Is is a common thing to Agnostic/atheists to .......?

Question

be against any and all referances to God in our society. To simplify this I guess I am asking if there are many or a few who would be against the Ten Commandments in a public place.

I just really know so little about Agnostics or Atheists except what I hear on the radio and t.v. and that is usually the extreme.

I guess its one of those things where you just have to experience it to understand. I just don't see why it would be necessary to remove something that COULD possibly help someone become a better person in society. (by better I do NOT mean Christian)

I can see all of your reasons have merit. Personally, I would not take offense to anothers religious quotes being posted in a government institution, but I would EXPECT a fair trial either way. Perhaps I am naive.

Answer 1

well the 10 commandment became a big thing in the fifties whe cecil b. demille made a big movie of it. I was in grade school and our whole school went to the movie together. it was a good movie but after that the marble 10 commandments went up everywhere. Leads me to believe that we fight the wrong causes and even in the fifties Hollywood was trying to bend our minds and brainwash us. I dont care where you put the 10 commandments that most preacher break some or all of on a regular bases. The mere putting them somewhere and the people paying attention to them is another story. I think the Agnostic or Atheists can see that people religious or not do not pay much attention to the commandments. I dont like God being used as an excuse or to make yourself superior by saying you have him in your heart or your heart of hearts. The only place you could have him is in your mind and the mind is in the brain not the heart. . I think extreme would be people actually obeying the laws or commandments in the Bilble. Being truthful and not bearing false witness would be a good place to start.

Answer 2

By "our society" I am assuming you mean American society, yes?

Depends on the type of Atheist; a good number of them don't care about religion at all (and are Atheist more as a default than an actual belief).

There are those atheists who are a bit more intentional in their beliefs, and yes it is common. Unfortunately this comes from a basic misunderstanding of American laws. Separation of Church and State is nowhere to be found in the constitution; indeed, the very concept is forbidden by the constitution. There is the Establishment Clause which specifically states that the government may make no laws regarding an establishment of religion.

This is why Churches are tax-exempt, for example. Taxes are laws; laws can't be applied to churches, so no taxes from churches. Technically, the government can't ban a church or discourage any religious practices (the government gets around this by denying that certain practices are religious in nature). Also, technically, Churches shouldn't be required to have building permits or the likes. Practically, however, it doesn't work that way.

The Ten Commandments as religious items are generally banned from public places (despite that such a ban directly violates "no laws regarding an establishment of religion"), however the Ten Commandments as historical items are allowed (such as at the Supreme Court).

Answer 3

It is probably not that all are against any form of religious or spiritual display in public, it is that they are against the use of religion in anyway if it is connected to the government including schools, buildings, parks and other areas that are paid for with tax dollars.

The ten commandments in and of themselves being posted do not make anyone better or lesser of a person. Morals are present regardless of religion.

Answer 4

If you put up the ten commandments (only 3 made it actually into contemporary law) in a public place, you have to allow verses from the Koran, verses from the Rigveda or from any other religion. It think that would get pretty confusing and controversial as many religions claim to have the sole truth and would find symbols and text of a different religion offensive (what would you say to satanists symbols in front of a school house?)
Its much easier on everybody to have a separation between church and state.

Answer 5

Ask yourself how you would like a legal document from the Hindu or Scientology tradition in front of a court house that you were walking into. How would it make you feel?

Regarding the 10 Commandments - I won't mind a display of them as part of a historical presentation on the development of law in society. This could include lots and lots of other documents and would be very educational.

But the 10 Commandments starts out with "No Other God Before Me". What if I don't believe in that god or what if I believe in another god? Should that be put, by itself, in front of a court room or school house? Would that be fair to all the other people in our society who believe differently from you?

Answer 6

Thank you for your question.

This represents a marriage of state and religion and is thus unconstitutional.

How would you feel if I put up some reasonable, albeit personal commandment in your local courthouse? Something like, if you use someone else's coinage - a phrase or word - you are committing plagiarism and thus a reference or bibliography is required. If you do not provide this at the time of its use, god will be most displeased.

Who can argue the 'wrongness' of plagiarism?

Suppose you see this commandment written on a stone tablet in front of your courthouse as you were being 'tried' for this very wrong doing.

How does it feel, when the state is so rigidly allied to a philosophy which is AGAINST you, in spite of its own constitution?

Answer 7

It is nice to see that you are intelligent enough not to fall for everything that you hear in the mass media - it is good to try to find out the truth for yourself.

I think most atheists and agnostics (like me) would prefer NOT to live in a theocracy where the government espouses a particular religion. Would you like it if all our coins said, "in Allah we trust"? It's just not fair to everyone else who do not belong to the same religion that you do.

Of course, everyone has the right to believe whatever they want, as long as it is not forced on anyone else. That is why I think government buildings and anything that is paid for with public money, should be neutral and not biased toward any particular religion.

Answer 8

Would you like "in Allah we trust" written on your money?

What about having to say "One nation under Vishnu" in the pledge of allegiance?

If you would object to these things then why should atheists not object to having things that they do not believe in pushed upon them?

The same goes for the ten commandments. If you want to put up a copy of the document that originated American law then you would be better of with the Magna Carta.

Answer 9

I am neither atheist nor agnostic yet I would object to the Ten Commandments being displayed (as on a monument) on any publicly owned property. There are very clear and good reasons for the separation of church and state.

Answer 10

There will be an significent ammount of people against it, I think.

I say this because I believe myself that they are more of guidelines god made to guide us then for us to follow to help everyone be good. Their are lots of bad people that dont like god that will definetly disagree.

I dont think it would hurt anyone I believe it would probably help people be good if they see that they are there-Alot of people are scared of god in that way-even though they have no reason to because he only loves not enact revenge as that re mixed bible says.

I dont see how the 10 commandments would be a problem in public.