Posted on 12/28/2006 4:15:11 PM PST by quesney
In nearly every interview about my book, Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism,I am asked whether I am an atheist or an agnostic. The bias--a profoundly American bias--implicit in this question is that only an "unbeliever" would want to write a historical work about the secular influences on the founding and development of our nation.
[...]
What we ought to be talking about are decent human values that can be subscribed to by Americans of any faith or no faith. I could not care less whether any elected official believes in God: I care about what he or she does on earth. As an atheist, I believe precisely what the Bible says on this subject: "By their fruits ye shall know them."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.washingtonpost.com ...
I have no problem with this sentence whatsoever.
Why? They are unrelated.
Agnostics are not weak atheist or weak believers; they are confident in their doubt.
Faith in God and humility before a higher power is an enviable state.
Some are born with faith
Some earn their faith
and others spend their lives searching......for faith is never thrust upon anyone.
The searchers are called agnostics...the humble ones.
bump
What a coincidence - that's also Saudi Arabia's policy!
So you prefer our current government (federal, state, and local) to a hypothetical group of Constitutionally aware, freedom-minded atheists? I'm not exactly pleased with the non-atheist Kennedy and Kerry as my senators - are you?
Kennedy and Kerry might as well be atheists, not that I have much room to criticize.
Why would anyone want to make a point of being an atheist unless he wants to start a fight?
re: Kennedy, Kerry, Clintonsx2 etc, don't confuse poseurs posturing as people of faith--with genuine people of faith in God.
What a coincidence - that's also Saudi Arabia's policy!Really? When did they begin having free elections with universal sufferage?! I must have missed that one...
"I could not care less whether any elected official believes in God: I care about what he or she does on earth."
But, what he or she does on earth has a great deal to do with whether or not he or she believes in God.
I have a problem with arbitrary labels generally, since they are usually defined by someone who is not effected by that particular label. In this particular instance, I usually just reply that I'm not religious. Nor am I superstitious. I don't believe in ghosts, goblins, gods and goddesses, or little green men from outer space. I am also not a hypocrite. I don't go out and make an ass of myself on Saturday nite, and make it all better by going to church on Sunday. I don't blame some diety for crap I'm responsible for, and I don't take credit for something that I had nothing to do with (I prayed, and it happened, so I'm wonderful!).
If that upsets someone so be it. They are welcome to their beliefs, so long as they don't negatively impact my life or livelihood, or those of my family.
Religion does not make one a "moral" person, or even a good or reasonable person.
That said, I have been to Churches, Synagogues, Buddhist and Hindu Temples, even Voodoo rituals. I've never been in a Mosque. I have studied the worlds great religions, ( including Animism and Zoroaster ) their roots going back as far as archeology and anthropology will permit, and their influence on life, their connections with politics and social evolution, and have a fairly decent understanding of them, and why they came into being. Enough to carry on a intelligent conversation. I don't pretend to be an expert in any of them. None of them ever impressed me enough to sign on.
I also don't have a problem wishing someone a "Merry Christmas", or enjoying cheer and good fellowship associated with this particular Christian ritual. Ditto Hanukah, and other things like it.
So if anyone wants to "label" me, have at it. I "garuntee" you will be wrong.
Nope,I'm not.But the simple fact of the matter is that despite their claims to be Catholics,their lives and voting records irrefutably prove them to be Unitarian/Universalists...a "denomination" made up of atheists who need something to do on Sunday mornings.
Actually, Saudi Arabia started having local elections recently (male-only, of course) for low-level positions - from which atheists are as excluded as they are from ALL public life over there. I didn't mean to compare their Islamic theocracy to our constitutional republic, but having a belief in the supernatural as a primary condition for elected office is not a step in the right direction.
Taking the liberty of pinging you ...
In that case, my election-day policy is "atheists only." Know what I do on Sunday mornings? Catch up on badly-needed sleep. I don't entrust my freedoms to sleep-deprived caffeine zombies whether they believe in the supernatural, or not.
Yup...that's the ticket. Shut up everyone who doesn't agree with you....
...oh, wait...we've got an amendment....
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