Ohio, Chardon High School shooting, 3 dead.

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Here's the thing.

The USA is founded on this little thing called the constitution. Part of which are the amendments. The first ten of which are called "The bill of rights."

The first one states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

If we do as you suggest, we are not living in the united states anymore...

Ninian Smart's Seven Dimensions of Religion actually place atheism squarely as a religion.

1) Narrative. Religions have stories that explain the nature of the universe and our part in it. Evolution is a story about how we came about from the cosmos.

2) Experience. According to Smart, there are two aspects to this. First is the events that happened before the religion was founded. Charles Darwin's observations and the book (by his grandfather Erasmus) Zoonomia. Faith is included in this "dimension".
Smart also seems to include “faith” as part of the experiential dimension. The word faith is often taken by Atheists to mean an blindly believing the impossible. According to Hebrews 1:11 as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Most atheists put faith in science. The World English dictionary defines faith as "any set of firmly held principles or beliefs." By that definition, the most faithful people I have met are atheists.

3) Social. Social This covers the structures present within. In atheism, this starts with the researcher, who posits a theory, then proves it experimentally, passes it on to his colleagues who confirm it, then it is passed on to the instructors, schools, text books and television. A lot like modern Christianity. Like many religious orders, scientists hold conferences and come together to share their knowledge and faith and decide what should be believed... I still, for the record, believe Pluto is a planet.

4) Doctrine. Muslims have the Quran. Christians have the bible. Atheists have Unified field theory, string theory and evolution.

5) Ethics. The bible, Quran, torah and other religious books are full of them. Scientific method, MLA citation and accreditation are those of the atheist. By not following these rules a religious person can and will be ostracized. The same is true for scientists and atheists... politically correct speech, proper lab procedures, giving proper credit in your work... fail to do these things and you are ridiculed and can lose your job, your friends and be forever discredited.

6) Ritual. On the surface, it seems atheism is lacking in ritual. Primarily because of it being a newer movement with a lack of history. Many Atheists do perform rituals however. Birthdays, and anniversaries, personal little rituals shared between lovers, valentines day, the public celebration of Darwin's birthday in February, paying taxes, watching their "Shows." In Autistics and Aspies, these rituals are even more prevalent in many cases.

7) Material. Buildings, texts, art, and the like. The things that people who wish to learn and advance in the religion will see, experience and visit. The Smithsonian, the Natural History Museum in New York, Origin of the Species, A Brief History of Time, artists renditions of extinct species... Atheism has them.

So... according to your argument, all religious people should be jailed, killed or expelled... Ok... That means... everyone...

I would strongly encourage President Obama to emulate Enver Hoxha in every way and ban religion, to ensure that no funeral will be protested by WBC or any other group ever again, and the rights of women, LGBT, and racial minorities will be guaranteed.

The reason I make these remarks is very simple: I am a politically conservative neocon, trying to gain acceptance from hippies and hipsters.

good luck to you.

What do you mean?

I feel that if I criticize Christians, I am "oppressing the oppressors", and, thus, not a bigot.

I am a politically conservative neocon, trying to gain acceptance from hippies and hipsters. If I say bad things about Christians, they will like me.

I feel that if I criticize Christians, I am "oppressing the oppressors", and, thus, not a bigot.

I suspect this is sarcasm or simply designed to get a rise, but I cannot be sure...


bigot: n; a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.

regardless of motivation... To quote my grandfather, "If the foo s**ts..."

I mean no disrespect, but it is beginning to seem as if your posts are only designed to elicit a strong emotional response, which seem trollish. At the very least, they come across as non-sensical/