Do you think atheists in America have the same rights as Christians?

Question

Aren't both groups protected in their right to believe or not believe by the First Amendment?
I hear atheists complain about how Christians are TRYING to have their ideas taught in schools, but, at present, isn't it the other way around?
Why do atheists feel that it is necessary to stamp out every last vestige of our Christian heritage?

Answer 1

You hit the nail on the head. It's the Christians who are losing their rights day after day. Many schools, and communities believe they are following the constitution when in fact their "political correctness" is an abuse of the freedom of religion.

Answer 2

In the religious arena, everyone in America currently has the same rights. This isn't true legally, but that's another question. I have to question the school issue though. I know that the Religious Right has and is attempting to introduce Intelligent Design into the public schools. They know Creationism won't pass the public school test, so have labeled it Intelligent Design in the hopes that sounds a little more unbiased. It doesn't. I have yet to hear though that atheists are trying to introduce classes based on not believing in a higher power at all. Science classes do not teach this, they merely teach science, which is not against the concept of God (trying to anticipate your possible thought process here, sorry).

I am not an atheist and I do not feel threatened by those who are. For me, the concept of religion-free public schools is a must in a country as religiously diverse as ours. One of the main gifts our founders gave us is a secular Constitution. They knew firsthand the problems a religious based government presented to a free society. Whatever their belief systems were -and not all of the founders were Christians, many were Deists - they deliberately formed our government to not favor any religion over another. The religious majority does not rule in this country, you cannot merge a democratic republic and a theocracy. It always puzzles me when I hear Christians complain that they are being usurped somehow though they are already the religious majority. I reject the notion that this is a "Christian country." Yes, we have a high populace that practices Christianity, but it is also a country that supports religious freedom. To keep it that way, it is necessary to provide a public school system that is secular. If a Christian wishes their child to have an education that teaches religious classes right alongside math and science, then they have the right to send their child to a religious private school, or as many choose, to homeschool their children (a frightening trend IMHO though). No one took prayer out of the schools, children are free to pray quietly to themselves. Why isn't that good enough? After all, it is school they are attending and not church, correct?

I don't think atheists want to stamp out anything but the notion that we should pass laws and run schools from a purely Christian perspective. That seems very reasonable to me.

Answer 3

"Why do atheists feel that it is necessary to stamp out every last vestige of our Christian heritage?"
There is no effort to "stamp out" your "Christian Heritage."
That which you assume to be "fact" is not a fact, it is a doctrine of faith which has no basis for being included as scientific fact.

You have the right to teach your child whatever it is you believe. You do NOT have the right to teach other's children what you teach your own.
You do not have the right to tell another child myths, stories and fables and pass them off as science.
You do not have the right to insist upon your religion being observed to the exclusion of all others religious beliefs in the schoolroom, nor insist that things be organized in such a matter that those who do not believe in Christianity are singled out, asked to leave the room or treated in any way different than the Christian children are.

Answer 4

It doesn't matter if creationism is heritage or not. It's still wrong.

And this country's heritage is religious freedom, not Christianity. For many of the original colonists, going to America was a way to escape a religious government.

Atheists do not have the same rights everyone else has, though we should. As an atheist, I am effectively barred from running for many public offices because so many people out there vote with their Bibles rather than their brains.

Answer 5

What vestiges are you talking about? I remember when prayer was in the schools. We had mandatory morning devotion over the PA system and two students had to read it. It was required no matter what religion the kid was. It was okay for the Christians but not everyone is a Christian. Once a boy protested with his parents because they were Jewish so all the good Christian boys would beat the crap out of him on the playground.

Answer 6

No. We are subject to prejudicial treatment de facto if not de jure as this question well demonstrates, FURTHER, since recognized clergy and religious organizations are tax exempt, we are effectively if not officially supporting the major religions as established, and paying taxes to the clergy by proxy.

No. Schools do not teach ATHEISM. There are no tests on why there is no God. They teach SCIENCE, established biology and geophysics that certain Evangelical clergy see as a threat to their authority as teachers of a literal bible and try to use politics to suppress, to the disadvantage of kids who might otherwise have been able to go to school as engineers, doctors, etc.

We don't. We seek to force the clergy out of the political sphere because they have repeatedly proven that they can't be trusted with political power. They always, sooner or later, try and subvert democracies into monarchies and dictatorships.

