"Thank God for dead soldiers."

“Thank God for dead soldiers.” –Westboro Baptist Church

 We limit individual liberties all the time. If you commitmurder or steal, you will be forced into prison. If you organize a rally thatinfluences hate crimes, you will be silenced. The aim seems to be to preventsome from injuring others by limiting their liberties (i.e., limiting theirability to injure others). This is an interesting case because thesefundamentalists are not injuring anyone; they’re just stressing thememotionally. (And the fine line emerges.) If you interpret public mourning to bea protected liberty, or having emotional stress as an infringement on one’sliberty, then these fundamentalists would be committing a crime. However, if inother cases you would interpret the receiving party as just being overlysensitive, then how is that any different than this?

 

Why I despise religion.

Evolution is so clear. We are attracted to foods that arefatty, salty, and sweet. We evolved to have these tastes because these types offood are rich in nutrients and will help us live through the famine. We avoidfoods that are bitter or sour. These tastes tend to represent toxins that areharmful. It is so easy. I look at everything around me and it all makes sense.If I were religious, I would not have this insight. Instead, when even in theface of such obvious facts, I would strive to find a way to refute it. I wouldlie to myself, only listen to others who tell me what I want to hear, andmaintain my ignorance. I could never see something for what it truly is.

I don’t despise all who are religious. I just despise thepeople who pick and choose their religion. The people who say they’re Catholic,will fight someone who speaks out against Christianity, but don’t even go tochurch every Sunday. That confuses me. I hate people in power who use religionto take advantage of others. And I especially hate how religion teaches peopleto not ask questions, to not question authority, and rely on faith, which wasinvented by someone else for some purposeful reason, over logic and reason.

God in the Pledge of Allegiance

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 

 

 Schools across the U.S. continue to focus on political correctness. In an attempt to avoid future conflict, they become more sensitive. For this reason, they now allow students to refrain from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, or schools even choose not to recite it at all. All over that little line, "one nation under God."

 

"I grew up reciting this every morning in school; it is a shame we no longer do that for fear of...offending someone."

 

A typical from-the-gut response. Who are these people (presumably non-Christian God believers or even atheists) to tell us what to do, especially if it's something that we've always done. It's not like anything the majority has agreed to be the norm has ever been incorrect in the past (like racial segregation).

 

You may have recited the Pledge of Allegiance that way, but your father and his father and forever before that never did. It was purposely left out. It was purposely avoided, as religion should be in government. 

From 1924 to 1954, it was worded:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

It was not until a group of fanatical Christians got a hold of it, and by using fear (as usual), persuaded the majority to believe something that just was not true—that this is a Christian or ever was a Christian country. People use that line “One land under God. It says it right there!” as an argument for that, but it was entirely a political ploy to rally citizens against the evil, atheist, Russia during the Cold War. 

So when people use this as an argument for "They are taking our rights away from us." "They" are actually those self-centered religious folk who took it away from us. If I do not practice a particular religion, why must I see "In God We Trust" on every dollar bill? Could you imagine the Christian response if the decision was to replace that with "In Allah We Trust" or "In Dionysus We Trust?" They would be outraged. So, I ask: How is that any different than how I should feel to "In God We Trust" if I do not believe in your Christian God? I say to all the religious individuals who choose to go against our great Constitution: Go somewhere else. Move to a place where your egocentric views can flourish. Let me assure you that this is not that place. The protection of liberty was established long before "In God We Trust."