IF that were true, then you just admitted to the assertion I made in the posting prior to this one. America does have an unofficial declared religion that some atheists embrace. It is called secular humanism.
No it is not it is simply a philosophy. Religion is not limited to a way of life. Religion of any kind is characterized by faith in ideas or things which are unprovable.
It is a philosophy that defines how one thinks and acts in a socio-economic context. It is a philosophy made up of theories and ideas that are unfalsifiable.
Actually you are wrong they are falsifiable if you would care to try and do so. It is strictly religion which has unfalsifiable ideas such as god.
You are entitled you opinion, so let me say this: Evey man has a right to his own opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts. Having said that, get ready to start pecking your keyboard in 4...3...2... One atheist group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation once used part of a ruling of a famous court case that was decided by the United States Supreme Court. My first point is, some atheists disagree with soupnazi. Let me give you the quote from the United States Supreme Court ruling: "Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism, and others." Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961) Now, let me tell you what's about to happen. soupnazi - or someone equally deluded - will be here in a few moments to tell us that the quote came from a footnote in the decision. And, they are right; nevertheless, it is a part of the ruling though not a specific holding. AND, an atheist organization (actually several over the years) have introduced the footnote in court cases. Freedom From Religion Foundation has used the Torasco v. Watkins in court cases to their advantage AND they've worked with the IRS to bring about an atheist government: http://www.allenbwest.com/2014/07/atheist-group-colludes-irs-crack-churches/ Now, I hate to be bearer of bad news, but the hard core fact is, secular humanism is a religion AND it is our official undeclared religion because the tenets of the Humanist cause are found in the Humanist Manifestos which are also the goals and objectives of many local and federal governments, agencies, etc.
Secular humanism is not a religion in any way shape or form. Much as atheism is not a religion in any way shape or form. The USSC defines laws not reality or words. Sorry but the facts prove you wrong and secular humanism is not based on any form of faith. Religion is. Those are facts not opinion
On randomness, it means something that if I lay a guitar pick on a table, it will remain right there for hundred years unless something or someone comes along and moves it. It will not randomly change shapes or dematerialize. That's not an argument for a loving God, but it is an argument against randomness.
And tax payer funded programmes of a religious nature. This current Australian conservative government introduced the National School Chaplaincy Programme when first elected in 2013. The initial cost was $240 million per annum. The High Court deemed it unconstitutional so the government put it into the hands of the states. It was therefore 'fine tuned' by where it was optional for schools, even secular schools. As a sweetener, schools who ran with the programme would get 'extras', whatever they are. Also, schools who ran with it would lose their secular school counsellor. The Federal Government has reduced the funding to 60 million dollars per annum, bearing in mind education is funded by the states.
What I shared with you is a ruling by the United States Supreme Court. That is the law, not an opinion... and when the U.S. Supreme Court says so, not even God himself has yet to over-rule that body.
No, not random. Probabilistic. According to the above, if I choose one religion over all others, I'd automatically turn myself into a hateful creature. What's worse, my hate would be directed at my own God's creatures. I find it at least unsettling. What do you mean, no reason? A literal interpretation of your comment would lead me to the conclusion that humans must be puppets on strings pulled by a higher being with a higher purpose in order for our lives to have meaning. Self contradicting statement, I'd say. Yes and no. An ideology - be it religious or not - is defined not only by its effects on its adherents, but also by its effects on those who don't embrace it. Atheism is not an ideology though, so I agree with the last paragraph. Aren't those desires also created by God, for a reason? Why call something your God has created "vain"?
In the U.S. there are a LOT of very religious people....but then at the same time because there are 320 Million American's there are a LOT of Agnostics, Atheists and people of all different religions. I personally an Agnostic and the ONLY time I see there is a problem is when some Christian's in Government allow something like the 10 COMMANDMENTS were sculpted into a relief and then at the cost of taxpayers money was payed for and placed on a Court House. So some Atheists and Agnostics and even some other Christian's came out and said..."This is WRONG! If you allow one religious group to have a sculpture on a court house then you need to allow ALL OF THEM to do the same!! At first those Christian's who had that relief sculpture put on the court building argued that the 10 Commandments should remain....but when they realized that because of the separation of church and state that it was unconstitutional and that since SATANISM is an official registered religion in the U.S. and that if the 10 Commandments was allowed to stay then EVERYONE RELIGION would have to be allowed to do the same....fearing a Devil Statue in front of the Courthouse....well....they got the point and it came down....after a Trial of course!! LOL!! AA
I'm wondering, in an American court, can one opt out of swearing on the Bible and do people do it? In Australia we can opt out by raising your hand, not taking the Bible and saying - "I swear to tell the truth and the whole truth". We can omit - "So help me God". I've seen this done a few times, when on jury duty and when attending a family member's court case. Mostly people just take the Bible as a matter of course.
Yeah...you can opt out. Plus they also have the Koran and Torah...etc. I find it amusing in the extreme that the most technologically advanced society in the world...the U.S.....has so many Anti-Science Religious Fanatics as they use their I-Phones to log onto the Internet so they can then drive using their GPS to get to a meeting to plan an Anti-Science Protest. And all these things.....Smart Phones, Internet, Computers, GPS....are ALL U.S. DEVELOPMENTS!! LOL!! AA
Google Maps was first developed by Sydney based company Where 2 Technologies, so American Anti-Science Religious Fanatics can be excused for using this
Well that explains why Google Maps sucks!! LOL!!! I am both kidding and not kidding as Google Maps really is bad. GPS was created by the U.S. and we have to maintain an entire worldwide GPS Satellite Network daily. Due to Time Dilation each GPS Satellites internal clock must be adjusted daily as due to Relativity and Time Dilation the Satellites Clocks are a tiny bit behind time on Earth. In reality the GPS Satellites are actually traveling Forward in Time a tiny amount of time each day. But just TRY to explain this to an Ultra-Religious Zealot who has GPS on their phone and in their car! LOL!!! AA
I have never had that experience. But then again it has to do with the accuracy of the data imputed. GPS is accurate in the extreme and that's why it is used by the U.S. Military for targeting. But if you have a lousy sending and receiving unit...well... AA
They did not Make a law stating secular humanism is religion. Yes hey only stated opinion and it was wrong.
Best? For some that is undoubtedly true since they lack either the intellectual capacity or knowledge to evaluate alternatives. Questioning "faith in god", makes many of them extremely uncomfortable and even aggressively defensive.
