Interesting discussion in the comments of this article:
http://www.topix.net/religion/2010/03/nurse-mistakenly-cuts-sikh-mans-beard#lastPost
So far, the only thing that I've learned from the theists there are that I'm cocky and don't know myself, and that there's overwhelming evidence for the existence of God that no one can show me.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Guns and Atheism
David Duringer has written a piece that seems to suggest that Christians are better judges of when and when not to use lethal force that atheists. The piece, along with my question for him, can be found here:
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/is-god-necessary-for-a-people-trained-to-arms
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/is-god-necessary-for-a-people-trained-to-arms
Lehigh Valley Live opinion piece
I'd like to start with a simple one:
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1269921962318640.xml&coll=3
This is an excellent demonstration of the misconception that the United States is a Christian nation. The piece is in response to another writing, and the author of this one asks the original writer not to "try to change our country and our foundation." My question would be: If this is a Christian nation, what does that mean for the millions of non-Christians who live here? Are we all second-class citizens?
The fact is, this is a secular nation, meaning that it is religion-neutral. Neither Christianity nor any other faith gets preferential treatment. This author would do well to actually read the US Constitution; it contains no reference to gods of any kind.
The author ends with a vague threat that God is so powerful that he will win every battle. Setting aside the disturbing veiled reference to violence, there's a question that this raises. If God is all-powerful, what is the harm in our trying to change things, as the author warns us not to do? If we can't beat God, we should be able to try to eradicate Christianity (or whatever it is she's afraid of) as much as we want. We can't win, right? So if you know this, then why is there a need to warn us not to try?
The fact is, despite this writer's alarmist rhetoric, no one is trying to wipe out Christianity. Most atheists could care less if someone else practices a religion. What many of us ARE trying to do, however, is to preserve the secular nature of our great nation by beating back the encroachment of religion into the political sphere. Though it may disappoint the writer or this piece, the government cannot endorse Christianity or any other religion, and this is a truth that has been upheld by the courts time and time again.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1269921962318640.xml&coll=3
This is an excellent demonstration of the misconception that the United States is a Christian nation. The piece is in response to another writing, and the author of this one asks the original writer not to "try to change our country and our foundation." My question would be: If this is a Christian nation, what does that mean for the millions of non-Christians who live here? Are we all second-class citizens?
The fact is, this is a secular nation, meaning that it is religion-neutral. Neither Christianity nor any other faith gets preferential treatment. This author would do well to actually read the US Constitution; it contains no reference to gods of any kind.
The author ends with a vague threat that God is so powerful that he will win every battle. Setting aside the disturbing veiled reference to violence, there's a question that this raises. If God is all-powerful, what is the harm in our trying to change things, as the author warns us not to do? If we can't beat God, we should be able to try to eradicate Christianity (or whatever it is she's afraid of) as much as we want. We can't win, right? So if you know this, then why is there a need to warn us not to try?
The fact is, despite this writer's alarmist rhetoric, no one is trying to wipe out Christianity. Most atheists could care less if someone else practices a religion. What many of us ARE trying to do, however, is to preserve the secular nature of our great nation by beating back the encroachment of religion into the political sphere. Though it may disappoint the writer or this piece, the government cannot endorse Christianity or any other religion, and this is a truth that has been upheld by the courts time and time again.
Introduction
Lately, I have been using the Web 2.0 features of many news and opinion websites to challenge misconceptions about atheists, in hopes that the ill-informed might come to a better understanding of us. I've discovered that a significant number of such sites do not offer the option to post a response to a bigoted or inaccurate writing about atheism. I have started this blog in order to address and respond to writings to which I could not reply directly on the hosting websites.
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