Metroplex Atheists
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Promise Keepers 2000 Protest

Randy's Report

Promise Keepers came to Dallas...and local members of American Atheists were onsite to defend the wall of separation against the theocratic PK agenda of calling for America to be governed by biblical rule. American Atheists has spoken out against the PK movement since it's beginnings and we continued to do so in Dallas.

Friday, July 7th, I set my alarm for 4:00 am and retired early. I arose at the alarm Saturday, dressed and packed the van with our signs and headed to a prearranged location to meet other atheists who might need transportation to Dallas. We left Fort Worth at 5:50 am and arrived at the Reunion Arena where the Promise Keepers had scheduled a conference with ticket prices of $69 ($49 for youths.) There were a lot of PK's already onsite when we arrived. I had met with the Arena's management six weeks in advance and informed them of our planned picket and asked if they had any concerns about our demonstration. The management representative took me to curbside in front of the main gate and pointed out some painted dots on the concrete apron leading up to the main gate. He said those dots represented the line between public and private property and we would have to stay on the street side of those dots. He also told me that if anybody littered the area with our handouts we would be ticketed.

We were onsite at 6:30 am. The Arena's gate opened at 7 and their conference began at 8. We staged our protest in the early morning because it was on a July day in Texas. HOT! Now, after the protest is over I think it was the right decision. At 8:30 it was already very hot. We staged our demonstration on the sidewalk in front of the one entrance to the arena and every PK had to see us. They couldn't get around it. I was joined by eight others, all our people (Metroplex Atheists). One local feminist had said she would be there with some friends but they didn't show. The local gay organization was also informed but none of them came either.

As the PK's arrived in groups, a lot of them would come over to our area and engage us. One of our signs, "People Solve Problems, Prayers Don't" bothered one of the PK's so much that he yanked the sign and ripped a corner off. He was stongly chastised by his peers for the act. They would form prayer circles around us and ask their gods to take charge and show the atheists what was truth. They would then resign themselves to the fact that we had heard it all before and leave for the arena only to be replaced by the next arriving group to form yet another prayer circle and repeat the exercise. We were constantly engaged during our entire demonstration.

None of the local press was there. There was one reporter from Massachusetts who was there to cover a group from his state. He hung out with us most of the time.

We stayed on picket until 8:30 and then closed it down. At that time a few stragglers were still trickling in but most were inside the arena. It seemed to be a large turnout for the organizers. The arena holds 17,000 and I would guess they probably came close to filling it. We soon learned of an atheist perk. We were all offered at one time or another FREE tickets.

It was a good rally. I wish to thank all my dear friends from Metroplex Atheists who showed up at such an early time to help us get our message out. Those in attendance included myself, State Director Dick Hogan, Metroplex Atheists Co-Chairs John and Shelly Hattan, Chuck Clark, Brian McIntosh, Linda Sharlow, Everett Cox and newcomer Alex.

Randy Gorman

Signs we used at our protest:

GO THE DISTANCE - DEFEND THE WALL
LIBERATE PK WIVES
WIVES AREN'T 2ND STRING PLAYERS
PROMISE KEEPERS - AMERICA'S NEWEST CULT
DON'T DRINK THE PURPLE KOOL-AID
PROMISE WEEPERS - REAL MEN DON'T PRAY
ATHEIST CHILDREN ARE GOOD CHILDREN
ONE NATION UNDER THE CONSTITUTION
AMERICAN ATHEISTS FOR OVER 35 YEARS FIGHTING FORCED RELIGION IN SCHOOLS
FREEDOM FROM RELIGION
PEOPLE SOLVE PROBLEMS - PRAYERS DON'T
HONK IF YOU SUPPORT SEPARATION OF STATE & CHURCH

For more information and background on Promise Keepers...

Why is American Atheists Picketing The Promise Keepers?

Godly Men With A Dominionist Agenda

God's Mighty Men: The Promise Keepers Rise Up

Shelly's Report

The Promise Keeper's protest in Dallas has come and gone. This protest was a lot of fun mainly because it was non-stop. As soon as you finished/got tired of talking to one PK'er, another was ready to step in and ask the same tired questions. I had a couple of guys explain to me how God had spoken directly to them. Some had had actual visions. Quite silly stuff!

