Why Atheists Care About YOUR Religion

[karrie]

United States of America - the founding fathers were none too keen on the church having any sort of power within their United States.

What were the roots of the founders of the US? Muslim?

Odd that a country not built on religion has it so thoroughly engrained not only in their government, and in their social interactions, but also in the battle that seems to wage there over it (take Scott's billboard for example). I wonder why that is, when in contrast Canada seems to have much less strife about it all. While we don't constantly declare a separation of church and state, we also don't have God mentioned on our currency. And we seem to have more separation of religious influence from our legal system. Odd really.

 

[Vanni Fucci]

As much as I am sure there is no god(s) I could not possibly prove it to those who truly believe. For many, belief in a (or many) supreme being(s) gives their life meaning and it is just confrontational to argue with them. Arguments of this nature cannot be won. And if you could win such an argument what would that mean? Would you pull the foundation out from under a person who has a loved one in Heaven? Set adrift someone whose rudder throughout life has been the unshakable knowledge of god's love?

The point is not to tell the religious that they are wrong in believing what they do, although sometime I do tell them exactly that, just to be a bastard...

The point is to get people to question their beliefs and perceptions to see if they can hold up to scrutiny...

It's a Bruce Springsteen said:

Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed

I would think that if someone can analyze their own perceptions objectively, and finds them to be in error, that they would naturally progress to a more rational pattern of thinking...

If their beliefs are unable to hold up to scrutiny, then they are not worthy of time or energy...and they are certainly not worthy of societal implications...

Most people do not even know why they believe what they do, and just have always done so without ever thinking about it...

If people are sincerely open to the possibility that their gods are not real, and apply all the logic and reason at their disposal, then my every hope is that they will arrive at their own conclusions, whatever they may be...

 

[Vanni Fucci]

What were the roots of the founders of the US? Muslim?

Yes karrie, they were Muslim...:roll:

They were secular humanists, who knew that there was no way to eliminate power of the church, but wrote specific limits to the church's power in their Constitution.

The First Amendment reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .

These are the Establishment Clause, and the Free Exercise Clause which combined effectively establish the Supreme Court upheld 'separation of church and state'

Whereby they protect people's right to religion, but expressly prohibit religious influence in the legislative branch.

In addition it prohibits the establishment of a state religion.

Hence no Judeo-Christian foundation for USA.

Odd that a country not built on religion has it so thoroughly engrained not only in their government, and in their social interactions, but also in the battle that seems to wage there over it (take Scott's billboard for example). I wonder why that is, when in contrast Canada seems to have much less strife about it all. While we don't constantly declare a separation of church and state, we also don't have God mentioned on our currency. And we seem to have more separation of religious influence from our legal system. Odd really.

Yeah odd...

But it has nothing to do with the foundations of their country...

The founding fathers of the US were influenced by Freemasonry...and while Freemasons are necessarily deists, it does not follow that their beliefs were Christian or Judaic in any way, nor that those beliefs influenced any part of the Declaration of Independence or Contitution...

The word God does not appear in the Constitution of the US.

God is mentioned in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms...

God only appeared on US currency in 1864, well after the founding of the country...

Our legal system is chock full of cannon law and especially in Quebec, Napoleonic Code...

 

[Tyr]

Heh, what?

Time to reread your history Colpy...

John Locke was most definitely NOT influenced by Judeo-Christian anything, his ideas were original and revolutionary, many of which fly directly in the face of Judeo-Christian dogma and convention...

John Locke may be the finest example of a true Free Thinker of his century, influencing an entire genre of the likes of Voltaire and Rousseau both of whom were avowed atheists...



United States of America - the founding fathers were none too keen on the church having any sort of power within their United States.



You don't see too many conservative Mother Teresas either...

If you get my drift...

Quote:

And then find me a free nation that did NOT spring from judeao -Christian roots
​

United States of America - the founding fathers were none too keen on the church having any sort of power within their United States.

Austrailia. It was a penal colony

You would really have to define "free nation"

Do you mean a nation that has a multi party system? If so, there are 80+. For that matter Iran is a "free nation", it has a maulti party system and an election