Marine stuns a tea party with the fourth verse of the star spangled banner

[Pete Kay]

I'm an atheist, but I don't hold ill will against those that are religious. I just wish that we had true freedom of association so that religious could live amongst themselves and irreligious people could live amongst themselves. That's what America was built upon. That's true freedom of religion, where others that don't agree with you don't meddle in your affairs.

 

[Vessol]

I like living with people of different faiths and beliefs however, it makes things more interesting.

 

[tpreitzel]

I, too, agree that the Star-Spangled Banner was written to promote federalism, but this particular Marine's rendition of it is quite good.

 

[libertygrl]

I am an atheist. I hate this God stuff.

Morals are as natural as the soil our bodies rot in when we die. I am of this universe, and that is the only connection I need to a higher power.

 

[BlackTerrel]

Blowback due to the Religious Right. When you get accosted, and you are told what you can do with your own body, you better believe there are going to be some militant people fighting back.

How have you been accosted by the religious right?

I think I once had a guy at my door who was a Jehova's Witness. I told him no thanks and went about my day.

That's about the "worst" experience I've had.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Apparently if some people from this forum had their way we would have, not freedom, but another flavor of tyranny. These same people criticize the muslims for doing exactly what they themselves would do. Some of these people are the same people who support israel. Under their system, there'd be another witch hunt where atheists and the likes are burned on the stake as heathens. They won't admit that of course but history tells us what follows.

It really makes one wonder if people here, supposedly mostly Libertarians (aside from the obvious trolls), are really for freedom. I think some people are just here because the current system doesn't favor them. If it did favor them they'd probably ignore these injustices that happen to others.

As an atheist who wants freedom it sure is disappointing to read some of the posts here.

If you hang around, you'd see a lot of people like this.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

How have you been accosted by the religious right?

I think I once had a guy at my door who was a Jehova's Witness. I told him no thanks and went about my day.

That's about the "worst" experience I've had.

The "Religious Right's" support for War and foreign aggression accosts us all, some more directly than others.

 

[tpreitzel]

Actually, anthem's serve a purpose, albeit generally nefarious. Does each state have their own anthem? If not, it might be another mechanism to empower the states in their fight against federal tyranny. The adoption of a state anthem * might facilitate the constitutional realignment of this union.

* Not ideal, but it might help restore balance.

Wikipedia source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_songs

 

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

How have you been accosted by the religious right?

I think I once had a guy at my door who was a Jehova's Witness. I told him no thanks and went about my day.

That's about the "worst" experience I've had.

Are you that daft?

 

[jmdrake]

The "Religious Right's" support for War and foreign aggression accosts us all, some more directly than others.

When did Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi become part of the "religious right"?

Oh yeah I forgot. It's all "Bush's war" despite the fact that many democrats voted for it.

Ok, how about the Vietnam war? Was LBJ part of the "religious right"?

Or how about the Bosnian war? Was that the "religious right" in the form of Bill Clinton lashing out at Christian Serbia on behalf of Muslim Kosovo? (Oh yeah. Total air war. I forgot. It only counts if there's large loss of American lives.)

The reason I abandoned the left and signed up with a presidential candidate closely affiliated with the religious right on issues like abortion and is open about his Christianity (Ron Paul) is because I was sick of the hypocrisy of the "We're sort of against war but not really" left.

 

[idirtify]

But what is an atheist to do when this happens in such a crowd? Do you interrupt and say “sorry but this is not a religious event and there are people here who don’t believe in your god”? Or do you just say nothing and remain quiet until it’s over? This kind of thing actually happens a lot. I was at a high-school reunion and a classmate got up in front of everyone and asked for our attention (asked us to be quiet), and then asked us to stand. I thought it was going to be some kind of tribute to the recently passed or something, but then he broke out into prayer. He was simply leading us to pray before the meal. Of course everyone complied and bowed their heads in silence until he was done. But what is proper etiquette here? Are we supposed to be quietly respectful? Would it have been rude to interrupt him? If so, why? I mean if interrupting is rude, then he initiated the rudeness by previously interrupting EVERYONE. Is it rude to express disapproval of rudeness? I have a feeling that if his prayer had been to Allah rather than to Jesus, people’s manners would have not been quite so respectful.

 

[BlackTerrel]

The "Religious Right's" support for War and foreign aggression accosts us all, some more directly than others.

Therefore anyone who is a Christian bothers you. Can you be anti-war without pissing on someones religious beliefs? Not "you" specifically - but the people who seem to have such a problem with Christians in general.

BTW should I mention that Ron and Rand are Christians or will that lost him a couple votes here?