Thanks goes out to all the folks who showed up so early on a hot Texas morning: Randall Gorman, Dick Hogan, Linda Sharlow, Alex M., Everett Cox, Brian Macintosh, Chuck Clark, John Hattan, and Shelly Hattan

The PK'ers must have known we were coming. There were orange cones already set out designating where public property was. We had to stand behind them. This almost became the invisible "heathen zone" as some PK'ers were reluctant to cross the line. We showed up with plenty of flyers to pass out. Alas, those were evil, too and couldn't be touched.

We showed up at 6:30 am and the PK'ers were already showing up in droves. As John & I were walking towards the MA protesters, we noticed an altercation between a PK'er and Randy Gorman. Seems like the PK'er didn't like Randy's sign (People Solve Problems). The PK'er tried to rip the sign out of Randy's hands. Randy, of course, wasn't going to give in so easily, and the sign was ripped. I noticed that the presence of the police increased after that. That's fine with me. A lot of times I feel that they are more there to protect the protesters instead of the protest-ees!

The most fun was the prayer circle, which was when 40+ PK’ers joined hands, bowed their heads, and sent prayer waves at us. Randy became filled with the spirit, laid down on the ground, and started speaking in tongues. Dick went around and tried to see how many PK'ers would hold the flyers in their mouths (none, but it was funny to watch). John kept blowing on Brian and knocking him down with the spirit of the lord. The prayer circle didn't last very long. As we have figured out, fundies don't like being made fun of. :) Later on some horns started blaring from inside Reunion. Some of us tried to be raptured. Darn that gravity!

The rally started at 8, but we had PK'ers ministering to us until 9. That's when we decided to break up the protest. While 6:30 am was an unreasonable hour to show up, it was also the coolest. All of the protester's were glad we showed up when we did.

While driving away, John told me why he liked this protest: "It was a whole lot of fun. I was able to exercise my brain, be entertained, and stand up for my rights all at the same time!" I thought this summed up the whole experience very nicely!

Commonly asked questions:
What's an atheist and why are you one?
Where did the world come from (What are you standing on)?
Did you know that Jesus loves you?
Have you read the Bible?
Why are you protesting us?
What does your (protest) sign mean?

#1 Question PK'ers couldn't answer:
What does this organization do and why do you support it?

Pictures

The entrance of the PK rally at Reunion Arena. Under the tent was a book-signing sponsored by a local Christian radio station.

The management of PK was cordial, provided that we stayed behind the cones. They even brought water bottles for us early on. The attendees, however, were a different story. They ranged from friendly to hostile to apologetic.

One of the funnier bits that few people noticed was the pictured electronic sign above the door. It showed "GO THE DISTANCE", the motto of PK, followed immediately by the logos for Dallas's pro hockey and basketball teams. We passed around more than one joke about sports-worship.

Our co-state director Randy Gorman shows off one of our nicer foam-board signs, which was torn by an angry PK'er trying to wrestle it out of Randy's hands. Not wanting the police to get involved, a couple of PK volunteers hustled the man inside before things went any further.

The signs were a hit. The ones that raised the most eyebrows were:

PROMISE KEEPERS. AMERICA'S NEWEST CULT

DON'T DRINK THE PURPLE KOOL-AID

LIBERATE PK WIVES

Only problem was that the Kool-Aid had to be explained a few times :)

Proselytizers were plentiful. They seemed to work in shifts, and they preferred to work in gangs of 3-5 rather than one-on-one, which didn't seem to bother co-director Dick Hogan a bit.

One funny comment by a PK'er was how "There are more of you than there are of us". It was a strange comment, given that we were outnumbered about 500 to 1.

Here's the infamous prayer-circle. Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough to convert any of us with their psychic prayer-waves.

Chuck, Randy, Linda, and Brian during a rare early moment of peace. Arriving early was smart --most of us arrived around 6:30 AM.

Better watch yourself, Chuck. You appear to have crossed the line that heathen aren't allowed to cross!

Linda with a couple of tag-team proselytizers.

There are more photos to be seen at American Atheist Magazine

Y'know. This is just weird