Freedom of religion does not apply to Atheists?

[Tarvos]

i think dawkins said it best when he said that atheists, almost by definition, lack the sort of beehive mentality that most religious organisations do. most atheists are individualists

 

[Minish]

Christianity is not exactly a small minority in England, either - but it's not a majority iirc

It seemed to be in the two counties I've lived in, but I guess I only took people from my own age group. If you asked any of my classes at school, maybe 2 or 3 in a class of 30 would be Christian, more likely less; I guess it'll only be a small minority in 30 years or something.

Suspiciously, I never see anyone come out of my local church... a few old ladies go in, but...

 

[Harlequin]

"Christians" in the UK aren't exactly loudly Christian. Hardly any of them actually go to church and it's always considered a bit odd to actually, well, be Christian. Lots of people say "oh we're Christian" but if you say "Oh? Do you go to church?" they'll say "hahah no of course not."

(I'm quite glad about this. <3)

 

[#1 bro]

I live in the US, and most of my Christian classmates would say something similar if I asked them if they went to church. (The adults are a different story).

There is a "Christian Fellowship" at my school that meets one a week or so before school. Three people that I know of in my class of ~eighty attend it. One of the kids is an irritating little fuck with a bad case of short man's syndrome who loudly discusses conservative politics and his Christian views (and incidentally, is far, far, into the closet), but then the two girls who I know attend I only know because I googled the name of one of them, found her twitter, and saw a post where she asked the other "hey are you going to christian fellowship?" (don't worry it wasn't stalking she was right there). So there are probably a few more people in Christian Fellowship who are somewhat secretive about it.

I am aware of nine people in my class of eighty who identify as atheist/agnostic. Most of these people are my good friends, which could mean that there are atheists who I am unaware of because they aren't my friends, or just that I hang out with cool people 8)

Make your own conclusions about this.

 

[Sage Noctowl]

That's extremely odd, because most of the things I see are more atheist than theist. But I could be biased because of my Christianity.
Note: In no way do I hate atheists.

 

[Zuu]

That's extremely odd, because most of the things I see are more atheist than theist. But I could be biased because of my Christianity.
Note: In no way do I hate atheists.

Guilty conscience?

 

[Dannichu]

"Christians" in the UK aren't exactly loudly Christian. Hardly any of them actually go to church and it's always considered a bit odd to actually, well, be Christian. Lots of people say "oh we're Christian" but if you say "Oh? Do you go to church?" they'll say "hahah no of course not."

To add to this, I've been living in the UK for twenty years, lived in three counties (and visited a whole lot more), been to three Catholic primary schools and a joint Catholic/CofE secondary school and its sixth form... and have never met anyone who doesn't believe in evolution.

 

[Crazy Linoone]

To add to this, I've been living in the UK for twenty years, lived in three counties (and visited a whole lot more), been to three Catholic primary schools and a joint Catholic/CofE secondary school and its sixth form... and have never met anyone who doesn't believe in evolution.

It seems like you have missed the US on your trips, or you are quite lucky.

I had always thought that my school, which seems to be one of the better ones in America, would have tons of atheists and agnostics, but I seem to be quite wrong. Supposedly, there is a person who did a science class presentation on creationism because she did not believe in evolution. Also, quite a lot of my classmates seem to be Christians. Thankfully, they're not assholes, but I still died a little bit inside...

 

[opaltiger]

That's extremely odd, because most of the things I see are more atheist than theist. But I could be biased because of my Christianity.
Note: In no way do I hate atheists.

"Things"?

 

[Sage Noctowl]

Things pointing to people I know (who are awesome), stuff people do, and the fact that some people are shunned due to them being 'Jesus Freaks'.

 

[Harlequin]

To add to this, I've been living in the UK for twenty years, lived in three counties (and visited a whole lot more), been to three Catholic primary schools and a joint Catholic/CofE secondary school and its sixth form... and have never met anyone who doesn't believe in evolution.

Sadly, I have. One of them was an A-level biology student. I was quite shocked, honestly. But then, she does belong to some kind of weird pentecostal variant of Christianity, soooo.

Christianity in the UK is kind of like how lots of Jews don't actually believe in the whole God thing but they're cultural Jews. The people who actually, seriously believe (and practise that belief) are looked at as kind of weird, even by other Christians.

