This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1364492
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1364492
Show me the Pastafarians!
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One of the largest injustices in America today is the twisting of the 1st Amendment protections of religious freedom into support for Christian militants and their conservative evangelical agenda that most Americans don’t believe or support. We are well past the point that the other major faiths in the country fight back against the Christian militants, who are doing everything they can to install a theocracy based on their neolithic views of how people should live. Hopefully this group can work to change things so that we get back to the idea that people are free to worship as they please, and that religion and government are separate entities.
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The only place in American society where racism, religious bigotry, misogyny, gay bashing and xenophobia are still accepted is Evangelical Christianity and through Evangelical Christianity into politics and governing.
With that said, Biden’s attempt to change this and make racism et al unacceptable to religion and stop it from passing through religion into politics and governing is both a smart political move and what is needed to move on from not only Trump but also Reagan and Bush politics.
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Just as they read the bible…very selectively…the bunch of “laying on hands” hypocrites read the Constitution to mean that they get to shove their nonsensical, illogical religious superstition down our throats …in the name of THEIR “Religious Freedom”.
There is never any mention of the Constitutionally guaranteed religious freedoms of the rest of us.
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Does anyone know the percent of atheists in this country. One thing I feel bad about Biden’s talking religion is it excludes atheists. I know, oxymoronic.
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Have you seen Ron Reagan’s commercial for the Freedom From Religion Foundation?
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The Biden administration will be well-equipped to dismantle efforts to use “religious freedom” as a sword rather than a shield.
How about we don’t use religion as a shield either? Like the tax-free status of religious organizations? Trump perverted his office with his support of white Christian Nationalists, but government has no business mixing with religion at all. Even with the best of intentions.
Where is my representation as a tax paying atheist on this taxpayer-funded “White House Faith Office?” Not even a token?
I guess people like me will just have to be happy with our status as second-class citizens, in a country that was ostensibly founded on freedom FROM religion in government. A damn shame it didn’t work out that way.
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Please check the religions of our Founding Fathers.
Deists much?
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And at least one atheist.
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The one undeniable fact that was proved by the overwhelming support by White Evangelicals for Donald Trump is that “values” in front of the word voter is and has always been code for race.
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In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.
From here:
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I think this is a good effort to exploit the delusions of religious people to our favor rather than leave them to be harvested by the arch-religious manipulators of the American right. If leftist theists can craft a worldview that allows skepticism of so-called religious messengers and the use of reason against right-wing fanatical views then it’s a step closer to said theists gradually awakening to the utter illogic of all religious dogma.
I know that promoting a religion-free society would be ideal, but this brings long-term gains and promotes the idea of challenging the highest religious authorities. If leftist theists can peel off a few percentage points, that can tip the balance in many elections.
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Chicago Archdiocese keeps closing and consolidating churches and schools because of plunging attendance, fewer priests, and plunging revenue.
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Thanks for reminding me. I saw it recently. I’ll look into it.
I just looked up a Pew Research poll. 69 percent of atheists are Dems.
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A point well-taken. And we should also recognize agnostics, deists, humanists, etc. many of whom conform their lives to responsible, respectful, and tolerant philosophies grounded in the beliefs that leading a moral, principled life need not be bound to the belief in a deity. It seems to me that representatives from these communities could make a valuable contribution to Biden’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
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A complete separation of church and state is needed.
Problem solved. Next.
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Although I do hear there’s a recent opening at Saint Sabina’s.
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