|
Is Atheism truly frowned upon in America?
|
In New England, anyway, while the general assumption is that everyone believes in god to some extent (and, usually, it's the Catholic version, especially as you get closer to Boston), most people are pretty private about their beliefs. So, being an atheist isn't really something that comes up. We're more united by our shared fandom with the Red Sox and Patriots than religion.
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
  RE: Is Atheism truly frowned upon in America?
February 9, 2015 at 7:55 pm
(This post was last modified: February 9, 2015 at 7:55 pm by Clueless Morgan.)
(February 9, 2015 at 6:40 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: There are still states where there are laws that atheists cannot hold public office. While this is technically true, these laws are also all unconstitutional. Torcaso v Watkins Cites the 1st and 14th amendments in the ruling for Torcaso Silverman v Campbell Cites the 1st amendment and article VI, paragraph 3 prohibiting religious tests for public office in the ruling for Silverman
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
 (February 9, 2015 at 5:38 pm)TheMessiah Wrote: I'm just asking this, I am truly intrigued by how Atheism is treated in America.In the large cities where the population is more liberal, it's not a big deal, in part because religion isn't that big a deal outside of politics. I think that in the midwest and south the communities are more centered around religion and it's a much bigger deal, but I wouldn't say that religion is that big a deal as much as claiming to be religious is.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould 
Well because many ignorant people think atheists are dumb and are going to hell because we don't believe in dumb shit they do.
I mean i am not mad at religion i am just mad at hell because it is a inhumane concept only a really sick in the head individual would make up.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization join today.
Code: <iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/255506953&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true"></iframe>
Not by atheists....and who cares what the morons think?
(February 9, 2015 at 9:53 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Not by atheists....and who cares what the morons think? Mormonism is a cult anyways i mean its Christianity 2.0 and it amazes me there is black mormons when the original doctrine was really far out there even calling out the Native Americans and even the blacks.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization join today.
Code: <iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/255506953&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true"></iframe> (February 9, 2015 at 7:55 pm)Clueless Morgan Wrote:(February 9, 2015 at 6:40 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: There are still states where there are laws that atheists cannot hold public office. Oh yeah, none of them are defensible in any way, but they exist and no one is in a hurry to get rid of them.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
PM me your email address to join the Slack chat! I'll give you a taco(or five) if you join! --->There's an app and everything!<---  (February 9, 2015 at 10:17 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote:(February 9, 2015 at 7:55 pm)Clueless Morgan Wrote: While this is technically true, these laws are also all unconstitutional. Yes, and that is very much to the point of the OP. The question was about attitudes, and the fact that there are such laws and they are not being eliminated speaks volumes about the attitudes of people in power about such matters. And, of course, we may infer from that (what any adult living in America ought to already know) that the voting public has a negative attitude toward atheists as well. Otherwise, those in power might want to eliminate such unconstitutional laws. Quite simply, it is probably impossible that anyone who declared himself or herself to be an atheist could become the next president. And it would be very difficult to get into high public office generally, as religious bigots would vote against one. Not impossible everywhere, but it adds difficulties everywhere, as there are religious bigots everywhere. "A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence." — David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
 RE: Is Atheism truly frowned upon in America?
February 9, 2015 at 11:07 pm
(This post was last modified: February 9, 2015 at 11:07 pm by Strider.)
I'll echo what others have said; it largely depends on what region of the country you live in. I live in the most religious state in the U.S., and I'm not really open with my godless worldview. Honestly, there's no real point in me going around proclaiming, "I'm an atheist!" from the hilltops so it's a bit of a non-issue for me. If someone asks me what church I go to, I simply say I don't go and leave it at that. No further explanation needed.
Speaking of a general distrust of atheists, my mother knows I don't believe in a god, and I asked her if she had told anybody. She replied, "Lord, no! I wouldn't ever tell anybody that. People think atheists are evil people who love doing bad stuff." I am absolutely certain that she believed just that until she learned that her eldest child, magnanimous and wonderful creature that I am (  ), is an atheist.
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." ~ Benjamin Franklin
|
|
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
|
