It appears that there is so little support for belief in Christianity in South Carolina, that it actually takes the state government to peddle that religion. 
This plate from Florida was defeated in April.It is really amazing to me how a belief in a supernatural being never translates into an actual belief in the existence of any real power associated with their supernatural being. I mean the actual pandering politicians who are hawking this state produced product at taxpayer expense, don’t even believe enough people will even purchase a “I Believe” license plate unless they discount the price by 90%.Oh well, just another sign of the death of Christianity. It states a state government to advertise and sell religion. Why? Cause that religion can no longer sell itself. It must be dying.Peter Nuhn
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South Carolina is the state whose “Choose Life” license plate was ultimately ruled unconstitutional by the 4th Circuit.
I guess the S.C. legislature just likes to waste taxpayer money on lawyer fees.
The FL tags became an issue on conservative/pro-xian talk morning radio here in the Austin area and I called in to find out what they would think if the state issued a similar plate that had the phrase “god is a myth”. They went nuts
Maybe they should charge around $100 a plate and donate it to the state to make up for tax-free status of churches
Cant religious people just be happy to have a jesus fish or some other religious bumpersticker? why do the religious always feel the need to have special rights not afforded to other groups? I cant get a gay pride license plate in NC so I just put a rainbow sticker on my car.
Anybody see Geo Will claim agnostic on Colbert?
“I Believe, What?”
I’m flattered but belief is not necessary.
A sticker of the Flying Spaghetti Monster would fit nicely over that Latin cross.
Hey wait – the cross! Maybe the plate means “I believe in capital punishment.”
While we on the subject of belief of religion, what is your thinking regarding the belief of atheology?
a big salute to gov.sanford of south carolina who declined to sign the law.the act didn’t need his signature to become law even so his point of not signing it was a real act of political courage in a bible belt state.
Government endorsement of religion isn’t an indicator of religious decline. It can also be argued that this is a sign of an increase of religion growing within the community, as this would be an expression of growing religiosity. Speculating that not enough people would buy the religious-unconstitutional plates could be based on nothing but a hunch, suspicion that public religious displays are not popular, that people are cheap or frugal or that religiosity is in decline. But I would rather do research on the religious demographics and challenge violations of the US Constitution.
Christianity certainly hasn’t died
since the McCarthy era when the pledge was made religious and when the national motto was changed to “In God We Trust” and put on all US currency.
I am more optimistic than SecularMan…
of course I’d like to believe religion has hit its pinnacle of credulity….and I think that occurred with the dems taking back the house and senate….
this is a good example of that because putting a cult symbol on on license plate will not be done…and maybe the majority of people do understand how divisive that really is…..
we are a nation….we are not a christian nation….suck it those that think we are a christian nation….
Tell us what you believe, TrollTo–I mean, TimeToStandUp.
TimeToStandUp,
Atheology? Sounds like a lot of fun!
Skipping ahead to just one thought the christian god-thing must have had (had the christian god-thing actually existed):
Damn I’ve got to get going on those tall leafy woody things. I want them to take a while to grow and they need to be big enough to make huge christian death crosses with. Man, thats going to be so cool when they nail me to that cross and raise me up. Oh, man, the nails! What should I use, those pointy wooden things or would the metal pins be better?
We should think about how the xians profit from state endorsement of religion. It’s all about making these weird beliefs the “normal” thing to believe. When everybody does it, including the state, then some people will just put their trust in the intelligence of the crowd and believe. When the message is coming from all directions, and there is no dissent, you’re more likely to believe something foolish than you are in a marketplace of competing ideas. Similarly, when you are the only one who apparently questions the status quo belief set, you are probably likely to wonder “what’s wrong with me?” Usually when you find a belief that just one person believes, it is because that person is paranoid or delusional or at least a little off. Given that most people have absolutely no contact with a non-believer, these are the headwinds people face when they question religion. Religious discrimination and wars are all about creating a society where there is no dissent from the religious message because in such societies, even smart people fall for the mistakes of the crowd.
Perhaps this means that logic in the US would profit from importing Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. because this diversity of opinion would break the unanimity of the crowd and make people think twice about their “commonsense” default assumptions.
