Atheists To Hold Massive Rally On National Mall Next Month

Discussion in 'Current Events' started by Think for myself, Feb 20, 2012.

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  1. Think for myself

    Think for myself Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Bravo.

    With having to hear constantly form candidates, left and right, about how religious they are or how they get some of their decision making advice form some non existent invisible man in the sky, atheists are descending upon Washington in a show of unity.

    Apparently the timing is not coincidental, as the looming election season is nearly upon us, and again there are candidates who wish to lead with some of the basis for their political beliefs coming form a 1800 year old book on mythology.

    Personally, I long for the day that religion or mythology is gone form the government. Additionally, I long for the day when theists realize that if they keep their little rituals in their homes and churches, no one really cares what they believe.

    http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012...ld-massive-rally-on-national-mall-next-month/

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBSDC) – Thousands of atheists are expected to attend the Reason Rally next month in Washington, D.C., an event that organizers hope will unify a large part of the secular community.

    On March 24, the National Mall will be populated by those who sympathize with atheist perspectives, generally defined by an absence in belief of deities or other religious icons.

    The website for the event states that organizers aim to encourage participants to claim their identity as what they call “secular Americans,” to dispel stereotypes, and to rally for legislative equality.

    David Silverman, a chair for the Reason Rally Coalition and president of American Atheists, said that participants are motivated by positivity.

    “We’re not going there to complain, we’re not going there to fight,” he told CBSDC. “[We want to] celebrate the fact that we are growing, we are stronger, and we are taking our place in American society.”

    The idea for the rally was born several years ago, from a national meeting of similar minds and their desire to help their movement grow in both strength and number from their current standings.

    “There are 40 to 50 million atheists [in the United States]. About 40 to 50 thousand are involved in the movement,” Silverman said. “That’s one-tenth of 1 percent [of the movement actively participating].”

    Bookending that weekend are other initiatives to further engage those in the secular community and beyond, including a national lobbying day before and a national convention afterwards, all in the hopes of maximizing the impact of the weekend.

    The location and timing of the rally are not coincidence – the Reason Rally hopes to make its own impact on the 2012 elections by injecting a discussion of separations between church and state into the national dialogue.

    “We need people to ask the tough questions, and they’re not. What’s more important: the Bible or the Constitution? Do they want theocracy? Do they want Christianity as the official religion, and if so, which version?” Silverman stated, adding that despite his Republican affiliation, he feels himself without a candidate that supports his beliefs. “Hopefully what we’ll do is get people talking about what … atheists and secularists think.”

    Superseding the importance of political activism, though, is the movement’s passionate desire for true equality.

    “There are more atheists in the country right now than Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists combined and doubled – that’s a lot of people, and we are the most hated … for no reason other than pure and simple religious bigotry, spurned by ignorance,” Silverman said. “Ignorance is killed by awareness … we want to put many faces to [atheism], so people will understand us better and tolerate us more.
     
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  2. TheLastBoyScout

    TheLastBoyScout New Member

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    I'd stay away from calling rallies "massive" before they happen.

    But really? An Atheism rally? What exactly would be the point?
     
  3. Never Left

    Never Left Banned

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    So the Religious Atheist Fundamentalists are going to have a revival meeting on the Washington Mall as a prelude to haveing their religion installed as the state religion. A million man parade of Christophobia and a stand for immorality and intolerance. As the Church Lady says "Isn't that special".
     
  4. randlepatrickmcmurphy

    randlepatrickmcmurphy Well-Known Member

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    To make our voices heard, of course. We have that right just like anyone else does. Studies have shown opposition to atheism and agnosticism goes down when people realize how many of them there are. When people see how many of their friends and neighbors come out of the atheist closet, as it were, their unreasoning fears tend to evaporate. It's the same with gays.
     
  5. Think for myself

    Think for myself Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    That does not appear to be an accurate reflection of the facts at hand.
     
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  6. TheLastBoyScout

    TheLastBoyScout New Member

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    I don't think it's analogous to homosexuality........

    And I don't really care if people wish to express their views in a non-antagonistic way. Just like religious evangelism turns me off and away from people, so does anti-religious evangelism.

    Belief or non-belief in a deity is a very personal thing IMO. To promote or bash a particular version of it in the public square makes me wonder what the rational motive would be and whether that is a productive or destructive pursuit.
     
  7. Think for myself

    Think for myself Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Interesting.

    If this is what atheists should do, what woudl you recommend religious pol5tiicians do? leave it out? Certainly we here about beliefs from candidates fairly consistently.
     
