STARKE, FLA. – A group of atheists unveiled a monument to their nonbelief in God on Saturday to sit alongside a granite slab that lists the Ten Commandments in front of the Bradford County courthouse.
As a small group of protesters blasted Christian country music and waved ‘‘Honk for Jesus’’ signs, the atheists celebrated what they believe is the first atheist monument allowed on government property in the United States.
‘‘When you look at this monument, the first thing you will notice is that it has a function. Atheists are about the real and the physical, so we selected to place this monument in the form of a bench,’’ said David Silverman, president of American Atheists.
At one point someone in a car driving by tossed a toilet seat and a roll of toilet paper at the crowd. Neither struck anyone. At another point, Eric Hovind, 35, of Pensacola jumped atop the peak of the monument and shouted his thanks to the atheists for giving him a platform to declare Jesus is real. Atheists shouted at him, and he stepped down after about a minute. One man yelled that religion is a fairy tale.
‘‘The problem is it’s not a fairy tale,’’ Hovind said. ‘‘We definitely have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.’’
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