catchy, it has graced church signs from Sylva, North Carolina to Portland, Oregon.
3. A three-word poem. This “Turn Or Burn” sign gives haiku a run for its money. In a mere three syllables, it gets right to the point, which is that you should embrace God or suffer eternal damnation. The fact that the poem rhymes is another reason it should be studied by all those interested in concise fear-based conversion poetry. The sign pictured is from the First Baptist Church Main St. of Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition to its poetic virtues, the message is extremely customizable! For example, it was adapted for homophobic purposes in Wilmington, North Carolina, to read, “God loves gays but hates a perverted life style. Turn or burn.” Tammy Heuring, the wife of the Seagate Community Chapel pastor explains the medicinal powers of the hurtful sign: “It’s kind of like salt in a wound… However, salt does heal a wound. It just hurts really bad at first.” Hurt so good!
4. Short and not so sweet.This is another sign that doesn’t waste any time, though it lacks poetry or rhyme and is more specific in its bigotry than the sign discussed above. The Islamophobia expressed in this sign is based, apparently, on a time-travel sect of Christianity which allows Jesus, who died nearly six centuries before Mohammed was born, to travel to the future, observe Islam and declare it diabolical. This sign was from the Florida church of Pastor Terry Jones, who was arrested on his way to burn 2,998 Qur’ans, one for every victim of the 2001 attacks.
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