Common now... If you have a society where the belief in GOD is not endorsed by the majority?

Question

Question Details: Why wouldn't many people especially the young become involved in all sorts of mindless or paganistic activiites, that is why I said Athesim can be a symptom of this..

You might think these types of posts are brainless, but that does not negate the fact that these things are happening.. (GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND). What happened to the school system, when they took the pledge of allegiance, prayer and corpral punishment out?

Metal Detectors, School Shootings, Absoloutley no dis-respect for the teachers, and a system that is failing tomorrows generation... I am not on here to beat on Atheists, only your views, that have no place in are society, and research says many people in the forefront are trying to change our culture to a secualr one, without GOD

Does anyone really want to see this happen?

Answer 1

You have every right to be concerned, however, complex social problems have complex causes. Taking prayer and the pledge out of schools, and prohibiting corporal punishment is not causing the problems you mention. The causes are more fundamental. Not only that, a convergence of many issues creates a kind of negative synergy that is greater than the sum of the parts. Praying in school, saluting a flag, or getting licks isn't going to compensate for, for example, the combined effects of indifferent, incompetent, or absent parents; bad neighborhoods; poverty; institutionalized racism; popular culture that idolizes hedonism, hates old people, and thinks young people are idiots; and either no or shallow, superstitious, meaningless religious training. I could add to the list, but that's complex enough to make my point.

Answer 2

It looks like logic took a vacation when this post was written.

Violence/conflict and religion are not mutually exclusive. If you look around the world you'll see places that have both religion and violence. On the contrary, the ignorance and superstition that religion and the belief in the supernatural foster can result in a great deal of violence. Killing in the name of god is far more common than school shootings or disrespecting teachers.

As far as getting your head in the sand comment goes, methinks the pot is observing its own reflected color. You decry the state of the public school system in the US, yet you seem like the type of person who would destroy the curriculum if given the chance. Education and knowledge is the best measure of how effective a school system is. Take out evolution or any other science and you're pushing us back to the stone age. I know you didn't say this explicitly, but based on my experience as well as the idea that you wish prayer was allowed in school, I am taking a stab that you support the teaching of creationism.

I encourage you to look into the history of the Pledge of Allegiance. It's only been around for about 100 years. Were there school shootings before it was adopted? Additionally, the words "under god" were added much later. I remember saying it when I was a kid. I hadn't the slightest idea what it meant. If I had I seriously doubt if I would have engaged in the activity. I won't swear an oath to a piece of cloth.

Answer 3

Your argument doesn't hold water at all. You're insinuating that disrespect for teachers,school shootings, and all the other bad stuff is done by the children of Atheists. Wrong, it's just the times. Things change, many of the old values are being lost.
When I went to school ( many many years ago ) we said the Lord's prayer and made the pledge. I can guarantee you that nobody thought of the words of either one. It was just mechanical
It has already been proven that Atheists are more moral and less law breakers that society in general. Making a big show of holiness does not mean honesty or truthfulness.
When problems pop up, blame people, not just Atheists unless you have the official figures to back you up.
As for being without "God", we're all without "God" now, and always have been, except in superstitious imaginations.

Answer 4

OOOKAAAAY, where to start? First, you are aware, aren’t you that atheists believe in NO god and there fore DO NOT engage in Paganistic activities, as Paganism is another RELIGION whether you fundies want to acknowledge it or not (also, putting “mindless” and “paganistic” together insinuates that you think Pagans are idiots, making this the second religion you’ve bashed just in the first paragraph). Second, you said in so many words “I don’t want to put down atheists, but they have no place in our society” which is a flat-out contradiction you alos in essence blamed them for an increase of violence in schools. Third- as far as I’m aware- they still say the pledge in school, and before you start caterwauling about “They want to take out ‘Under God’ Let me just say for the 4 people left in the world that DON’T know, that wasn’t even ADDED until the 50’s as a way to call communism “Ungodly” by saying democracy was essentially a Christian concept (let’s pay no nevermind to the Athenians who invented it of course). Honestly the presence or lack of religion in school has nothing to do with the crime rate, and everything to do with parents not teaching their kids values AT HOME. Why do parents complain so much about there being no religion taught in school; because they don’t want the responsibility of teaching it themselves? They want as little responsibility as possible when it comes to their kids, and don’t give them a faith system or a moral compass, and THAT is why kids have NO ethics, and no respect. They have to be taught it AT HOME. So let’s keep the blame where it belongs, and engage in a little less religious discrimination, shall we?

