all agnostics and atheists

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just figured i'd cut to the heart and invite my fellow skeptics to post links and quotes and various sources.


here's my little contribution:

http://atheistempire.com/


one of my favorite pages for most things relating to the atheist/agnostic stance and relevant research regarding the history of god and the united states and other countries.

I appreciate that Atheists want freedom of religion. Freedom of religion, from my understanding of the first amendment, includes the freedom to be non-religious.

It should be noted that the religious, and religious groups enjoy the same constitutional rights as other individual in terms of lobbying (indeed the same rights as atheists). An example of this would be the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty, which I do not share.



This is correct. Some atheists have agreed the with "pointlessness" of an "accidental" existence. A majority strong differ.



This is perhaps slight exaggeration. Many religious scholars would consider questioning God as perfectly normal.



First, let us separate atheists, and secular political activists such as those with the American Civil Liberties Union. It is possible for an atheist to believe the Founders believe X, the history is X, the laws say X, but not believe in religion at all, or even to think religion is a good thing for society. On the other hand I would not say that is the case generally (although I know of an example or two).

In terms of "re-interpret" and 're-writing" laws, more mainstream conservatives and Christians (which Pat Robertson is not) honestly regard things like removing crosses from old signs as an attack on the Christian part of the country's history (in addition to being legally baseless).



The United States has a secular government. The fact that religious figures are carved into the edifice of the Supreme Court Building does not change that. The United States is statistically a Christian majority country. You can take that majority and cut it in half between the secular and seriously religious.



The United States governments, and the governments of the states' should not violate the First Ammendment of the United States. Hence, it cannot drive societies believes on faith except in very limited ways. There is no reason believers and non-believers cannot get along except the intolerance and those said groups.

...

I hope your atheism or your religion brings you comfort.

it's not an attack on christianity, it's removing christianity from the government...which should be secular in nature. faith-based government sponsored programs, anti gay marriage laws and constitutions....those are pieces of legislation that are spawned from religion (and christianity, specifically). the government is supposed to be secular and so it should be as such.

That's the theory. But the USA is heading towards becoming a Christian theocracy.

faith based government programs go against the values upon which this country is based.

"Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion or the free exercise thereof." For those who give a hoot about the intentions of the founders of the constitution, this means we shall not have an official religion we must all be members of nor should any religion be able to censure anyone else's religion.

This has been turned on its head by establishing Humanism as the official religion that all other religions must comply with. Humanism, religion?!? Yes. In Torcaso vs. Watkins, the United States Supreme Court determined that Humanism was a religion as a basis for a decision on behalf of Humanists. This has not been rescinded.

Further, ""free exercise thereof" is getting tougher and tougher with Humanist political correctness being used to restrain free exercise of religion.

This sentence says nothing about the government using the religious institutions as an ally in helping people. Jealous Humanists don't want this because it makes them look bad. They have no love for anyone.

such legislation has been proven in studies to benefit christians groups more than any other group that petitions for such money.

"Congress should not establish a religion and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience, or that one sect might obtain a pre-eminence, or two combined together, and establish a religion to which they would compel others to conform" (Annals of Congress, Sat Aug. 15th, 1789 pages 730 - 731)


the bolded section is exactly what is happening with christianity and government...sects of christianity, including catholocism, are forcing their religion on others...except they found a loophole and do it through legislation in areas where the people are mostly backwards hicks (like how georgia is supporting creationism). basically , they are forcing others to conform to the religion. same sex marriage has no legal basis for illegality...only religious basis.

i'm not a humanist. i'm catholic. and faith based initiatives are based around religion officially. separation of church and state

Hark! Doth may catch the sound of a great flame battle in her genesis!

i'd hope not. because that'd mean moving beyond the point of actually considering the issue and instead just throwing mindless insults....i do like thoughtful insults, though...ones that really compel one to think about their stance or say "no!" and really force you to find where your grounding is. but thoughtful insults are an artform.

Not that good sort of flame war (I'm LUE so I know what good insult looks like)

it more like

Nutjob - Troll

VS.

Wrongplanet

everyone has a right to their own beliefs. just as i have the right to disprove those beliefs and mock them.


/i've been watching too much house lately.

For Skafather84, God bless you, but that's not even law. That's someone's speech from the floor of congress. Is this being given authority equal to the Constitution?

For Alex, I'm a little gunshy of "seperation of religion from state". The Humanists are involving government socialism into more and more aspects of our lives and community -- and religion must retreat from anywhere any government money goes. This is a tactic to gradually isolate us to our churches, so we lose influence in our society.

The Salvation Army, a Christian denomination, is restricted as to how it can share the gospel if it takes a dime of government aid. When I was out on my canteen after Katrina, I had to be careful when & how I shared the precious gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The literature had certain rules of when & where it could be offered. Fortunately, no ACLU lawyers would bother going where we went!

On the other hand, I think tax exemptions should be removed from religious activities. It partly validates the Marxist worldview that religion is just a tool of the state. It tempts the brethren to be influenced by the world.

I've always been againist "tax - exempt" for religious buildings/groups. They are no different from corporations and should be subject to the same responsibilities to the state and the population.

it's james madison's further explanation of the first amendment. he contributed the most to the form and editing of the first amendment and is one of the framers of the constitution. i'd think his further explanation of it is quite valuable and provides better insight into the meaning of article IV, section 3 of the first amendment. considering he is considered "the father of the constitution," i'd value what he has to say on the matter quite highly.

it would be nice if all religions were taxed and their records be made public.