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Secularism in America: Growing American Movement Raises Concerns
Catholic News Service ^ | 4/20/12 | Chaz Muth

Posted on 04/24/2012 6:46:30 AM PDT by marshmallow

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Arianne Gasser of Canton, Ohio, is proud to call herself a graduate student at a prestigious Catholic university, and she also is proud to call herself an atheist.

The pride she has in her atheist status is part of what inspired her to travel from the Philadelphia area, where she is enrolled at Villanova University, to Washington in March to join thousands of other atheists, agnostics and other nonbelievers for the "Reason Rally," an event that was billed as an assembly to unify secular people nationwide.

Carrying a sign that reads, "This is what an atheist looks like," Gasser is part of a growing segment of Americans under the age of 30 who identify themselves as atheists or agnostics.

It's a movement that concerns Catholic leaders worldwide, including Pope Benedict XVI.

"We have morals and we have beliefs and we have these values," said Gasser, as she walked along the National Mall and marveled at how many people turned out for the rally. "People just think that we're evil, God-hating. We're just people. We just don't believe that something happens to us after we die."

A survey released in 2009 by the Pew Research Center found that a quarter of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 surveyed said they were atheists, agnostics or had no religion.

"Radical secularism" threatens the core values of American culture, the pope warned a group of U.S. bishops visiting the Vatican in January. He called on the church in the U.S., as well as politicians and other laypeople, to render "public moral witness" on crucial social issues.

"The larger concern with secularism is that it damages people, and that it actually keeps people from being reasonable with one another," said Chad C. Pecknold, assistant professor of systematic theology in........

(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnews.com ...


TOPICS: Current Events; General Discusssion; Religion & Culture; Skeptics/Seekers
KEYWORDS: atheism; misotheism; nihilism; secularism; theology
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1 posted on 04/24/2012 6:46:33 AM PDT by marshmallow
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To: marshmallow

This country is doomed.

Every day this country looks more and more like the Daughter of Babylon in Isaiah and Revelation. Prophecy says that The Daughter of Babylon will be destroyed in ONE DAY (nuclear), and the smoke of her destruction will be seen far out to sea. The merchants of the Earth will lament her destruction, because it is bad news for them, too.


2 posted on 04/24/2012 6:54:48 AM PDT by Westbrook (Children do not divide your love, they multiply it.)
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To: marshmallow

“People just think that we’re evil, God-hating. We’re just people. We just don’t believe that something happens to us after we die.”

I lament their stupidity. The Lord has given some people experiences to relate to us:

http://www.soulchoiceministries.org/


3 posted on 04/24/2012 7:01:08 AM PDT by DarthVader (Politicians govern out of self interest, Statesmen govern for a Vision greater than themselves)
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To: marshmallow

Pray that God will bring more missionaries to proclaim the good news of the Gospel of Jesus to America and the west.


4 posted on 04/24/2012 7:03:55 AM PDT by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: marshmallow
If these fruitcakes are the "reasoned" atheists, than there's little to worry about...

"I'm not really into politics, but I do think that secular beliefs need to be treated equally with people who are believers," she told CNS. "I don't think we're recognized in the government policies and the way people cover campaigns. It's just all appealing to religious people, but there are so many of us who want to have a say in how our country is run."

You mean if you don't count the entire Democratic party, the bulk of the media, and most of the government bureaucracy?

"It's just all appealing to religious people"? Really? Is she watching the "700 Club" and thinking it's a mainstream news source?
5 posted on 04/24/2012 7:07:02 AM PDT by chrisser (Starve the Monkeys!)
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To: marshmallow
Statistically atheists are overrepresented in the military and underrepresented in prison.

As such they seem to be decent citizens without any demonstrated tendency to crash airplanes into skyscrapers and hardly worthy of being America's most hated religious minority.

6 posted on 04/24/2012 7:11:19 AM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send GOP to DC to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism)
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To: allmendream

I have no problem with atheists per se, it’s the ones who simply hate Christians and Christianity, and ignore the threat of Islam that I have a big problem with.


7 posted on 04/24/2012 7:15:25 AM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
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To: dfwgator

Me too. Those who do not believe in God, and worse attack Christians forget a BIGGER threat called Islamofacism.


8 posted on 04/24/2012 7:17:27 AM PDT by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: dfwgator

Yes, there are few things in life as reprehensible as an “evangelical” atheist.

Do they go around at Christmas time and tell little kids there is no Santa?

Do they kick puppies?

Even if they thought religion was a “crutch” - do they go around kicking the crutches out from under people with broken legs?


9 posted on 04/24/2012 7:21:40 AM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send GOP to DC to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism)
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plus, for years, these morons have been schooled into believing in the lie of evolutionism, and now that they worship at the altar of darwin....we wonder why.....

you reap what you sow.


10 posted on 04/24/2012 7:26:52 AM PDT by raygunfan
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To: raygunfan

So you call then morons, that will win them over. /s


11 posted on 04/24/2012 7:59:06 AM PDT by Okieshooter
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To: dfwgator

The ones I have a problem with, are those who file lawsuits to get crosses torn down off of mountains, and file lawsuits to take “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Atheist/agnostic people who have a live and let live attitude are one thing. The radical version of same, who want to change the entire society to make our country into their version of utopia, are the dangers.


12 posted on 04/24/2012 8:03:37 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: allmendream
Yes, there are few things in life as reprehensible as an “evangelical” atheist.

We know. They're called communists.

"Religion is the opium of the masses". Remember that quotation?

Millions died at the hands of "evangelical" atheists and we spent most of the 20th century fighting them.

13 posted on 04/24/2012 8:04:25 AM PDT by marshmallow (.)
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To: marshmallow
I fear for my children, I truly do.

There are times when I feel totally powerless to prepare them for the future they face.

14 posted on 04/24/2012 8:07:18 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Yes....and most atheists I know, are actually glad at least that we do have a Judeo-Christian value system, and perish the thought of what would happen if indeed there were no believers, even though they themselves do not believe.

That’s my point I always try to make to them...do you really think the world would be a better place without people of faith?


15 posted on 04/24/2012 8:07:18 AM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
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To: Okieshooter

i call them morons, because as atheists, the religion of evolutionism is their default position, and they also betray their ‘rational thought’ claims by living in a country that has founding documents that acknowledge a higher power than man.....

surely, as an atheist, you would want to stick to your principles of so-called ‘rational thought’, and seek to live where there is no ackownledgement of a higher power than man himself.....

and since they do not seek this, but just spout their atheistic claptrap with no small sense of pride, i call that moronic behavior.


16 posted on 04/24/2012 8:08:31 AM PDT by raygunfan
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To: allmendream

As one with an advanced degree in the Humanities, I wouldn’t believe any soft science “study.”


17 posted on 04/24/2012 8:11:07 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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To: marshmallow

Nowadays, here in America - it seems that opiates are the religion of the masses.


18 posted on 04/24/2012 8:12:03 AM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send GOP to DC to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism)
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To: Okieshooter

Yeah, so does calling their gathering a “Reason Rally.”


19 posted on 04/24/2012 8:13:05 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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To: dfwgator

Islamists hate atheists more than christians.


20 posted on 04/24/2012 8:17:27 AM PDT by x_plus_one (Jihad is an institution inherent to the Islamic system itself; a permanent religious obligation)
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