Any atheists on this website? If so discuss your thoughts on atheism and religion, and possible oppression from religious people. (Dont blatantly hate on religion though, keep it civil)
Yeah, atheists are o.k but when they try to bring their agenda into the schools and whatnot and try to tell me how the universe works with science, that's when I draw the line.
Me. Well. More of an agnostic with strong atheist leanings. I've never seen anything that irrefutably disproves OR proves the existence of god(s), but right now the evidence isn't in religion's favor. I'm open to all faiths though, and won't hate on anyone because beliefs, unless they start it of course. I keep my beliefs to myself, and generally I find that once people get to know me, when the issue comes up they're surprised. I don't actually run into a lot of oppression, but then again I don't go looking for it either.
What do you mean by us atheists bringing our agenda into school?
Teaching evolution as though it's the only explanation for life on planet earth, trying to ban the pledge of allegiance in schools, and probably trying to turn our kids gay or something.
But evolution has been proven and is just a simple fact. God has no reason to be in the pledge, its not like we are trying to get "in god we do not trust" or anything to that effect, we just look to remove it, along with in god we trust on money. Also if gay marriage is legalized that dosent mean kids are going to be turned gay, it just gives equal rights which should have always been thereTeaching evolution as though it's the only explanation for life on planet earth, trying to ban the pledge of allegiance in schools, and probably trying to turn our kids gay or something.
But evolution has been proven and is just a simple fact. God has no reason to be in the pledge, its not like we are trying to get "in god we do not trust" or anything to that effect, we just look to remove it, along with in god we trust on money. Also if gay marriage is legalized that dosent mean kids are going to be turned gay, it just gives equal rights which should have always been there
A: "But evolution has been proven and is just a simple fact"
Well if evolution is soooo true, and we evolved from monkeys, than why aren't today's monkeys evolving into half-human monkey people? How do you explain how a banana fits perfectly in the hand, and has a tab so it can be peeled open, and changes colour to indicate ripeness? And if Evolution is soooo great, how come it only got a 43% score on Rotten Tomatoes?
B: "God has no reason to be in the pledge, its not like we are trying to get "in god we do not trust" or anything to that effect, we just look to remove it, along with in god we trust on money.
Yeah, no reason to be on the pledge... except that this is a Christian nation founded on Christian values by Christians. Remove god from the pledge and next thing you know our kids are pledging allegiance to the devil in school and wearing trench-coats and shooting each other.
C: "If gay marriage is legalized that doesn't mean kids are going to be turned gay, it just gives equal rights which should have always been there"
Nothing can send a more destructive message to the sexually confused trying to overcome their illness than the legalisation of gay marriage. Marriage is defined as the holy union between a man and a woman, and allowing two men to marry ruins the sanctity of the institution, like how people with the same birthday as you makes your birthday less special. And suddenly kids will start to wonder if maybe they should try having gay sex, and next summer they'll be wearing yellow jeans and white short-sleeved v-neck shirts and calling everyone "honey". Not to mention next thing you know after gay marriage it's legal to have sex with animals, dead bodies, the under-aged, and the comatose.
In what ways?Many Atheists seem to be just as closed minded as the most conservative Religious people.
In what ways?
I've found the average Atheist I've met (and I'm not saying ALL atheists here) seem to have no interest in any alternate point of view. They just tend to want to point and laugh at how silly they feel the other party's outlook on life is and try their very best to preach the wonders of atheism.
I think it's ignorant to feel that you have all of the answers in life, which makes disregard for alternate points of view foolish.
One of the key understandings behind atheism is that current science doesn't explain everything, we don't have all the answers in life. What atheists do recognize however is that these holes cannot be filled with the lazy, simple concept of a deity. It is better, so to speak, to realize you don't know, than to pretend you do.
Atheists "point an laugh and disregard" these "alternate viewpoints" because they involve unsubstantiated claims of superior beings that tend to favor discrimination and oppression. What's more is that people feel entitled to have their personal faith affect law, to affect people of different beliefs, ethnicity, and ideology. Why should I be willing to listen to someone who believes a fairy story developed by Emperor Constantine's circle of monks in the 6th century is true, when it's original purpose was to distribute social and political ideas favorable to the Eastern Roman Empire at the time? Why should that affect the laws in my country, in 2013 mind you, and affect how I live my life?
The best part is, when I find the notion of that silly, and when people outright reject evidence because of their "feelings" and "faith", I'm the ignorant and close-minded one.
Every theory has its flaws (mind you, it's a Theory of Evolution because there are more flaws than just a theist perspective).
The word theory in the theory of evolution does not imply mainstream scientific doubt regarding its validity; the concepts of theory and hypothesis have specific meanings in a scientific context. While theory in colloquial usage may denote a hunch or conjecture, a scientific theory is a set of principles that explains observable phenomena in natural terms. "Scientific fact and theory are not categorically separable," and evolution is a theory in the same sense as germ theory or the theory of gravitation.
-Wikipedia
Although I believe the needle is swaying towards the atheist side, it's only a matter of time before it reverts.
Religion was used for centuries as an avenue to explain the unexplained and to expand ones knowledge of themselves as the world around them (in much the same way as Science). I don't think it's fair or reasonable to disregard hundreds of years of collective human thought as many do. As you say Atheists recognize that we don't have all "answers" (and probably never will) so it's not unreasonable to at least listen to the opinions of those with a different outlook on things without feeling the need to belittle or convert them.
We should let people find whatever comfort they can with themselves and refrain from calling their beliefs "lazy" and "simple".
So what I'm trying to say is not all Religious people are trying to force their views down your throat and impose their laws onto you, just as not all Atheists are closed-minded and choose to belittle and laugh at those who don't share their views, I just think there's a lot of growing up to do on both sides of the debate as many are.
Many Atheists seem to be just as closed minded as the most conservative Religious people.