Freedoms of Religion and Speech
My thoughts toward religious beliefs are to think of them the same way as fans of any other fiction. Star Wars fans, Trekkies, and any other super fan of a fictional reality sometimes shroud their lives in that fiction. What they believe about that fiction could even impact how they treat others and an irrational result of any fiction could be some very bad behavior towards others, particularly people who don’t think the same way.Do you blame the fiction and the beliefs for bad behavior or do you blame the person? Should we also hasten the demise of those other fictions because their fans might turn into fanatics and kill people in the name of the dark side? When do we start the book burning to save us from all fictions? This is why I blame the person and not the gun, or in this case, the belief. Firmly attack the fanaticism and not the theism; otherwise the non-violent theists will rightfully think you’re attacking them for simply believing in their fiction.
I believe in the separation of church and state. I also think religion shouldn’t be considered a public harm as long as that separation is defended and religion remains the activity of individuals. I don’t believe anyone should try to stop religious beliefs or push for everyone to be free from religion since it’s a part of our human freedom to believe in any fictions we want. Freedom of religion and freedom from religion should both be a personal choice as a part of making this the world we want.
Our government shouldn’t say religion is a disease, even though we can say that as individuals. Atheists fight to be acknowledged by the government alongside the majority religions but sometimes call religion a disease of the mind. This is a valid fight for equality but it can’t be done at the expense of removing acknowledgment of all religions or it risks turning our government atheist instead of secular. It would violate our freedom of religion.
A secular government should be free to acknowledge all beliefs and non-belief as equally valid to have in our minds. We should be free to exercise these beliefs as long as we don’t infringe on the rights of others to do the same. I don’t want the government saying to me, or any of my extended family who may still be religious, what any of us can or cannot believe.
This doesn’t mean we are free from criticism of our beliefs. Everyone should know that other people have the right to not share in their beliefs and see them as fictional. Even the religious think the non-religious believe in a fictional view of a universe without gods. I don’t advocate for the demise of religion and the religious shouldn’t advocate for the demise of freethought. I don’t care what anyone else believes or puts their faith in as long as everyone can admit their supernatural beliefs or disbeliefs aren’t equivalent to knowledge and it’s valid for others to not believe as they do because of this.
Religion should be excluded from the operation of the government but not excluded for the individuals. Religion shouldn’t be excluded from the public square as long as equal access and recognition is allowed. My favored tactic for the public square is equal access. All belief and nonbelief displays should be allowed for the holidays. This is better than trying to suppress and deny the majority religion by removing Christian displays just because they’re the only one there. Fighting for the demise of religion is like fighting for the demise of traditional marriage in the name of supporting gay marriage. Can’t we each have our own way of life and our individual freedoms?
This would be the world I would want. Religious people should have their personal freedom of religion and acknowledge the validity of everyone else to have the same freedoms including a freedom from religion. This is all an atheist revolution should ever strive for because when you attack someone else’s freedoms to think and believe as they want then they may respond in kind. We need freedom for all for there to be true peace for this subject.
The Voice of God
In all of my life I only ever heard the voice of the Judeo-Christian God spoken with the voice of people. The persona of God is always the persona of a person with the same insecurities, flaws, and emotions and as any other person pushing their will and desire to be loved on everyone else. The condemnations and sins of God always match the condemnations and desires of the most vocal believers trying to control their behaviors and the behaviors of everyone else. If a religious person thinks something is bad and shouldn’t be done, they are often the most vocal mouthpiece for God to tell everyone to not do any number of things from drinking and dancing to premarital sex and homosexuality. God apparently thinks many things are very bad for us to do even though they impact nobody else but the people engaging in those actions.Think: “It's amazing how often the voice of God (to political leaders) sounds very much like their own." -Susan Jacoby
The same kind of mentality that believes in the religious definition of sins also produces the claim for the United States as the perfect way to govern with the absolutely best type of government humanity can produce. I do love being a citizen of the United States, but I’m sure we’re far from achieving perfection. We generally have a good amount of freedom balanced against the collective good intentions of mandatory social programs. None of it is directly traceable to the Christian bible or any other religion. Our laws and crimes aren’t copied directly from the Christian definition of sins with their biblical punishments. Our social programs and government services aren’t defined in Christianity.
The true root of the American spirit is humanity itself. We formed a free society by the people and for the people. We weren’t built up as a theocratic country under the Judeo-Christian God. There are many other people and books addressing this subject in great detail so I won’t belabor these points much longer. Given that our government is from the people and not from a God then it might be reasonable to think our country is inherently sinful. That’s why some religious people think the United States needs to be “under God” in at least names and phrases to help correct our sinful ways even though our government isn’t presided over by God. We’ve done just fine so far without a religion ruling over us all and I’m grateful every day our country isn’t mastered by a deity.
The War on Christmas
If you don’t pay attention to manufactured hype then you’re probably one of the few people who wonder what the War on Christmas is about. I’m going to give my view on Happy Holidays, Holiday Trees, and this whole nonsense surrounding secular and religious observations of Christmas. The holiday should peacefully coexist on a common day that’s positive for anyone interested in any aspect of Christmas. However, some people are trying to pick a fight over the true meaning of Christmas and I’m just not taking the bait.I was raised Christian (lax Catholic really) and am now an atheistic agnostic regarding religious beliefs. I think I can clearly see both sides of this supposed war and wonder why it’s even an issue. The “reason for the season” is as complex as the American public and it goes back to Yule, Noel, and the origins for Christ’s Mass outside this country. Christians adopted various pagan rituals and practices along the way including choosing Dec 25th as the day to celebrate the unknown birth date of Jesus. There’s nothing biblical or sacred about the American public celebration of Christmas this time of year. It wasn’t a holiday created by God or Jesus and was instead developed by their followers. The term Christmas didn’t even appear until about a thousand years after Jesus may have lived in the Middle East.
