We will get a decision on the 10 Commandments cases from the Supreme Court over the next week or so. This thread will house an explanation of American Atheists policy and reaction.UPDATE — No decision on 6/20. Look for a decision on 6/27 and try to get to DC for the demo!
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Posting the 10 Commandments in public forums is un-American, unconstitutional, and unpatriotic. Many people believe that prohibitions against such displays are attacks against religion, when in fact they are necessary when Freedom of Religion is of paramount importance.
First of all, it must be noted that there is a significant difference between pro-Atheism and neutral. A display on public land reading ?There are no gods? is pro-Atheist and just as un-American as pro-religion displays. On the other hand, an absence of religious opinion is neutral, as it makes no mention of the issue. In a neutral environment, everyone is treated equally, which is what we Americans call ?freedom?.
Our Founding Fathers did some things very wisely. Many, like Patrick Henry, were very religious, and others, like Thomas Jefferson, leaned toward Atheism. There is no doubt that they discussed this issue and concluded that church and state needed to be separate. To that end, they intentionally left God out of the Constitution, protected all religious theologies in the First Amendment, wrote about the ?wall of separation between church and state? in post-constitutional writings, and unanimously signed the Treaty of Tripoli, which specified that the government is not in any way founded in Christianity.
In other words, the founders (religious and not) remembered what today?s Christians have forgotten: that true religious freedom only comes when the separation of church and state is absolute.
But we would be wrong to say that just because the Founding fathers specified it, it must be right. We should not look at 18th century writings as gospel (pun intended) for today?s society. After all, the founders owned slaves and forbade women from voting, so to take their words without question would be unwise. We must BEGIN with them, but then we must evaluate whether their writings are still appropriate for 2005.
We need to determine where we want our own country to go. Do we want a country which prefers one religion (or a few) over the others, or do we want one that treats all theologies equally? Do we want government spending time and money promoting theology, or do we want to keep religion a private matter? Do we want a majority religion to have control over a minority, or do we prefer to give the minorities the same freedoms enjoyed by everyone else? In short, do we want the Christian church to merge, even partially, with the government?
We say no. American Atheists asserts that in this case, the founding fathers were exactly right, and the government does not need to be in the business of promoting something which, by its very nature, is both exclusionary and divisive.
The government should be neutral, just, and fair. The separation of church and state is already blurred (religion is exempt from taxes, zoning laws, and almost all regulation), and to worsen the problem by having the government promote one theology over others would harm America on the whole, while serve no positive purpose whatsoever.
We are not talking about removing religion ? we?re talking about protecting religious freedom. Freedom comes from equality, and equality comes from neutrality. Neutrality should therefore be the ultimate goal of American government.
The Seperation of church and state, which the religious right and so many other extremist evangelicals seem to shrug off, is a FUNDEMENTAL FREEDOM not just for Atheists, but for everyone. I ask all those Jesus freaks on Capital Hill, do you want to go back to the 17th century where one can get HANGED for stealing an apple or something? I’ve read “The Crucible” and I’ve studdied the time of the Salem Witch Trials, and I sure as hell know what the early USA (which didn’t even exist, really) was like before the 1st Ammendment. It was horrible. If we’re going to post the(ir) ten commandments on every wall this side of the Pacific Ocean, why not just throw the 1st Ammendment out the window? Seems pretty logical to me.
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