 

[Tarvos]

It seemed to be in the two counties I've lived in, but I guess I only took people from my own age group. If you asked any of my classes at school, maybe 2 or 3 in a class of 30 would be Christian, more likely less; I guess it'll only be a small minority in 30 years or something.

Suspiciously, I never see anyone come out of my local church... a few old ladies go in, but...

most people are officially religious because they had water sprinkled on them

i.e. my parents

neither of them are very religious in any way

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

When I was younger, I was afraid to admit that I was atheist (mainly because when I first announced it, I was bullied in school about it), but when I finally admitted to my family, it turned out that my dad and all of my uncles to whom I'm related by blood are atheist. Apparently, my dad and my mam have an agreement whereby he lets her handle our religion and if we ask him any questions he just agrees with her. When I first found out this it somewhat bothered me. It still does.

 

[Doctor Jimmy]

... only that's not quite what freedom of religion (under the Constitution, anyway) means. It only means that under US law all religions are equal and Congress can't do anything biased toward or against religion.

And how does it bother you that all of our basic, human rights are written on a single piece of fucking paper? From the great George Carlin: either we have unlimited rights, or no rights at all. And as long as there is an institution that is more powerful than the individual and is not controlled by the will of the people (including minorities), our "unlimited rights" can be infringed upon, no matter what a sheet of paper has written on it. Congress can do what it damn well pleases, and so can the police, the military, and the President himself. So atheists can, just like in other countries, have their rights of religion and speech stripped.

When I was younger, I was afraid to admit that I was atheist (mainly because when I first announced it, I was bullied in school about it), but when I finally admitted to my family, it turned out that my dad and all of my uncles to whom I'm related by blood are atheist. Apparently, my dad and my mam have an agreement whereby he lets her handle our religion and if we ask him any questions he just agrees with her. When I first found out this it somewhat bothered me. It still does.

>bullied
>Thou shall respect thy neighbor as thyself

ಠ_ಠ

 

[Autumn]

And as long as there is an institution that is more powerful than the individual and is not controlled by the will of the people (including minorities), our "unlimited rights" can be infringed upon, no matter what a sheet of paper has written on it. Congress can do what it damn well pleases, and so can the police, the military, and the President himself. So atheists can, just like in other countries, have their rights of religion and speech stripped.

Very true, very true. The constitutional idea that all people of the US have the same rights does not apply to gays (what with the gay marriage ban in most states and all), and gays aren't even considered property like blacks were up until the amendments stating they were were passed (not that "you're black so you're my property and you have no rights" is a good excuse, because it's fucking not, I'm just saying that it is an excuse (or, at least, was at the time), and there's no excuse for gays). Perfect example of the constitutional rights being violated... and so are the "in God we trust"/"one nation under God" things I mentioned earlier. America's full of fucking hypocrites.

 

[Dannichu]

most people are officially religious because they had water sprinkled on them

Fun fact: anyone who has been baptised can baptise anyone else with regular water (I wasn't a particularly healthy newborn, so my mother baptised me herself hours after I was born).

I admit I love the idea that I could just go around and baptise unsuspecting people at will.

 

[ultraviolet]

I admit I love the idea that I could just go around and baptise unsuspecting people at will.

consider that you already have baptised people if you've ever had a water fight, spilt your drink on them or splashed them in the pool. xD

 

[Autumn]

consider that you already have baptised people if you've ever had a water fight, spilt your drink on them or splashed them in the pool. xD

so that means I've baptized everyone on my bus last year and got baptized by everyone on it as well. o.O

 

[Effigy of the Forgotten]

To add to this, I've been living in the UK for twenty years, lived in three counties (and visited a whole lot more), been to three Catholic primary schools and a joint Catholic/CofE secondary school and its sixth form... and have never met anyone who doesn't believe in evolution.

You're very lucky, I've had the misfortune to come into contact with quite a lot of evangelical religious nutters living in the UK. People who genuinely believe in all the creationism, rapture, Satan and Antichrist sort of shit, look up to Ray Comfort, and think Sarah Palin was too liberal. Absolutely terrifying. Thankfully this sort of retardation in the minority in this country, there are still a shitload of Christians (especially in the area where I live) but they tend not to be quite as mental about it.

 

[Autumn]

This extends beyond the United States, imo.

Unless the rest of the world really is a magical dream utopia and my parents left it for no reason at all.

My only experience is with America so I can't really comment on the hypocrisy of the rest of the world. :/