Remember that the Pilgrims came to America to escape persecution by Bishops and Presbyters.

Answer 7

I lost a job for saying I would not accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior. It was at a low point economically in my life and I was cast out by “God fearing Christians”. Do not talk to me of how you suffer as Christians, I don’t buy it. All people want is to not be coerced by you, into becoming bible thumping drones. You are free to worship as you choose, in YOUR PLACE OF WORSHIP. Allow me to believe what I choose and we will get along fine.

School is a place to teach substantial, verifiable facts, not beliefs. Yes some of the theories turn out to be somewhat inaccurate but they are changeable with new proof and we teach it so that students will grow up and question it to find the flaws. You teach belief with no way of verification so it can never be proven true or false and can never be improved upon. I want our civilization to advance, I want our technology, philosophy, science, art, culture, standard of living all to improve! You can ONLY do this if you teach what you have proof of so that when future generations acquire conflicting proof it can be changed to accommodate the new evidence. If what you teach can NEVER be proven right or wrong (beliefs) you are left with a society that never advances because no new discoveries are searched for. Teach your children what you wish about God and your beliefs but do it outside of the place, I pay with my tax dollars, to have all children educated in what our current evidence is of how the world and universe works. Beliefs are personal and should remain so, evidence should be shared with everyone so that it may be examined.

Answer 8

everyone has the right not to conform,i am a nonbeliever,and i don't care what is said in schools,the public school system in the states is screwed anyway,religion in schools wouldn't make things worse or better.i don't care about christian heritage either.i cant believe some responses here think atheists don't have rights,i thought America WAS NOT a third world country,boy,what was i thinking.....

Answer 9

Interesting question.

I do see your point. I think we have confused freedom OF religion with freedom FROM religion. I'm not saying that the Bible should be read in schools: I don't believe it should unless it is as literature. But when we tell kids that they can't hold a Bible study on school grounds, we are infringing on their rights to practice their religion.

HOWEVER...

if a group of wiccan kids also want to meet and explore their spirituality, they need to be allowed to do sa as well, and I strongly suspect that they would not be able to.

Furthermore, having the school sanction a single religion - or any religion - is not, in my veiw, right. The school's responsibility is to teach the children to think. It is their parents' job to teach them about god(s) and/or lack thereof.

Answer 10

Of course they do, although some seem to think they don't. But then again don't everyone think that they are discriminated against. And I guess at some point we all are. But when it gets down to it, atheists have the freedom to do as they please as Christians. But Christians are bound to their religious beliefs. So really atheists exercise more of their freedoms versus a Christian, as some freedoms are sinful.
As for your last question, it is no surprise as God has forseen this to happen. Just another sign of the times.

Answer 11

Because of sin we are inherently opposed to God and the things of God. Sin seperates us from God and athiests are the epitomy of that seperation. They have created intellectual smokescreens that blind them to creation and create a world where evolution exists. Through things such as Seperation of Church and state they further their cause to seperate themselves from God. They say since a Public school uses funds issued from the Federal Gov't then the Gov't therefore promotes what is taught in school and if the school teaches creationism, which identifies a creator, then the gov't is promoting a religion.

If someone really wants to make a case for creationism and seperation of church and state then they need to focus their arguement on the concept and idea that atheism is as much of a religion as anything else. Let's say for example that as humans we have acquired a whopping 1% of all knowledge in the universe. And for the sake of arguement in that 1% there is no proof of God's existent, which I don't believe, but for the sake of arguement we will say that there isn't any proof. What are the chances that the proof we require is contained in the other 99% of knowledge? Atheists claim that there is no God and there is proof that claim is true. It takes more faith to believe that than it does to believe the Pepsi can evolved.

The definition of FAITH includes the following: firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust; something that is believed especially with strong conviction.

RELIGION is a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices or a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.

Being RELIGIOUS is relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity.

They call Christians zealouts, and yet they themselves are ZEALOUS (marked by fervent partisanship for a person, a cause, or an ideal) in their cause.

Does not athiesm show the same characteristics of a religion? Seems to me like they have used Seperatino of Church and state against Christians, while at the same time they are promoting their own religion through Gov't. Makes you wonder...I think the people who are fighting for creation being taught along side evolution may need to change their strategy.