Texas Christians Raise Money To Pay Medical Bills For Atheist Protestor Patrick Greene

UPDATE: As of Saturday afternoon, Greene had received over $3,500 in donations on his fundraising website and wrote that he and his wife would give any future donations to organizations that help homeless and abused animals.

A Texas atheist who earlier this year fought to ban religious symbols on government property in his town is reportedly "flabbergasted" that Christians have offered to help him pay his bills.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph is reporting that Christians in Henderson County have raised around $400 to help Patrick Greene, an atheist who is at risk of going blind in one eye due to a detached retina.

Greene, a former Air Force officer and taxi driver who was forced to retire due to his eye condition, wrote a letter to members of the Henderson County Commissioner's Court in February threatening a lawsuit if they did not move a Nativity scene from court property, the Malakoff News reported.

The Nativity scene had been a source of controversy since it was erected in front of the courthouse last December, an ongoing battle between a variety of groups on which the Malakoff News has reported extensively.

Greene eventually did file suit, but when doctors told him about his eye condition, he decided that he could no longer pursue the lawsuit and dropped the case. At that point, he had been forced to retire from his job driving a taxi and was facing mounting medical bills.

So when local Christians wrote him a check for $400 to help him pay his living expenses, Greene was more than surprised.

"They said they wanted to do what real Christians are supposed to do – love you – and they wanted to help," Greene told the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

He told reporters he plans to write about their gesture in a new book, tentatively titled "The Real Christians of Henderson County."

Greene has also set up a website where anyone can donate money to help cover living expenses. On the site, Greene says he and his wife are considering a move to Athens, Texas, where the rent is more affordable, and asks for donations to help cover moving costs.

"You will never know how hard it is to write all of this," Greene writes on the website. "In our 33 years of marriage, Karen and I have never been in this situation."

For more on this story, head over to the Tyler Morning Telegraph and the Malakoff News.

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Comments

[toddges]

08:29 PM on 11/19/2012

I wish more atheists were like me. I am an atheist but don't feel the need to bring about frivolous lawsuits and shove my lack of faith down people's throats. If they want to put up a Nativity Scene, such a sight will not make me melt or boil up like the Wicked Witch of the West. I'm a grown boy and I can deal with it.
The problem is so many atheists are loud jerks who are accountable to nobody but themselves and they expect Christians to bow down and worship them as atheists and race to serve their needs and pay their medical bills knowing full well no atheist will bother with theirs when it's their turn, and wring their hands all the time not to offend anyone.
I know Jesus took it all up the tukus but that really did not work out so well for him not did it?
I don't expect Christians to just take everyone's B.S. up the tukus.
Atheists who are not total self-righteous, self-praising hypocrites, please join me. Christians keep your Nativity Scene a Merry Christmas to you too. From an athiest.

[RedTractor]

08:58 PM on 04/01/2012

The link in the article does not work.

http://www.gofundme.com/PatrickandBigBoy

[RedTractor]

08:55 PM on 04/01/2012

http://www.gofundme.com/PatrickandBigBoy

The link in the article is no good.

[dbrett480]

02:44 PM on 03/31/2012

Great story. Hopefully Greene returns the favor in kind and drops his complaints against the nativity scene.

[yungswi11a]

10:09 AM on 03/27/2012

thank you finally a good example for America! We all can learn a lot from this gesture.

[Yvetter]

07:55 AM on 03/27/2012

Hush Money

[straightuptalker]

06:42 AM on 03/27/2012

To each his own, live and let live, but the bone of contention that irks me against atheists is their ongoing persistent campaign to remove any and all religious references from public view, despite the feelings of the majority. In 1963, Madalyn O'Hair's one-woman campaign and subsequent lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court resulted in ramifications so widespread it insured that His name would be evicted from public society despite the feelings of the majority. Not only has prayer been outlawed, but His very name has been declared off-limits and forbidden to be mentioned in any federal, state, county, city or municipal context. That's what atheism has wrought, started by one individual with self-interests whom perceived religion as an affront and personal insult. And I still wonder how they sleep at night, considering that many in our society have chosen to commit horrific crimes against humanity. Perhaps the kind Christians can accomplish one conversion of their own in this single situation. One can only hope.

[Cynthia Massmann]

12:03 PM on 03/27/2012

The feelings of the majority cannot decide everything. There are minorities in this country that should be respected as well. If a government facility cannot show homage to all the religions in their community, they shouldn't be showing homage to any of them, out of RESPECT. Not because it's banned but because it is RUDE and DISRESPECTFUL. I am not Christian, but I do not expect my government to waste it's time trying to please every religion in the country, they really have better things to do.

[myzelf]

03:28 AM on 03/28/2012

Atheists DON'T go after "any and all religious references from public view". They fight for EVERY Americans RIGHT to a GOVERNMENT free of religious endorsement.

Christians are absolutely free to express their beliefs in public, same as always. What they CAN'T do is have Christianity PROMOTED by schools, courthouses, or other government institutions. There are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of churches - even more than there were in 1963. Prayer has NOT been outlawed. Put down the LYING church propaganda and learn the FACTS about the law.

The majority of criminals in the USA are CHRISTIANS.

The majority doesn't get to vote on who gets First Amendment rights. They are there to PROTECT the minority FROM the majority.

When Islam is the majority religion in the USA, perhaps you will finally appreciate that atheists fought for your right to not have the majority religion favored by the government.