 

[BlackTerrel]

But what is an atheist to do when this happens in such a crowd? Do you interrupt and say “sorry but this is not a religious event and there are people here who don’t believe in your god”? Or do you just say nothing and remain quiet until it’s over? This kind of thing actually happens a lot. I was at a high-school reunion and a classmate got up in front of everyone and asked for our attention (asked us to be quiet), and then asked us to stand. I thought it was going to be some kind of tribute to the recently passed or something, but then he broke out into prayer. He was simply leading us to pray before the meal. Of course everyone complied and bowed their heads in silence until he was done. But what is proper etiquette here? Are we supposed to be quietly respectful? Would it have been rude to interrupt him? If so, why?

Yes it would have been rude. I do not get why an atheist would be upset at a Christian saying a prayer? How is that offensive?

I could even understand a Muslim or a Jew being offended if he said something that they did not believe in. But if you are atheist why would it be offensive to you?

 

[happyphilter]

But what is an atheist to do when this happens in such a crowd? Do you interrupt and say “sorry but this is not a religious event and there are people here who don’t believe in your god”? Or do you just say nothing and remain quiet until it’s over? This kind of thing actually happens a lot. I was at a high-school reunion and a classmate got up in front of everyone and asked for our attention (asked us to be quiet), and then asked us to stand. I thought it was going to be some kind of tribute to the recently passed or something, but then he broke out into prayer. He was simply leading us to pray before the meal. Of course everyone complied and bowed their heads in silence until he was done. But what is proper etiquette here? Are we supposed to be quietly respectful? Would it have been rude to interrupt him? If so, why? I mean if interrupting is rude, then he initiated the rudeness by previously interrupting EVERYONE. Is it rude to express disapproval of rudeness? I have a feeling that if his prayer had been to Allah rather than to Jesus, people’s manners would have not been quite so respectful.

If you are an atheist this isn't going against any of your "religious" beliefs, so how could this offend you? Even if it did, understand you are in the minority, grow some skin and deal with it.

I've been in crowds where I am the odd man out; recently was at a festive in Chicago where a jewish prayer was said. Did I get all flustered? No, I stood there and ACCEPTED that people have different beliefs. Accept it and move on(without crying about it).

 

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

Yes it would have been rude. I do not get why an atheist would be upset at a Christian saying a prayer? How is that offensive?

I could even understand a Muslim or a Jew being offended if he said something that they did not believe in. But if you are atheist why would it be offensive to you?

Yes, I was correct in my earlier assessment.

 

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

If you are an atheist this isn't going against any of your "religious" beliefs, so how could this offend you? Even if it did, understand you are in the minority, grow some skin and deal with it.

I've been in crowds where I am the odd man out; recently was at a festive in Chicago where a jewish prayer was said. Did I get all flustered? No, I stood there and ACCEPTED that people have different beliefs. Accept it and move on(without crying about it).

Why should an atheist have to follow religious ceremonies when they clearly do not believe in them? Likewise to Deists? Sorry, but it is NOT rude to not follow any of their ceremonies. Whenever I am attending events where it is thrust upon everyone I do not comply. It is simple as that. It's not rude. I would wager its rude to shove your ceremonies on those who don't believe. You would have a point if this happened in Church, or at a Church related event, but it wasn't. Is this a secular Nation, or not?

 

[Free Moral Agent]

 

[runningdiz]

That was just awkward. If I was the person holding that mic IDK if I would be able to hold back breaking out into laughter. That is soooo random.

 

[idirtify]

Yes it would have been rude. I do not get why an atheist would be upset at a Christian saying a prayer? How is that offensive?

I could even understand a Muslim or a Jew being offended if he said something that they did not believe in. But if you are atheist why would it be offensive to you?

Why would it have been rude?

Obviously you have ignored my points. Let me elaborate on them. I asked about the appropriate response to the prayer because:
It was rude – interrupted everyone for nothing related to the reunion;
It was presumptuous – assumed everyone in the room believed in Jesus;
It was contentious – as is any religious proclamation at a non-religious event;
It was out of line – a PUBLIC high school reunion is supposed to be a secular event.

All these also apply to the TP setting.

It wasn’t that I was actually “offended”, but being atheist certainly doesn’t imply a neutral attitude towards rude and irrational and provocative proclamations in such a setting. By comparison, you apparently think being religious includes a license to be offended. Why is that?

 

[Theocrat]

A Question

Why would it have been rude?

Obviously you have ignored my points. Let me elaborate on them. I asked about the appropriate response to the prayer because:
It was rude – interrupted everyone for nothing related to the reunion;
It was presumptuous – assumed everyone in the room believed in Jesus;
It was contentious – as is any religious proclamation at a non-religious event;
It was out of line – a PUBLIC high school reunion is supposed to be a secular event.

All these also apply to the TP setting.

It wasn’t that I was actually “offended”, but being atheist certainly doesn’t imply a neutral attitude towards rude and irrational and provocative proclamations in such a setting. By comparison, you apparently think being religious includes a license to be offended. Why is that?

Are you an "atheist," idirtify?