No matter what religion you ascribe to (including atheism)...
I hear this all the time, and it is a sign of some really faulty thinking. However, I know from past experience that this is something that is taught in some churches, so it doesn't surprise me that it gets repeated. But if you want to be taken seriously in your argument you need to let that notion go.
Seriously, if atheism is a religion, then good health is a "disease" and an empty dog house just contains another breed of dog. A lack of something is not a different type of something.
I don't know, Kent. I've met some pretty fundamentalist, hardcore, zealots in the atheist crowd.
ReplyDeleteI've started just telling everyone that I'm a Heathen. They tend to leave you alone after that.
I have no doubt that some poeple can make a religion out of anything, but that doesn't make a lack of belief in the supernatural a "religion" on its own.
ReplyDeleteSCOTUS interpretation of the 1st Amend. treats Atheism as a religion. To be an atheist you have to take a leap of faith to declare yourself so. While Atheism is simply a belief system and not a religion, so is Theism. "In God We Trust" and teaching creation ism are not establishing a state religion either.
ReplyDeleteThe party(s) to blame here are SCOTUS for applying the 1st Amend. to Atheists and the people who allow SCOTUS to create law through interpretation.
If you are going to be annoyed by people who treat Atheism as a religion, then you must acknowledge that they are thus not protected by the 1st Amend.
SCOTUS is wrong on almost everything they decide, so their opinion is meaningless to me.
ReplyDeleteSome people "believe there is no god" while others "have no belief in any god". The differences are subtle, but important.
The thing is, the person making extraordinary claims that violate all known laws of the Universe ("supernatural" claims) are those with the burden of proof, not the rest of us.
Teaching creationism, which is one religion's version of "how the universe works" (and is demonstrably false), is quite definitely favoring a particular religion. Stolen money is used to teach something that is only a religious idea, while ignoring all the rest of the creation myths of other religions that are equally "valid". Government should not run the schools, of course, but as long as it does, a particular religion's creation myth should not be taught there.
I don't think that "In God We Trust" on the money is the worst problem with it. The lack of any real value behind it is much more serious.
I don't recall the First Amendment saying "Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion, but you still have to choose some religion to practice or else..." Instead it simply protects all religion from government interference and government from religious control as well. That is why no religious tests for public office are allowed.
Do you think the founders would have placed "In God We Trust" on the money?