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PATH: BS | Religion | Moral Minority
Sam Harris' Top Ten Myths About Atheism
Posted by Pile
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 [Edumakashun] |
Several polls indicate that the term "atheism" has acquired such an extraordinary stigma in the United States that being an atheist is now a perfect impediment to a career in politics (in a way that being black, Muslim or homosexual is not). According to a recent Newsweek poll, only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president.
Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.
Even John Locke, one of the great patriarchs of the Enlightenment, believed that atheism was "not at all to be tolerated" because, he said, "promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human societies, can have no hold upon an atheist."
That was more than 300 years ago. But in the United States today, little seems to have changed. A remarkable 87% of the population claims "never to doubt" the existence of God; fewer than 10% identify themselves as atheists — and their reputation appears to be deteriorating.
Given that we know that atheists are often among the most intelligent and scientifically literate people in any society, it seems important to deflate the myths that prevent them from playing a larger role in our national discourse. |
READ MORE | 2 comments since 2007-05-21 11:44:41 | Comment on this Article |
The Christianists And The Christian Embassy
Posted by Pile
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A military watchdog group is asking the Defense Department to investigate whether seven Army and Air Force officers violated regulations by appearing in uniform in a promotional video for an evangelical Christian organization. In the video, much of which was filmed inside the Pentagon, four generals and three colonels praise the Christian Embassy, a group that evangelizes among military leaders, politicians, and diplomats in Washington. These "Military Christianists" use their uniforms to proselytize, and swear an oath of loyalty, putting loyalty to country third behind God and family.
Some groups are very concerned about whether or not our military leaders can now be trusted to honor their oath of allegiance to the Constitution, which is in direct opposition with the objective of the Christian Embassy and their membership in this "cult."
"We have a systemic problem. You sound like you're too young to remember Robert Redford in "Three Days of the Condor," but the premise of that movie was that there was a CIA within the CIA. We have a virulently dominionist, fundamentalist evangelical Christian element within the Pentagon. They would prefer this to be the "Pentecostalgon," not the Pentagon. That's what they would prefer. They're trying to turn the Pentagon into a frickin' faith-based initiative, and that is not what our military is about." |
READ MORE | 3 comments since 2006-12-16 10:01:36 | Comment on this Article |
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