Why do atheists...

i think big v answered about as well as you can.

and keep in mind, we're not talking about adults here, we're talking about children. i believe an atheist has the right not to have their child exposed on a regular basis to group religious ceremonies -- particularly when that atheist is having pay for it. it's a matter of being free to raise your child with your morals and your faith without gov't intervention.

 

I really, truly could not give a shit less what people who have religious beliefs go on doing there thing. Put God on the dollar bill , say it in the Pledge, shout it on the fucking street corner in NYC and annoy the hell out of everyone...I don't care...just don't try to tell me what to think....and most of the time it's people who believe in God who approach the subject and try to convince me I am wrong .

 

also, i think the idea is to keep the battle in an area that's relatively low stakes, rather than wait till the gov't starts rounding up atheists or non-christians. obviously, that's a long way away, but by pitching a fit now, it keeps the focus on this relatively minor aspect and keeps it from escellating. this is the proverbial inch that nobody wants to give for fear of losing a mile.

 

Could someone translate this for me?

 

because they don't feel it's right to have a society base laws on the Bible when they don't believe in to begin with.

 

Very well said, Big Vito.

When I was a kid -- growing up Jewish in an upper-middle class area of east-coast Florida, I was confronted by numerous incidents of anti-semitism. I was frequently the target of both physical and verbal abuse (which the school authorities consistently did nothing about). When my 10-speed bicycle was repeatedly vandalized, I was told (by the school principal) that it was MY fault for having such a nice bicycle.

When my dad caught one of the neighborhood brats throwing an egg at our house (it was "holiday" time and our Chanukah decorations had been destroyed and someone had taken spray snow and wrote "Jews" on our front yard), he took the kid to his parents, understanding that the parents would not be very happy to know that their child had done this. Well, the result was quite the opposite: the father told my dad that it served us right for being Jews. This was during the late 1960s.

The moral of the story is that the kid who has the moral backbone to not say "under G-d" in the Pledge; to not participate in the prayer, risks being ostracised -- or far worse.

 

I'm not an atheist. But I AM a member of a "non-traditional" religious group in the US. And I have (I think) some understanding of what motivates atheists to protest so strongly against certain religious observances.

Yeah, the pledge says "under God." I feel hypocritical if I say this--so I don't. Believe me, people notice; & it pisses them off. I love my homeland; but I don't appreciate being singled out & accused of being "ungodly & un-
American" because I'm not a member of the "majority" religion here.

I don't object to people praying in school. I don't object to people praying anywhere. I DO object to school/state-SPONSORED prayer. Trust me on this--if there's a public prayer situation in which you choose not to participate, it is noted; & you will suffer for it.

The 10 Commandments? I have no problem with them in general. And the Bible is a legitimate element of the history of our nation. What I do have a problem with, regarding the public display of those commandments in a government institution, is that such a display publicly negates other beliefs. Can you imagine the public uproar if some other religious document was enshrined in such a public forum? Suppose I'm in a position of political power & decide to set a statue in or around the court building where I work, engraved with the Wiccan Rede: "If it harms no one, do what you will." I suspect I'd be lynched in short order.

Some people protest just for the sake of protesting. But they're the minority. Most of us who protest the things that you don't think should matter are doing so in a sincere effort to protect what they believe--atheist or pagan or Jewish or Muslim or whatever.

Try not looking at it from the point of view of "If I believed this . . . then . . ."

Take what you DO believe; & consider: if you were in a distinct minority, how you would/might feel if some "authority" decided that people in your school or community should pray THIS way & not THAT.

Our core spiritual beliefs define us more than anything else, I think. If the culture in which you live consistently downgrades & disregards the core of who you are--whether atheist or pagan or whatever--don't you think you'd be a bit defensive?

 

You people still say the pledge?

 

do that today and you might end up on sex offender registry.

 

I'm a lot more interested in how a bunch of people in the majority can continually whine about being under attack from a pretty small minority.

Brain, I'd advise you to take a good look around - say - NOTD to see who really makes the "most fuss" about religion.