Answer 5

You are wrong, wrong, wrong.

First...pagan beliefs and "mindless" are not equivalent.
Second...School systems have NOT removed the pledge, prayer, or corporal punishment. We just changed the rules a bit. Now, there is a moment of silence so not everyone is forced to pray. And we require permission from the parents before we beat their child with a paddle.
Third...if the school system actually is failing (and it does appear to be on a downward spiral) it is NOT because people don't believe in god or do "paganistic activities".

This is a very close-minded and ignorant approach you are taking.

Answer 6

Here is why this question is, as you put it, brainless.

1) In the USA, "God" is endorsed by the common majority. It is one of the most religious countries, and the most Christian among religious countries, on Earth. It is the country you describe when you talk of school shootings, metal detectors in schools, disrepect, division and decline.

2) Most European countries are nowhere near as religious as the USA and the least religious of all have dramatically lower crime rates the the Christian USA. The Netherlands, Belgium, Britain, Sweden, Denmark - we are very secular countries. We don't have school shootings, high gun crime, gang warfare and we have lower incidence of teenage pregnancy, drug crime, abortion and divorce than the US.

Conclusion: a highly Christian nation is bad for that nation's morals. Secularism and atheism (predominant in countries like Britain, Holland, Sweden etc) promote good behaviour and high moral standards. Get your own head out of the sand.

If you want to push a case for religion leading to lower crime, look to Iran. They have lower crime than the US there. Perhaps you should try Islam.

Answer 7

Japan is a country that shows how your logic is flawed. They are largely an atheist country. If you ask a Japanese what religion they believe in, most will tell you they don't believe in any. (Though they do participate in many religious rituals). It is one of the safest countries in the world. They don't need metal detectors and don't have school shootings. Largely because they have been smart enough to outlaw guns. It is not a god that gives one morals, it is the parents and the rest of society. We have a President who says he is Christian, yet he has shown no respect for life. He is willing to kill thousands, including babies, women, children and men just to get their oil. The bible says "Thou shall not kill", yet our society puts more people to death each year than almost any other country in the world. The nations actions do not match the morals. And it is the Christians that seem to support the Iraq war and the death penalty more than any other group. You can get your head out of the sand and see the hypocrisy in your own church. Believing in God does not make one a moral person. Bush and Fawell are good examples of that.

Answer 8

Did you know the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance NEVER had the word god in it. The words "under God" were added in 1954 by then President Eisenhower.

Why is it you think morality is a exclusively Christian value. If it is such a christian value why are prisons and jails full of believers. Less than 1% of the prison population is atheist.

Please get off your Christian high horse, this country is NOT based on Christianity. The idea of a Democracy is a SECULAR form of government.

Answer 9

The thing that you are failing to grasp here is that ethical behavior is not the exclusive province of religion. People behaved ethically long before Judaism or Christianity.

We are predisposed to behave in certain social ways by our biology. This behavior is reinforced and expanded upon by social pressures and the evolving complexity of community.

Personally, I suspect that television, which rather diminishes people's capacity to think critically and use language in an accurate way, has more to do with the ills that you speak of.

Answer 10

Does anyone really want to see this happen? -- ABSOLUTELY!

Mindless activity is praying to an imaginary deity and ignoring the responsibility that YOU carry for the state of the world around you.

If we could put aside this ridiculous belief that people's lives would improve if they were forced to acknowledge religious rules, and instead placed our focus on actually trying to make their lives better (eg: we won't provide funding to organizations in third-world countries that promote family planning through birth control) our society would improve drastically.

It's completely asinine to care more about some unknowable "afterlife" and how to get into "Heaven" than we do about the actual suffering of the people around us right here and now.