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Attorney: 'Height of Idiocy' for Court to Declare Atheism a Religion

by Allie Martin
August 23, 2005

(AgapePress) - A federal appeals court has sided with a Wisconsin prison inmate who claimed his constitutional rights were violated with officials would not allow him to create a study group for atheists.

In it ruling, the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Wisconsin prison officials were mistaken when they did not recognize atheism as a religion. The court stated that atheism is inmate's religion and that the group he wished to start "was religious in nature even though it expressly rejects a belief in a supreme being."

Brian Fahling is an attorney with the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy. Fahling says the ruling makes no sense.

"Even by the prisoner's own admission, atheism is the antithesis of religion," the attorney notes, "and so to have the court now give protection to atheism -- the enemy of religion, if you will -- under a clause designed to protect religion ultimately is absolutely the height of idiocy as far as I'm concerned."

According to Fahling, the nation's highest court has made such rulings possible.

"The ruling isn't surprising because I think the Supreme Court ultimately has given us an Establishment Clause jurisprudence that is utterly incoherent," he says. "And to the degree one can gain any coherence from it, that coherence is found in ... an acute hostility to religion. And how much more hostile can you get than to give protection of the enemy of religion under a clause designed to protect religion?"

Fahling says it is difficult not be "somewhat jaundiced" about the nation's courts when they take clauses that are intended to protect religion, then "turn them on their head" to protect a belief system not commonly held to be a religion -- while at the same time prohibiting public expressions of true religious faith.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.

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(My Note:  Just when you think that you've heard it all!)

Phil -
Just between you, me and the mouse in my pocket, I've always thought of atheism as a 'religion'.  Atheists have a lot of faith that there is no hell.

Wiccans are allowed, by law, to practice their "faith" whether it be in the armed forces or prisons.  Why not let atheists practice their faith(lessness).  Only; they will have to begin calling it a religion.  That will raise the hackles of more than a handfull of the faithless.  

Where is the ACLU?  Aren't they going to help this lost soul practice his faith(lessness), or will they be no-shows to an event that may label the godless ACLU lawyers as 'religious'?  Are we detecting anything hypocritical, here?  A double standard?  Is the ACLU covertly determining what is religion and what isn't?  The ACLU is quick to protect the atheist at the expense of the majority - how far are they willing to go?

I bet NOT FAR.

This may be the 'Height of Idiocy' but it could be fun to watch how it plays out.  I'd be disappointed to see this story die.  It could be very entertaining to see and hear the godless debating religion against the godless.

Larry calling Curly a moron. Why do I get so much satisfaction that?

I guess maybe I again need to pray for humility, along with Christ's strength as He cleared the temple....
 :)
JN

JN,

I think that you're having way to much fun with this.  ;) :D :D

I think he is, as well. ;D ;) ;D

 ;D

Ther is a reality in the fact atheism is a religion. I would argue that you see far more athiest evangelists then you do Christian and they are very good at argueing their lost cause. atheism is a religion as much as meism is . So do your part and evangelize when you hear them

Atheism is NOT a religion in a conventional sense.

Amen dcyple. Atheism is a doctrine, a belief that there is no God. Atheists are convicted that this is truth. They hold to this belief with ardor and complete faith that they are right.



doctrine =  something that is taught b : a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief

Taken from the online Merriam-Webster dictionary =  a disbelief in the existence of deity b : the doctrine that there is no deity.

Change the negative statement above to a positive statement (the meaning stays the same) a belief that there is no deity.

belief = 1 : a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing
2 : something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group
3 : conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence
synonyms BELIEF, FAITH, CREDENCE, CREDIT mean assent to the truth of something offered for acceptance. BELIEF may or may not imply certitude in the believer <my belief that I had caught all the errors>. FAITH almost always implies certitude even where there is no evidence or proof <an unshakable faith in God>. CREDENCE suggests intellectual assent without implying anything about grounds for assent <a theory now given credence by scientists>. CREDIT may imply assent on grounds other than direct proof <gave full credit to the statement of a reputable witness>


religion =  a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

-ism = a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory


It all sounds the same.