Why can't Atheists be more tolerant of other religions?

Question

Let's take inventory on what is being disallowed by Atheists...
1) No crosses on the graves of Christians
2) No Bibles allowed in a courthouse...personal or government.
3) A Jewish judge's 10 commandments plaque banned from chambers.
4) Refusing to allow Muslim children to say their prayers at school.
5) No religious clubs on school grounds...Jewish, Christian, or Muslim a like
The last time I checked, the 1st Amendment is in effect which states there is to be no ESTABLISHED religion including Atheism and that each individual has the right to exercise his religion as he sees fit. So, my questions...
How many people feel that their 1st Amendment rights have been violated by the Atheists?
Who has been shown intolerance by an Atheist? How?
Have you ever been suspended from school for saying a prayer or reading the Bible to yourself?
Why is it that the Atheists, who scream that everyone shows intolerance to them are more intolerant to the people than any Christian?

Thanks..

And yes, I consider Atheism to be a religion to believe nothing.

Why do I consider Atheism a religion? Because you believe there is no God. Isn't a belief in no God considered a religion? It is odd that people state it is not a religion when in fact you believe in something...no god and you worship it by promoting your beliefs through the courts.

The house of God
The house of no God

And, for the individuals that state that Atheism is not a religion...let's look at what Merriam-Webster states what religious is...

relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate REALITY or deity.

Isn't Atheism a REALITY?

Actually, Arlington Cemetery was threatening to take away all crosses from the graves of soldiers. I am OK with the Atheist soldier not having a cross or the Jewish soldier having a jewish star vs. a cross but why is it that the Atheists are trying to take away the rights of a Christian soldier to have a cross on his grave?

And the Atheists trying to combat the fact that their beliefs are not a religion, all the parts fit and Merriam Webster is backing me up...regardless. The last time I checked Webster's dictionary is secular and neutral.

It is OK. You have to do what you need to do to promote your beliefs and assure that EVERYONE believes like you do. Because without it, you just will not be happy...look at the responses I got...I am not upset but it is just typical.

In the end, my goal is to find someone that will truly answer my questions and to establish a question that can be queried in the future for other sorry saps like myself who get tired of being told that it is not OK to sit on a park bench and read a Bible or told that I am an idiot because I believe in something bigger than myself. It would be very ironic if an Atheist dies to find out that the Christian was right...to me that is a sad day. Atheists think they are so big but in fact you are no bigger than a gnat in the universe.

Actually, I will take gnat part back ONLY because I do not want come to the level of the Atheist and his/her intolerance.

In terms of the individual that stated that I should go to Merriam Webster dictionary and research the word "atheist," I just did that. And this is what it states...one who believes there is no deity...verbatim. Oh, and what is truly interesting about this...at the bottom of the screen it talks about a "Religion Quiz." Go figure...

Answer 1

Tolerance doesn't mean "bend over backwards to allow everything", you know.

(1) I've never heard of crosses being banned from any graveyard. If this has ever happened, let me know. I doubt I'd support it.

(2), (4) & (5) do violate the first Amendment. It's more complex than you seem to be interpreting it. Government run institutions may not endorse, promote or enable organized practices or purely religious displays.

I'm not so sure about (3), though. You'd have to link me to a news story or some more detailed information.

[[edit]] Belief, in and of itself, does not a religion make. By the way, atheism at it's most basic ISN'T a belief, it's a LACK of belief. That's how the word breaks down. The prefix "a-" which means "without" and the word "theism" which basically means "god belief". The prefix functions as a negation of the rest of the word: "without 'god belief'".

Answer 2

I suppose atheism could be considered a "religion" in the sense that it takes a certain amount of faith to believe that there is no God. What it all boils down to is that either way you cannot prove it. I accept on faith that there is a God, and I have my arguments that support why I believe it to be true. I am a Christian, BTW......

1) No crosses on the graves of Christians? I haven't heard of that happening anywhere. Any cites for that? Not saying I don't believe you, nothing surprises me anymore (Lowe's calling Christmas trees "family trees" for example), but I'd just like to see where this is coming from....

