AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.http://www.atheists.orghttp://www.americanatheist.orgFor more information, please contact:Robert J. Bruno, Counsel at 952-890-9171FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2006ATHEISTS FILE SUIT AGAINST MUNICIPAL SUBSIDIES FOR CHURCH “FACADE IMPROVEMENT”Joining with a local plaintiff, an Atheist civil groups has filed suit against the City of Detroit, Michigan against the awarding of $690,000 in public money given to churches for “fix-up” and facade improvement in anticipation of the recent Super Bowl.The churches, including the Central United Methodist Church and the Second Baptist Church received seven grants under a local program run by the Detroit Downtown Development Authority.The suit charges, “Such direct subsidies of religious organizations from taxpayer-derived funds violate the plaintiff’s rights to be free of taxation for the support of religious organizations.” Attorney Robert Bruno added that the use of taxpayer money for churches and other houses of worship violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Article 1 of the Michigan Constitution which stipulates that “no money shall be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies.”Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists, said that her group filed the suit in response to a disturbing trend where religious and political leaders are trying to divert tax money to private, faith-based groups. “This amounts to a ‘religion tax’ on all Americans including millions of Atheists, Freethinkers and other non-believers,” said Johnson.The suit asks for immediate injunction against such grants to religious organizations, and that the churches return the money.Media inquiries may be directed to Robert J. Bruno, Counsel at 952-890-9171.AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.
answermethis,
I looked over the website, seems alot of thought went into it. It doesn’t say anything new we haven’t heard before.
My biggest problem is the whole idea of an all-powerful one day being lonely and creating us. It makes no sense. It never has to me. It’s almost like an experiment. The angel one failed, so he tried with us, 0 for 2.
Maybe I missed it, or havent’ dug deep enough, but does it talk about the fact that this god created the ultimate evil in the world…satan? And the fact that when the humans became too evil he destroyed them in a flood, but never did anything to satan but throw him out of heaven, where he then could wreak havoc on his new creations.
Done ranting for now.
AMT,
Out of morbid curiosity, I checked out your link to see how far I’d get.
Not surprisingly I found this statement in the first paragraph
Of course tis is a mischaracterization of atheism (which means without theism). The site then goes on to argue against this position – which is of course pointless as the position is not representative of reality.
Waste of time.
One thing I found interesting is the absolute truth about god’s extistance. One way to get it is to die. The other is to just believe.
So, you believe, then you see the truth, which you already believe. My brain just turned to mush. Oh, and this truth comes from the bible, which you should believe before you read. After all the bible says so, even though you haven’t actually read it yet.
For some reason, it feels like http://www.godandscience.org/ was made for people who think like Homer Simpson.
Or Flanders.
Here is a site that should please AMT.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/
I wonder if it isn’t where he gets all his “information”.
“For some reason, it feels like http://www.godandscience.org/ was made for people who think like Homer Simpson. Comment from: DVanWechel
Or Flanders.”
Abso-didilly-utely!
Tax support of churches is obviously bullshit. I fully support this filed injunction. I’ve recently studied the history of Establishment Clause violations that have reached the Supreme Court, there is no way that this subsidy can be found constitutional, even with Bush’s clones on the throne.
It will be great to see this “Atheist group”‘s victory in the history books.
How many times does this take…
There’s no reason for us to prove that God doesn’t exist. First of all, it’s my own effing business if I don’t want to believe in God. Second, it makes no sense. I could make up a million mythological creatures, and there’s no way anyone could DISprove them. Sure, I couldn’t prove them, either. But putting it on the shoulders of my opposers is an easy way to turn things around.
How would one go about disproving anything? If I were to look everywhere on the planet for God (or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or the Invisible Pink Unicorn or whatever) I wouldn’t find anything. The argument could be made that the deity of choice doesn’t reside on the planet. Let’s say it’s possible for me to search every corner of the solar system, the galaxy, the universe. Still wouldn’t find anything. It’s impossible to do, though.
Disproving things is completely pointless. It’s on the shoulders of the believers to prove it if you really want to get down to facts. You can make up anything you want, but until you PROVE it is TRUE, it is still just a story. Disproving God is none of my business.
Religion is fairly new in comparison to the history of mankind.
(that comment was in reference to some of the circular logic found on godandscience.org, by the way.)
Can anyone tell me when the US began granting churches and religious organizations tax-exempt status? Has it always been that way?