"you know it's a Myth"

[Perchoutofwater]

I see no reason for people to get upset with this. Is it in poor taste? Yes, but so are about half the things you see on a billboards these days.

[bpwallace49]

I see no reason for people to get upset with this. Is it in poor taste? Yes, but so are about half the things you see on a billboards these days.

 

Agreed.

[detlef]

Yukon, again, I did not say it was crapping on a religious holiday, Detlef did and I responded. Read better. Comprehned more.

 

So, pray tell, name one founding father that was not a christian?

Forgive the missing quotes. I meant to say "crapping on Xmas", because I also don't believe the billboard was.

[Yukon Cornelius]

Franklin, Davis et al, where raised in christian doctrine, and all believed in God. They questioned the diety of Christ, certainly. They did not however disregard the message of Christ, and in my opinion there values were very much based on christian values. Did they fit a strict definition of being a christian? No... but their values system was certtainly based on it. They questioned the deity of Christ. They believed in God. They basically believed in the christian definition of God as well. I guess that would make them unpronounced Jews? Close enough.

christian values are not patented to christian's alone they are values practiced and preached long before the cult of christ was born.

[wiegie]

Detlef said "crapping on XMAS" (another bastardization of a religious holiday, it's CHRISTmas, not XMAS)

Some background on xmas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas

[Kid Cid]

Frankly, it is about time something like this was done. As a rule, we are subjected to Christian "advertising" on a daily basis. Don't think so? Here in VA the McClain Bible Church literally runs advertisements on radio stations. Try driving by a church that doesn't have a little billboard of their own out from with something passing as a witty Christian saying. The list goes on.

 

People see it as an attack against Christianity and complain about people attacking their beliefs. Yet, an atheist is attacked continuously for their "lack of faith". (As an aside it isn't a lack of faith, but faith in reason, but that is an entirely different conversation). The ancient superstitions of all religions fear nothing more than people thinking for themselves and can't stand to have people speak out against their teachings, because all religions are taught, there is nothing innate about religious beliefs. Religions are continuously "at war", at least on an ideological level, with any belief system not their own. So for the atheists to stand up for themselves is certainly no different than any of the other propaganda being shoveled at us from those that do believe and a long time coming.

[detlef]

Our rights come from God, after all - not the Government. <--That is written in the Constitution.

 

Sorry, once again...

 

It has often been seen on the Internet that to find God in the Constitution, all one has to do is read it, and see how often the Framers used the words "God," or "Creator," "Jesus," or "Lord." Except for one notable instance, however, none of these words ever appears in the Constitution, neither the original nor in any of the Amendments. The notable exception is found in the Signatory section, where the date is written thusly: "Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven". The use of the word "Lord" here is not a religious reference, however. This was a common way of expressing the date, in both religious and secular contexts. This lack of any these words does not mean that the Framers were not spiritual people, any more than the use of the word Lord means that they were. What this lack of these words is expositive of is not a love for or disdain for religion, but the feeling that the new government should not involve itself in matters of religion. In fact, the original Constitution bars any religious test to hold any federal office in the United States.

 

So, there you have it. They never say god, Jesus, or creator at all and say "lord" once. In reference to the Christian calendar.

[Kid Cid]

Sorry, once again...

 

 

 

So, there you have it. They never say god, Jesus, or creator at all and say "lord" once. In reference to the Christian calendar.

It is difficult for one to question anything about a belief system so thoroughly ingrained in every fiber of their being.

[SEC=UGA]

I'm completely and utterly appalled that this isn't next to one of those pro-life billboards with the picture of the fetus that was just ripped outta the womb.

[detlef]

Next, some christian churches insist on believing every single thing in the bible as literal truth, like Adam and Eve. Other churches take the bible less literally, and believe in the bible as symbolic truth. The Catholic church does not deny the theory of eveolution for instance, although much earlier in the church's history they did accept the bible as literal truth, as fact in every way.

 

What I don't understand here is the motivation. I have to assume it is hate based. Someone hates christianity so much they are willing to pay for a billboard. Look, I shake my head at the far christian right too, the literal born agains and the "witnesses" but I don't get the idea behind trying to recruit and convert people to atheism. Religion only becomes a problem with the extremists, be they muslim, christian or whatever. Peace and tolerance is the foundation of any real religion, and what is wrong with that? This guy with the billboard seems to have a problem with it.

It was this quote and others that made me bring this up in the other thread. Isn't the bible the law? How is it that you can take the book that describes the world through Christian eyes, call yourself a Christian, and just pick and choose what parts to believe? Not that doing so would make you a bad person, but you'd think by definition it would make you not good at being a Christian.

 

None the less, since I got to this quote, I figured I'd re-address the bolded part. It's not about hate. It's about reducing the political power of the church. See, I understand that many Baptists would want to make it clear that they're not associated with that d-bag family who pickets funerals. So, just because that a-hole is around, doesn't mean they have to stop being baptists because he's ruining the name. However, many of us not in the church have a much harder time getting with people tolerating abominations committed by the main churches though. Earlier, you said this.

 

Most "practicing" christians also disagree with many of their chosen church's policies and politics. They typically embrace the root beliefs of those same churches.

 

Then why do people align themselves with them? I mean, a recent scandal has to do with the Vatican stonewalling investigations about child molestation and the Pope's own personal priest comparing people demanding the Pope not hide behind the church and answer questions to the Holocaust. This is not some goofball in Kentucky making a museum that shows people playing with dinosaurs, this is the freaking Vatican! And the main guy at the top!

 

So, as someone who does like the power that religious affiliation affords people, it is in my best interest that as few people as possible align themselves with it. Thus lessening the political power they hold. After all, when one of these goofball cults comes up on molestation charges, we go right to the top and drag their ass to court. When it's the Catholic Church? They tell us to shove it. And we do. And that's because of the number of people who lend legitimacy to that movement by being included in their numbers. Well, if there are people who don't like what the church is doing, or don't believe in most of what they say, but are just going along because their family is all in that religion, we'd like to encourage that person to stop being counted in those numbers. That if more people did this, perhaps any perceived societal pressure would wane and even more would leave. Then, the next time a "major" religion does something messed up, they won't be able to hide behind their church, because their church won't be as powerful.

 

At least that is this "Atheists" agenda.