[toddges]

08:23 PM on 11/19/2012

The reason Islam is sure to be the majority religion here in the USA very soon is because our Christian forefathers wrote Freedom of Religion into the Constitution and the founders of many of the Middle East countries that now practice Sharia law as part of their govt. law did NOT write it into THEIR Constitution.
Be grateful this nation was founded by Christians and that document was written by them. I am an atheist but not so blind I can't see THAT. If you seriously can't wait for Sharia Law to be a part of our govt. as you think it will shut the Christians up once and for all, then you have never witnessed real religious persecution by the majority in your life.
The only guarantee in our Constitution is that "Congress Shall Make No Law Establishing a Religion". Nowhere does it say "And courthouses shall show no hint of favoring a religion" and nowhere does it say "and schools shall never speak of any religion". The only amendment having to do with religion refers only to Congress making laws that establish 1 religion for the whole nation. There is no guarantee you -little minority- won't ever get offended by what meets your precious eyes. Get used to getting offended. It is part of living in a free country with freedom of speech AND religion.
America was always meant to be majority rules or we wouldn't vote for our president here. That's democracy. Democracy = majority rules.

[smlyttle]

05:31 AM on 03/27/2012

This is the type of things religion really needs to teach. Most try to scare with death and fire and h-e-double hockey sticks. What people should really try to learn are things like turn the other cheek or do unto others as you would have them do unto you. They also weren't condemning him or mocking him for his beliefs, just saying they wanted to help because it really was a WWJD moment. A great thanks to some true Christians and best well wishes to Mr. Greene on his health.

[powercosmic]

05:45 PM on 03/26/2012

They wanted to do what Humans have always done as a social animal, help each other through tough times.

We don't need an omniscient policeman to tell us that this a good thing.

Humans caring for Humans pre-dates Christianity, there is proof in the fossil record, but then again Christians don't place any value on Evidence.

[Godislove7]

09:31 AM on 03/27/2012

All that discussion on the goodness of human nature, yet when there is a good news article on a group of humans helping another group of humans between which there is often animosity in both directions, rather than commend the good, you rail against the belief system with gross over generalizations of those helping.

How enlightened.

[powercosmic]

12:32 PM on 03/27/2012

Well, then consider this, we can Christianity and other religions have ruled the roost of human morals, and social culture for at least 1000 years, 1000 years is a more than enough time to decide whether or not something is going to unite humanity and thereby create conditions that alleviates suffering and creates intellectual advancement.

Yet, what do we see? We see that in America there is a culture of division in religion and society that is imposed by the manufactured opinion that the 1% pay to commission.

We see that there is less and less opportunity for a greater part of the population, 46 million Americans are living in poverty.

Yet can we say that given our intellect and command over nature that any single human should be suffering at all? After a 30 year study of why this is so, my conclusion is that Religion and the ignorance it engenders are squarely to blame.

[JusticeIsWhere]

04:31 PM on 03/26/2012

Yes, charity is a good community action, but it is not of god belief, it is of socially evolved moral behaviors. I am an agnostic atheist of the secular humanist belief and I do not let religion block my donations to those who need help. Once, I painted a church office with 500 dollars in paint just to give the new preacher a color he was comfortable with even though it had just been painted by the church ladies group. So, my point is that human kindness is born of community interdependence: churches like to slap their rubber stamp on it to control it in the name of furthering their system of beliefs.

[Godislove7]

09:39 AM on 03/27/2012

and non believers like to discount the good works of believers at every turn, just because churches are the ones doing it.

The article doesn't say its just a Christian belief that allows charity. Christianity doesn't have a monopoly on charity, but it does push charity as central to its faith.

[baxtron]

02:53 PM on 03/26/2012

Like when Michael Moore paid the medical bills of the wife of the owner of

IHATEMICHAELMOORE.COM

[GTFOOH]

12:48 PM on 03/26/2012

This is what it means to be a Christian in my opinion. It's not just reaching out to people who are just like you. It's also reaching out to people who are not. Franklin Graham and Catholic Bishops could learn something here!

[XGuildensternx]

12:08 PM on 03/26/2012

Heart-warming tale of human solidarity- not religion. Good people doing good things for a guy who would do the same: the cornerstone of human solidarity and humanism. Too bad they have to attribute their own charity and good will to an invisible man in the sky, though.

[Gorgias]

06:01 PM on 03/30/2012

Why assume you know the beliefs of these people and throw out such a derogatory red herring? For many Christians, there is no "invisible man in the sky." Rather, there are the inspired teachings of a Jewish guru, whom Christians believe taught the true "way" of "God" - or the "moreness" of the universe. Perhaps you should try reading a book by Marcus Borg or investigating the emergent church movement. Describing all Christianity as the worship of a sky god only shows you are uneducated about the fullness of the Christian experience.

[Jim NLN]

09:27 AM on 03/26/2012

Down here in Texas last week a tornado southwest of San Antonio took out some of the ancillary building of a local church. The building were scheduled for demolition in a year or two at the expense of the church but due to tornado damage their demolition was now to be paid for with insurance money. The pastor of the church thanked the lord for helping them, basically, rip off the insurance company. The LORD works in mysterious ways. Too bad the LORD had to take out 40 other house to benefit this one church.

[dwsmithjr]

09:11 AM on 03/26/2012

This from the article.

"In two weeks, Daniel, the Catholic School Atheist, raised over $11,000 to help build a school for kids in the slums of India… while his Catholic School raised just over $63."

You might think some new agency would pick up on that but they haven't.