As the court forces Christianity on America, time for atheists to speak out

[intrepidity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/30/supreme-court-religion-atheists-backlash/

Archived link:

https://archive.ph/r1GE6

A few tidbits, but go read the whole thing and get motivated to speak up.

One way is with other religions. A Florida synagogue recently sued the state over its abortion ban, arguing, in effect, that its God has different rules. (In questions of abortion, Jewish law prioritizes the woman’s life and well-being.)
It's gratifying to watch Jews take on this legal battle, daring the courts to say out loud that one religious perspective deserves more protection than another.

....snip

You could call yourself an “agnostic” if you want, a “nonbeliever” or a “humanist.” But a good backlash should pack a punch, and nothing punches like the word atheist.
Tell someone you’re an atheist. Start with yourself if you need to. Tell your spouse, your kids, your parents, your pastor, your political representatives. And if pollsters come calling, definitely tell them.
Make it clear that, to you, no legitimate public policy can be based on the supposed wishes of a supernatural being. Right-wing politicians will have to find some other moral justification for forcing women to bear children they don’t want, keeping students from getting the education they need and withholding health care that might save children’s lives while protecting the guns that might end them.
America is not and has never been a Christian nation. Keeping it from turning into one may be up to us.

[samnsara]

1. i never used the word atheist as i thought it was too political UNTIL bush era when

Ron Reagan Jr made his Freedom From Religion Commercials. I joined them and donated and even made a few referrals to them to investigate..now i proudly and loudly refer to myself as atheist..thanks also to being raised baptist!

so since all the scotus decisions are based on religion i guess they dont apply to me

[intrepidity]

3. I had never considered myself an atheist

but I think, as of today, July 4th, I will forthwith declare my independance from any vestige of whatever "supreme being" notion remains lodged in my consciousness; and I will affix the label "atheist" to myself, if only or mainly because of the impact the word seems to have upon the pious.

So there.

[dawg]

2. It's also a time for Christians to speak out.

If we are really serious about "do unto others as you would have done unto you", then we cannot stand by idly while our non-believing and differently-believing brothers and sisters are being marginalized and mistreated.

[msfiddlestix]

4. Long, long, past time..

I've been waiting for a half century or longer for folks in this country who do not believe in religious edicts and laws to speak out vehemently to demand Separation of Church and State be acknowledged, respected, enforced and take prescedent over all policies related to "the church"

Ron Reagan Jr, is involved in the Freedom from Religion Foundation. I have longed to see them out front on all these matters.

But hey need strength in numbers, and I have a sense not a lot of people know they exist.

[czarjak]

5. If it wasn't for bad faith, they'd have no faith at all.

[ananda]

6. They are not forcing Christianity on us.

They are forcing a twisted view of authoritarian fascism
on us, with what they hope people will believe is
Christian in order to give them what they might falsely
think is moral superiority.

[shrike3]

7. There are more "nones" in this country than Catholics.

Why the separation of church and state is more important than ever.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. There are more non-believers in this country....

Than there are members of ANY particular denomination.

More Atheists than Southern Baptists, Catholics, etc. etc. etc.

And our numbers are growing. The fastest growing segment of religious belief is those with no belief in god, or as you put it, “Nones”.

[shrike3]

14. Technically, nones are simply people with no religion.

I know more than a few of them; I know more nones than religious folk. I can think of only a few who self-identify as atheist or agnostic. They simply don't follow any particular religion. Most say yes if asked if they believe in a God or creator. Some have rather interesting ideas as to how it all works. Anyway, the numbers of actual atheists and agnostics are a subset of the nones.

That aside, it really shouldn't matter; how many believe and how many don't. Religion and government should remain separate in a polygot nation like ours.

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. I could not agree more.

That aside, it really shouldn't matter; how many believe and how many don't. Religion and government should remain separate in a polygot nation like ours.

Unfortunately though, it does.

Frank Zappa called it 30 years ago.

Search YouTube for “Frank Zappa Crossfire” to find the whole 20 minute vid, but he called it way back in 1986;


Skip to the 10:00 mark for the pertinent segment, but the entire show is well worth the watch, as Frank absolutely NAILS the hypocrisy of the right in this country. Unfortunately, we lost Zappa way too soon, in 1993 but John Lofton lived to 2014 (they were a year apart in age).

[Maraya1969]

8. The religion I follow believes that no one is born or dies. We are always alive but sometimes

incarnate onto the earth so as to wake up to that fact. We are not individual people but life itself, like the ocean. Waves flow constantly from the ocean but they always go back. There is a saying, "Enlightenment is when the wave realizes it is the ocean".

The death of a person is sad for the people around that person, not for the person as they have just changed forms so to speak. So the death of a fetus matters only to someone who has created something significant in their minds about that fetus; which happens when a woman is carrying a child and everyone gets excited about it. But if she loses that "child" it doesn't mean anything has really died. The anti-abortion people have played this one very well by showing pictures, (sometimes faked) of fetuses and making it seem as if the fetus is a real child. It's only real in their heads.


Actually this is the belief of Buddhism and Hinduism. I follow both.

[intrepidity]

10. That is generally the belief-ishness I accept in lieu of any theism

Why can't we all just get along? (rhetorical; I know why)

[dalton99a]

9. There is nothing Christ-like about them

[HAB911]

12. Starting today........

I will no longer be silent, no longer not confront those espousing supernatural bull shit. Stick a fork in me, I'm DONE.

[onecaliberal]

13. Time for litigation.

[chia]

15. Well over 6K comments on that opinion piece. For those ready, July 4 seems the perfect day.

I'm not ready yet, myself. But I bookmarked the websites suggested in the oldest reply:

Time to join the Center For Inquiry, The Freedom From Religion Foundation, The American Humanist Association, American Atheists or your local Freethought group. They are all working to preserve the separation of church and state.

[Ocelot II]

16. It's time for *all* people to speak out

who don't think religion should play any part in government, regardless of what their personal beliefs or lack of them might be. Declaring yourself an atheist is just a distraction, because you'll quickly get pulled into an argument about the existence of a god - which is irrelevant to the issue of religion in government. It should not matter what your personal beliefs are. The question is not whether legitimate public policy can be based on the supposed wishes of a supernatural being; it's whether legitimate public policy can be based on anything other than the collective needs and welfare of the people.

[wryter2000]

18. It's also time for Christians to speak out

What they call Christianity is not what Jesus of Nazareth supposedly said. Nor is much of what they spout in the bible. The problem is, the mega-church types have all the money and all the power. People like Bishop Curry of the Episcopal church and the Lutherans and the Methodists don't get heard. I don't know what the solution is, but it's irksome as all Hell.