Never heard of the word atheology, before, so wouldn’t you know it; the next random quote I get over at Pharyngula is this:
It doesn’t appear to be a commonly used term, since Wiki has very little on it. Still Google comes up with atheology.com and there is a very short definition at thefreedictionary.com That is: “Antagonism to theology”.
It could be descriptive of several websites I frequent. I doubt, though that it would carry the same meaning for culture warriors of different persuasions.
Which is to say, I think TTSU can’t be engaged until s/he takes a stand and reveals which side of the fence it is where s/he is standing up.
The word ‘atheology’ doesn’t make any sense. “Antagonism to theology” should be called ‘anti-theology,’ not ‘atheology.’
The prefix A- means ‘without’ not ‘against.’ Wikipedia defines Theology as “the study of religion from a religious perspective.” By adding the A- prefix to this, ‘atheology’ can be properly defined as the non-study of religion. That’s a pointless word if ever I’ve heard one.
Atheology.com is defining it as the defense of naturalism. I don’t know why they feel the need to make up a new word for that, but it does act as a catchy name. That doesn’t make it a word, though.
Since atheism is so often mistaken for anti-theism, I feel the need to point this out.
An interesting article about Baptists trying to distance themselves from the religious right:
http://tinyurl.com/44wso8
It’s a little late for that. The time to stand up was March 2003. Now they are running from the conservative stigma but with one helluva albatross around their necks.
Alatham
Words do matter.
Michel Onfray, a French atheist philosopher, wrote a book entitled “Trait? d’Ath?ologie” (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trait?_d?ath?ologie). According to his Wikipedia English entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Onfray), was translated as “Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (New York: Arcade Publishing, 2007)”.
I have never heard of the word “Ath?ologie” before. I guess that Michel Onfray created it.
*OT*
Incurable disease cured in boy using stem cells:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-stem7-2008jun07%2C0%2C6795131.story
Remind me again why our federal government won’t allow funding for this?
A little plagiarizing here: By definition, Christian theology is discourse concerning Christian faith. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument to understand, explain, test, critique, defend or promote Christianity. Theology might be undertaken to help the theologian understand Christianity, more truly make comparisons between Christianity and other traditions, defend Christianity against critics, facilitate Christianity’s reform, assist in the propagation of Christianity, draw on the resources of the Christian tradition to address some present situation or need, or for a variety of other reasons.
Therefore, I will go on to explain my point. ——– Whenever you see —-logy, it refers to ?the study of, therefore Atheology is the study of Atheism and I believe that it did come from my reading of Michel Onfray?s Atheistic Manifesto. The point of my question is, if one were to use rational analysis and argument to understand, explain, test, critique, defend or promote Atheism as if it were a religion or better yet, if it were a philosophy, without thinking of it as being antagonistic to theology, how would be be defined, or next question, could it be defined?
For the interest of those who wonder what the hell I am talking about, or what my thoughts are, I have been a hard-core atheist for fifty years or so. To me, atheism simply represents a personal desire to look within myself for answers to my psychological and personal needs without looking to the supernatural. In 1960, while in college, I had to do a critical review of the novel, ?The Stanger? and while doing so, I learned a bit about Existenialism and Jean-Paul Sarte. To me, Atheism is very closely aligned with Sarte?s conception of Existenialism. The essence of my life is entirely up to me and I am responsible for myself, but also for others to the extent of my relationship with them.
Since most of you are much more glib (and intelligent) than I, I was hoping to learn what you thought about the study of Atheism without using it to only ?knock? religious theology.
TimeToStandUp,
I agree. We certainly do need to study our own movement, develop our ideas, analyze what we hope to accomplish, and eventually use science to figure out how we can create a lasting culture that can out-compete the religious mind-viruses. We need to do this so that we can effectively remove as much of religion from politics and culture as possible – before they start a nuclear war over the “holy” land or whatever and get us all killed.
I get frustrated that the urgency of our endeavour is lost on those atheists who get in little spats over theoretical details or political issues. We better figure out how to unite, motivate, and organize a diverse group of independent thinkers, or the next generation of atheists will be living in a theocracy, if at all.
Chris B
I dont have the balls not to pray….
I mean simulate the act of speaking to a supernatural being…..I mean…what would I wear