Defiant atheist continues to use the term ‘Devil Rays’

JACKSONVILLE, FL — Local atheist John Meyers has launched a subtle and moderately passive-aggressive protest as more and more attention is focused on the success of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.

Meyers, who “[doesn't] believe in God, not even a little bit,” has been going out of his way to call the Rays by their former name, which was Devil Rays.

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“It’s pretty easy to do,” Meyers said. “I just go up to people, and I say, ‘Did you see the Devil Rays game last night?’ Or, sometimes, I’ll say, ‘Man, the Devil Rays are just on fire.’ The best part about it is the look on their face, they’re always like, ‘Does this guy not know that they changed their name to be called just the Rays, or does he say Devil Rays because he hates God?’ It’s really hilarious, I love messing with people’s minds.”

Meyers did inform SSNN that he generally doesn’t leave his targets hanging for too long, informing them within minutes that he was indeed mispronouncing the team’s name on purpose, due to the fact that he’s an atheist and as such doesn’t believe in concept of the Devil, especially not the Devil being bad.

For Meyers, this is a personal mission, one in which he seeks to inform the community around him that there’s another side to religion — no religion.

“Check it, a lot of people around here are really religious, and they’re always trying to shove their religion in people’s faces,” Meyers said. “Like, a lot of people wear crosses around their necks. Or other people will do things like celebrate Christmas and Easter and stuff. So I just figured, enough is enough, I’m going to show them all that they can’t control the whole world.”

Meyers said that, given the success of the ‘Devil Rays Protest,’ he’s planning some more endeavors. For example, he’s going to wear a red t-shirt to the next Rays home playoff game (”To remind people of the fires of hell.”) and he’s also planning on standing up six times in the sixth inning and clapping six times each stand (”Get it? 6-6-6? The Devil’s number?”).

“I’m going to rock some people’s lives,” Meyers said. “Or, afterlives, as it were.”