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Originally Posted by DigitalShadow
Good point. Let's start by removing all SPECIAL rights that religious groups have, including their tax exempt status. After all, I am an atheist and pay thousands of dollars in taxes and don't want my money going to religious brain washing.
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What do your tax dollars go to that you consider "religious brainwashing?" I would be okay with removing tax exempt status if I also didn't have to fund Planned Parenthood, ACLU, and other such organizations that taxpayers should not be funding. I would like to see us move to a fair tax system.
I think one thing that many are forgetting is that this great nation that has allowed us more freedoms and a higher standard of living than any nation in history
was founded on Judeo-Christian values. While it is not perfect, it has worked better than any other system on the planet and has made the United States the envy of the world. Why would we want to turn our back on this?
"Separation of Church and State" is not part of the Constitution and does not mean there should be no mingling of government and churches. It really is impossible to completely separate the two as our values tend to be based on religion and our laws reflect these values. If we read our American history (which unfortunately most of us don't and it is not being taught in our public schools) we know that the framers opposed a national enforced religion ... like they had in England ... not the removal of all religion and acknowledgment of God from the public forum. Madison and Jefferson probably had the most secular or "liberal" view but also acknowledged that faith was a predicate to liberty. Jefferson wrote, "that human beings have certain unalienable rights endowed by God. Rights are not conferred on us by a monarch or the state". He also wrote, "can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?"
So the framers thought that we should acknowledge God, but not be forced into a state religion or be punished for the way we worship.
I do have some questions for you from an Atheist perspective. I mean no disrespect, but really want to know your opinion. I believe that my values are based on my faith and belief in God. If you don't believe in God, on what do you base your values? What do you value? In your life, what evidence have you seen to make you believe there is no God? Have you ever gone looking for God, just to see if you can find him? Do you think our country would be a better place if the majority did not believe in God? If so, how? Just curious.