Quote:
Originally posted by MBFlyerfan:
One atheist' perspective.

The biggest problem I have with all of this is that I dont believe these lobbyist groups have righteous motives. I think it is an out and out attack on religion in general. I can't believe that they would really care whether or not the Ten Commandments are on the steps, or if "Under God" is in the Pledge of Allegiance. Or even worse, I can't say Merry Christmas to a student here at my school because I might offend a non-christian student. I have to say "Happy Holidays" instead.

Can we all agree that these instances are all part of the same subject, even loosely? And if we can all agree, hasn't it gone just a bit too far?

I understand that we do not want religion to be making policy in this country. But I still believe that certain moral tenets in our society that may have been spawned by religion are under attack simply because their roots can be traced back to religion of some kind.

I see the state of morality in this country going downhill. I see MTV glorifying the "thug" mentality in its videos and attitudes of the performers they push on us. Breaking the law seems to be in style these days. I see our Presidents and Sports Stars commiting adultry and using drugs and committing violent crimes and no one seems to be outraged. I see groups like the ACLU defending NAMBLA under free speech. I see judges calling the Boy Scouts a religious group and taking away thier place to gather.

I see politicians on both sides of the fence buckling under pressure from special interest groups. I believe many of these men and women got into politics with righteous motives, but saw that if they didnt play the game, they would never get anything accomplished. The irony of it is that they never get anything accomplished because they are playing the game.

I see the constitution being bastardized by judges that have agendas. There is no such thing as a neutral judge anymore.

What are they trying to accomplish? A morality free society? What good moral cant be traced in some way to religion? Before you all go nuts, there are plenty of bad things that have been done in the name of religion, but they were done by people in the name of religion, not religion itself.

We talk about humanism, and secular morality. Simple ideas like character. Character to me is made up of honesty, responsibilty, trustworthyness, and other intangible things of that nature. I don't need to have fear of burning in hell to be a person of character. I dont steal, murder, lie, cheat, or any other number of things out of fear of eternal damnnation. I do it because it's the right thing to do. Religion needs to hang these things over our heads in an effort to coerce us into being well-behaved.I don't need to be coerced. But if this is what it takes to keep some people in line, than so be it. OUr society is getting to the point where I dont think people care anymore about doing what is right, they only care about doing what they want.

Sorry for the longness and sometimes ramblyness of my rant. Just things that I think about.
Speaking from a Christian point of view; you hit the nail on the head. I couldn't agree more. No, I don't want religion of any kind making federal policy, but I do want some of the Christian value system placed in it.