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The court said, several times, that atheism is not a religion in the philosophical sense of believing in a system of faith. They did say that, for purposes of the first amendment, that the prisoner's desire to form an inmate atheist activity group, should be treated equivalently to requests to form a religious activity group.
The prison rules allow for different treatment of religious activity groups vs. non-religious activity groups. I think this underlying difference is wrong, but the court didn't go there.
We've had a couple of discussions on this over at the atheist forum. I don't like this decision because of the way it will be misused, as we see here. But I think the outcome is correct - if it's OK to have a baptist activity group, then it is OK to have an atheist study group.
As you note, the rules are reserved for the right to practice your religion.
Is spending the day complaining about atheists on Christmas a good way to be spending one's time? Seems to be the opposite of what a good Christian should be doing today....
Actually no, it's not logical to believe some creature in the sky created earth. In fact, it's a great example of mental disorder.
Again, you don't understand what logic is then. You shouldn't just claim that something is illogical without showing the fault in the logic. Some people have their reasons for believing that a higher power created the universe and it's not necessarily illogical that they hold that belief. They may lack information or knowledge that causes them to logically conclude that a magical being willed the world into being.
Imagine an orangutan living in a lab. Everyday he sees that lights in the lab are turned on by a switch. Because he has limited knowledge of the world, he decides that all lights are turned on by a switch. Then one night, he goes outside and peers into the sky and sees countless lights. He concludes that these lights must also be turned on by switches. He wonders who turns on these lights. He watches the lab workers flick switches but notices that no stars come out when this happens. He decides that there must be someone else unseen. He imagines that there must be some other lab where workers are flicking on switches every night to turn on the stars. In his mind, all lights are switched on. Stars are also lights, therefor stars must also be switched on. He drew a logical conclusion based on his limited knowledge.
Again, you don't understand what logic is then. You shouldn't just claim that something is illogical without showing the fault in the logic. Some people have their reasons for believing that a higher power created the universe and it's not necessarily illogical that they hold that belief. They may lack information or knowledge that causes them to logically conclude that a magical being willed the world into being.
Imagine an orangutan living in a lab. Everyday he sees that lights in the lab are turned on by a switch. Because he has limited knowledge of the world, he decides that all lights are turned on by a switch. Then one night, he goes outside and peers into the sky and sees countless lights. He concludes that these lights must also be turned on by switches. He wonders who turns on these lights. He watches the lab workers flick switches but notices that no stars come out when this happens. He decides that there must be someone else unseen. He imagines that there must be some other lab where workers are flicking on switches every night to turn on the stars. In his mind, all lights are switched on. Stars are also lights, therefor stars must also be switched on. He drew a logical conclusion based on his limited knowledge.
This argument is sound, but it really doesn't address religion. Religions are almost universally humanistic - they examine the human condition and seek answers to questions concerning death, good and evil. These cannot be answered logically, thus religious teachings refer to our emotions: love, hatred, greed, etc.
Logically, thinking a being came from nothing is identical to thinking the universe came from nothing.
As if any of us have the answer. You don't have the answer, no one here does. So don't tell me what to participate in.
Hmmm. An issue was posed, you responded with a proposition originating with some unspecified people, and you said you didn't understand it, so you can't explain what it meant.
Well, the proposition seemed a bit incoherent to me, but you have already said you don't understand it, so where should I go to find out what your "contribution" to the discussion means?????
Why exactly should anyone be impressed with your contribution? What has it added? Do you enjoy throwing monkey wrenches just because?
Howard had the misfortune of a falling ill on a Saturday in a country with socialized medicine, and no doctor could be found. “French doctors do seven surgeries a week, and after they do the seven surgeries, they take the weekend off,” he discovered.
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back atcha!