2) Actually Bibles not being in a courthouse isn't a bad idea - we as Christians aren't supposed to swear on anything or make oaths upon heaven, earth, or holy things (such as Bibles). That's in Scripture - check it out (Matthew's Gospel - Sermon on the Mount). "Let your yes be yes, and your no be no". I think that's the real reason they did away with swearing on the Bible in courtrooms.

3) The 10 Commandments plaque decision I didn't agree with. Even if you aren't a Christian or aren't particularly religious, you have to admit that our legal system is based on Judeo-Christian princples and that our laws are decended from that legacy. It is as much a recognition of our legal and cultural heritage as it is a statement of religion.

4) Muslims are supposed to pray five times a day - once in the very early morning (presumably before school starts), again around noon I think, again in the afternoon, then in the early evening and then later at night before retiring, the last two times being after most schools are out. If there's a Muslim reading this and I haven't got this quite right you're free to chime in - I'm not an expert on Islam. My point here is this - the few times that they want to pray while at school IMO they should be allowed to as long as it doesn't interfere with the school schedule unduly or detract from their studies. That's just my opinion.

5) I think some schools in smaller towns and cities allow this if the school is like the only place that has a community-size meeting hall, and it is made clear that the school itself is not sponsoring or endorsing the meeting - it's just offering a place for it to be held, in some cases maybe charging a fee for use of the place. I remember going to a Mass once that was held in a very large community meeting type hall room of a junior high school because the local church was closed temporarily for some serious renovation and repairs. I don't ever remember a fuss being raised about it.

Yes, I agree - tolerance doesn't mean you accept or believe anything, or that you don't have a right to believe in what you believe. It just means cutting each other a little slack once in a while, so we can all actually live together in spite of our differences.

brainstorm:

It's estimated that Communists killed anywhere from 60 million to 100 million people during the twentieth century. No one will ever know the exact figure. Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc. etc. Atheists one and all. Not trying to say all atheists are this way, just setting the record straight. Read the book "The Black Book of Communism" written and edited by several French leftists believe it or not. (Increases the credibility of the book IMO) A very exhaustively researched book

Answer 3

I don't know for sure WHY, other than that it's probably some sort of a "get them before they get us" mentality, assuming they are being persecuted, so they want to remove any kind of propaganda for other religions (not really saying I think Athiesm is a "religion", but I couldn't think of another way to say what I mean).

I do agree, though. I think it's hypocrital that certain groups want to exercise their Constitutional right of free speech by denying "the others" that same right. However, in some ways, this is a problem everyone has. The Constitutional right to free speech is not to be treated as a Constitutional right to not be offended, regardless of what group you belong to.

The first two are not actually even a problem. I've never heard of a rule or law that bans crosses from graveyards. Even if a few people tried to get that passed, I really don't think it would actually be taken seriously.

There is nothing that says a Bible is not allowed in a courthouse or school. No, it's not common to have a person swear on a Bible anymore, but that definately doesn't mean they are not allowed IN the courthouse. They just can't be forced on a person in court proceedings by requiring people to acknowledge it as a holy writ by swearing on it to tell the truth. Along the same lines, it's not illegal really for a student in a public school to read the Bible or pray to himself. It's just that the school can't sponsor some practice that requires all children to worship or acknowledge any god or religion.

Answer 4

Without getting into a defensive speech or anything, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that atheists ARE in fact intolerant of religious people. And I will give you an answer as to why:

Atheists are intolerant of religious things because, frankly, religious beliefs seem not only untrue but VERY silly to us. It all seems like a bunch of superstitious, magical, fairy tail ridiculousness to us and therefore it makes us upset to constantly be bombarded by reminders that people actually think it's all true. And especially in courts... the last thing we want is for the laws that govern our lives and determine whether or not we go to jail to be based on such beliefs. And in schools, we don't want all this magical nonsense mixed in with regular learning.