Things like Santa Claus and stockings over the fireplace have become an American tradition for Dec 25th but they aren’t related to Christ’s Mass. Santa Claus was pushed into more widespread popularity by Coca-Cola in the 1930s and isn’t a character in the nativity scene. Many secular aspects of Christmas are firmly rooted in American consumerism instead of Christian tradition.
It’s the secular aspects of Christmas which I still embrace as an unbeliever. I grew up with them in an American family and I continue the gift giving distraction which brightens a dreary winter for human beings. It’s just a human family holiday for me. The only things I’ve had to drop from the family traditions of my parents are the display of little nativity figures, going to mass on Christmas Eve, and saying a prayer before the family meal. Otherwise, my house and the houses of Christians in my family operate pretty much the same on Dec 25th.
Go ahead and have a Merry Christmas because it’s both a religious and secular day regardless of the origin of the term. Tuesday’s etymology is from Tiwes or Tiwaz as an ancient Germanic god of war but unbelievers don’t demand the name of that day to change. Why should anyone care if there’s a secular holiday on Dec 25th called Christmas when it’s about as religious as calling a day of the week Tuesday?
Sure, there’s also a religious holiday on Dec 25th called Christmas but I don’t celebrate that one. Santa Claus is front and center on my Christmas. I’d much rather see a jolly fat guy in a red suit instead of a tortured man nailed to a cross regardless of who you think that tortured person really was or why he had to endure that death. I don’t believe in it and I don’t have to for my enjoyment of Christmas.
I put up a Christmas tree because it isn’t a biblical or religious thing. It’s just pretty and the evergreen is a nice symbol of life during the dormant winter. It isn’t really a Holiday Tree because there isn’t a Wikipedia page for Holiday Tree. There’s some sarcasm in that statement but really the tree is only related to Dec 25th so it should just be called a Christmas tree or Yule Tree if you want to keep to the original terminology.
I’ll say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas since both are just fine with me. There are several holidays around this time of year including New Year’s Day. I hope all of your holidays are happy when I say Happy Holidays. I also say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year individually if I feel like it. I’m only wishing you a Merry Secular Christmas when I say it. You really shouldn’t mind my intent because if you wish me a Merry Religious Christ’s Mass then I’m just going to have a Merry Secular Christmas anyway. We each celebrate Dec 25th in our own unique ways so we can think different things when we hear those words. We all mean well wishes towards each other when we say it, right? That’s the true reason for the season.
Being different and holding to our own traditions should continue to be a shared American tradition. Nobody should try to define Christmas as one exact religious or secular holiday dictated by the government or church. Your secular or religious views of Christmas are right for you and everyone else so just get over yourselves, stop the silly war talk, and have a Merry Christmas everyone! After all, what would Santa do?
Redefining God
The name God appears in many places in the United States and has been argued to be a generic word encompassing all religious beliefs when used in the government setting. “In God We Trust”, “so help me, God”, “God Bless America”, and “One Nation, Under God” are some examples. Does the word really fit into the lexicon of America since it doesn’t truly represent everyone? Some people are already fighting the legal battle to remove the word and may or may not win. But if God continues to stay as it has, which in most cases has just been since the 1950s, what do we do? Should a non-believer say these phrases as a good citizen or should they remain silent in protest? What if a day comes when we’re required to say these things and profess a belief in God without a freedom from religion even though we’re supposed to have freedom of religion?I have come to the conclusion that perhaps non-believers can, and should, redefine the word God to match our disbelief. Instead of defining God as the being who originated and rules the universe, it could be the name we put to the unknown first cause for the universe. God for all non-believers could then become synonymous with the phrase “the unknown.”
This would render some sayings somewhat silly, but relatively harmless in thought. They would now be synonymous with “In the unknown we trust”, “so help me, the unknown”, “the unknown bless America”, and “One Nation, under the unknown.” If I were asked if I believed in God I could just reply in the affirmative knowing that I mean the unknown. I would still not worship or pray to the unknown God because it’s silly to worship or pray to the unknown. Our free will definitely comes from an unknown. “The unknown’s will” matches very well with the seeming randomness of the universe. I could go on with this thought process, but you probably get the point by now.
My beliefs should be considered in line with religious beliefs in the context of society and our governments. My agnosticism should be on the same playing field as the major religions and their protected status with most governments. Hindu and Buddhist beliefs are nothing like Christianity yet Christians don’t typically criticize their beliefs like they do a complete lack of belief in supreme beings. It’s odd that claiming a belief in a supernatural unknown might get me more respect with some theists than just saying I don’t believe anything from the classically defined religions. If it helped me be a more accepted part of a religiously slanted country like the United States, then would it be worth redefining the God word for non-believers like me? We would all be meaning the same thing when we talk of God as our creator; it’s just that my God in that sense is unknown.
I won’t actually go down the path of using the God word in this way without a good reason. I’ll keep this concept in mind in case I’m ever forced to state a belief of "In God We Trust" and "One Nation, Under God." I see no reason to go to jail or die for a belief that nobody really knows the answers. I'll continue not using God in any context as long as I’m free to think for myself but I won’t die for that right.
Some countries mandate a belief in a religion and a god of their choosing. Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint holding opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and shouldn’t be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas. Being a freethinker means no matter what an authority mandates you say and do; you are always free in your own mind to define the authority’s god and forced beliefs in your own terms. Your version of god in an oppressive country can be logic and reason based on science, reality, and truth. You can outwardly mimic what you’re required to say, but you’re always free in your own mind to seek and believe in what you think is true. The human mind can’t be fully controlled regardless of the people around you.
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