Dodece said:
Many of you have commented without being privy to all the facts. The reality of the situation is this yes the Atheist community was officially excluded from participating in ceremonies involving the World Trade Center attack. While the President of the United States invited leaders from many religious denominations to attend official proceedings at the site no representative of Atheism was invited to intend. It was very much a slight against the group. Who were deemed as unworthy.
Yes it was indeed noticed at the time, and many feel bitter to this day. After all how would you feel if you got told that you were less of a citizen then any other. Seeing as no apology was ever given at least that I know about. It is easy to see where the resentment is coming from. Imagine if as a Christian no representative of your basic views had been allowed to attend, and you found out the commemorative museum was going to have a twisted piece of steel that looked like a Star of David. Yes you would feel about the same as many Atheists do in regards to this.
This community was a victim of bigotry. I see nothing wrong with the museum having displays that may, or may not have some religious significance for some. However the museum should be representative of all Americans. Not just those of faith. A wrong was committed and the museum should address that as well. There were Atheists who died in those attacks. Their lives mattered too. Their fellow Atheists should have been included. It is really a easy thing to call them assholes when you were not treated the way they were and for the most part are.
Thismeintiels comments highlight my point poignantly. Bigoted to the core, and brimming with self righteousness ignorant of the feelings of others. He thinks that those of other faiths, or of no faith at all. Should be pleased that him and his kind allow us to live in our own homeland. He obviously views others as inferior to himself. He is of coarse wrong.
The United States is a Republic, and thus a nation of laws not men. The government is secular and designed to be exactly that. The founding fathers adamantly rejected theocratic though. They fought a war to oust Divine Rule, and were heavily influenced by the Age of Enlightenment. They felt that the combination of Church and State to be a corrupt practice, and since they placed faith in the reason of man. They would thoroughly agree with the right for a person to reach their own independent conclusions.
The irony of it all is that at the time of its founding the United States was much less religious then today, and the state of religion declined in the nation until the Civil War when the wholesale slaughter year after year caused many to look towards religion for solace. The United States is the story of two nations prior to the civil war, and after the civil war. The nation has been effectively founded twice. Hell prior to those events the Declaration of Independence was viewed as nothing more then a legal document. Afterwards it was viewed as a declaration of national aspirations.
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Lol, you put words in my mouth. Nowhere did I label any other religion or those who practice none as inferior. But the cold hard truth is that the vast majortiy of people who live in the US believe Christian teachings, so America can be unofficially called a "Christian Nation."
You, however, illustrate what is truly wrong with this country. People who wish to see bigotry and prejudice in every situation, especially when they are in the minority. They wish to force their beliefs/values on others by attacking exactly what they claim they are defending, in this case, the freedom of religion. As far as the ceremonies go, given that ~2-3% of Americans actually label themselves as atheists, I'm more inclined to see that they were merely overlooked and not excluded. Personally, I don't know any who claim to be the "leaders" of atheism. I would think one who does not believe in God or organized religion would have no leaders.
Those I speak of above also seem to also be the ones who try to paint the Founding Fathers as not being very religious. However, the exact opposite is true. Whether you wish to believe them as being Christians or Diests, they still believed in a Grand Creator. One who had given us our inalienable rights. And while it is true they wanted a seperation of Church and State so that the government would not claim one religion to be better than another or maybe even a king by Divine Rule, it was also written to equally keep the State out of the affairs of the Church. Some wish to only see it as religion corrupting politics, yet our Founders worried just as much about politics corrupting religion.