However, I will say that I see nothing wrong with people putting crosses on graves. Is there really graveyards that don't allow crosses? I've never heard of such a thing and that sounds silly because graveyards seem to be all about religion. And if putting a cross on a loved one's grave makes a family feel like that person is in heaven, then what's the harm there?

As for the 1st Amendment, there's nothing preventing people from believing in and practicing their religion within reason. Atheism is not a religion. It's a lack of religion. In a sense, the government is atheist (Yes, it's richly affected by Christianity because the majority of Americans are Christian, but conceptually the US Government is supposed to be secular) and allows the people to have whatever religion they want. But in order to make everyone happy, the government imposes limits on certain religious practices so that they don't spill over into the lives of people that aren't part of that religion.

Answer 5

1. I didn't know they were banned.
2. If you have one on your person I don't see the problem, but no one should be required to touch one nor should one be held up for everyone to see (unless it is being used as evidence).
3. No problem, religious documents should not be displayed in a court.
4. They can say their prayers in private when it doesn't affect the rest of the class.
5. If clubs are allowed then religious clubs should be as well (and usually are).

Atheism BTW is not a religion.

Most of the 'problems' you mention are either examples of special privileges given to religion being removed (i.e. they are what should be happening if freedom from religion exists) and the others are probably just people scared of lawsuits overreacting.

Answer 6

1) Never heard of this before.
2) Never heard of this before either.
3) That signify biasness. Are you telling me this judge will judge members of the Abraham's god more leniently? A Judge should judge not based on religion.
4) Muslim children can say prayers at school, no one refute that, but a school cannot ask the whole school to say the Muslim prayer.
5) How would you like a Satanist Club beside all these religious club? Heard of Never ending stories?

Answer 7

1) Don't believe it. Proof please.
2) Not true
3) Everyone is supposed to be equal in the eyes of the Law. Religious displays that say otherwise have no place in a court.
4) Not true. It's CHRISTIANS who complain about Muslims students praying in schools, not atheists.
5) Not true. The courts have said clearly that extra-curricular religious clubs are definitely allowed. Thank the "godless" ACLU for defending that right.

It's the atheists who uphold the First Amendment from Christian fundamentalists who are constantly attempting to undermine it. The First Amendment guarantees a separation of Church and State (whether the phrase itself is there or not)

Answer 8

I am a Christian [Mystic - Post - Modern - Born Again ], I attended a Darwin Group Luncheon in a Capital City, just to see what they do and say. They also feel their rights have been abridged in years past. They Bashed other Faiths. They seemed very insecure and show it by lashing out at what they do not understand. It was futile to witness in a conventional manner, just being there was a witness of my open heartedness and mindedness, I suppose. I mostly talked about breakthroughs in modern sciences. The idea here is to show not all Christians are not educated about sciences. It was my attempt to extend the olive branch in peace. I was asked by a member in their group that I know from my health, to be a speaker , so one Friday I finally went, it was an open invitation. I do not know if it made a big difference, only time will tell, and God Knows. - Amen

Answer 9

Well the most intolerant people are those who follow the three great Middle Eastern religions.
The Christians have been persecuting each other and non-believers for centuries and so have the Muslims.
The Jews just think they are racially superior because they are god's chosen people and refuse to intermarry with other races.
Look at the horrible mess in the Middle East where all these religious people are busy murdering each other.
Have you ever heard of an atheist suicide bomber?
Was it atheists who took part in the Salem witchcraft trials? Was it atheists who flew into the WTC?
I don't think so.

Answer 10

1) I don't care if a christian has a cross on their grave. Just don't put one on mine.
2) I don't care if there is a bible in a courtroom as long as people aren't forced to swear upon it.
3)The 10 commandments being in a court is against our separation of church and state.
4) I don't care if people pray in school as long as it doesn't interrupt the learning and isn't forced.
5) If there were no religious clubs allowed in school, my school wouldn't have a Christian Athlete's Club.
6) Atheism isn't a religion. No more than bald is a hair color.(Which it's not, BTW.)