  8. DA60

    DA60 Banned

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    Religion.

    Humankind's dumbest invention.
     
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  9. A Common Anomaly

    A Common Anomaly New Member

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    Calling atheism a religion is like calling abstinence a sex position.
     
  10. Never Left

    Never Left Banned

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    ...while you deny that right to others...
     
  11. Never Left

    Never Left Banned

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    Of coarse they are. I am always right, I can see through the haze of ideological protestations insisting on prefernce. I have special glasses for that purpose. :evileyes:
     
  12. TheLastBoyScout

    TheLastBoyScout New Member

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    Yep. I believe in separating religious or non-religious views completely from discussion of public policy.

    Religious politicians should be selling how their personal cosmological beliefs will not influence their policy.....not selling how it will.
     
  13. Yosh Shmenge

    Yosh Shmenge New Member

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    Very "clever" but atheism relies on a systematic set of beliefs and assumptions the same way deity based religions do. They (atheists) just have much less to base their beliefs on.
     
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  14. Never Left

    Never Left Banned

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    It is, non the less, a religion.

    If atheists were true to their creed and beliefs they would ignore all religion and go about their lives unaffected. But since they see fit to be offended by religion and expressions of it, both gaurantted by the constitution, and have created organizations that fund raise and have engaged in court actions and legislative processes that assert their dominance and insist on their belifs being preferred over other religions, makes them very religious indeed.
     
  15. rstones199

    rstones199 Well-Known Member

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    Atheism

    Typical of the right, they have no clue as to what they are talking about.

    From atheism to gay marriage to abortion to.......

    This doesn’t surprise me thou. Most are religious sheep who lost their capability for critical thinking.
     
  16. rstones199

    rstones199 Well-Known Member

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    That’s hard when christians are constantly shoving their silly little imaginary friend does our throats each and every day.
     
  17. Never Left

    Never Left Banned

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    Got nothing except Christophobic hyperbole and hatred?
     
  18. Never Left

    Never Left Banned

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    More Christophobia and accusations of hysterical implications of theocracy.
     
  19. randlepatrickmcmurphy

    randlepatrickmcmurphy Well-Known Member

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    It's analogous in that studies have shown that when people learn just how many gays and atheists/agnostics are among them, their fear and hatred evaporate. People fear what they do not understand. Once they have true understanding they realize there is nothing to be afraid of.

    I agree that belief and non-belief is a personal thing but NONES (that, is atheists, agnostics and people who profess no particular faith) have been treated like second-class citizens for far too long while the government bends over backwards to coddle and subsidize religious beliefs and institutions. I just think the government should stay out of all of it, period.

    I don't think this will be a bash-a-thon. It will be a very positive experience.
     
  20. A Common Anomaly

    A Common Anomaly New Member

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    Atheism has no creed or philosophy. Plus, it doesn't rely upon a set of assumption. It relies upon the lack of empirical evidence.

    Sorry, but atheism has no creed. You are simply wrong.

    It is offensive to codify the Bible into the law of the land, especially when the Bible is filled with bigotry. I am sorry, but the Constitution does not afford you the right to make second class citizens out of gays and to take women's reproductive rights away. Nor does it give you the power to teach your theology on the public's dime with teacher led prayer and creationism.

    Perhaps if Christians weren't so pushy with their religion and kept it to themselves, then people would not get so offensive. However, the Constitution does not give you the power to turn America into a theocracy.

    It is not just atheists who believe this. In fact, the father of modern day Conservatism believed in this as well.

    "There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.' "

    Barry Goldwater, September 16, 1981
     
  21. Never Left

    Never Left Banned

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    Who cares how many there are? They are wrong as two boys kissing, thats the point, and the truth.
     
  22. Yosh Shmenge

    Yosh Shmenge New Member

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    And typical self deluding leftist blather. How is a belief in nothing (i.e. no deities) not a belief in something (that is to say, nothing)? Funny that you would be spiking the football and doing your little dance when you've refuted nothing that I said.
     
  23. Never Left

    Never Left Banned

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    And...you proved...nothing.
     
  24. Think for myself

    Think for myself Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It is not a belief. It is an absence of a belief.


    This is where I see the theist arguemtn often fail, trying to equate two dissimilar things. Atheism and religion are not two different sides of the same coin, they are two different coins altogether.
     
  25. rstones199

    rstones199 Well-Known Member

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    This coming from the poster who uses the term 'loser lefties' :laughing:

    We can now add hypocritical to the list. :D
     
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