Why do some Atheists get so upset about the public display of religious symbols?

Question

If you really don't believe in God, and think it is a bunch of B.S.,, why would you want to take ten commandments out a Court House.

I bet no one on this forum believes in Nemesis the Greek Goddess of Justice, but no one is going to go over to the Court House and demand they pull down all those statues of the blind-folded lady with the sword and scales. (That's the Goddess)

The Courts are not enforcing Ancient Greek laws nor are they enforcing Ancient Hebrew laws. Why is one ancient symbol acceptable and the other is not?

I bet you don't believe in Monsters or Ghosts but I don't see people demanding that Halloween decorations be banned from public schools.

You might even think that the belief in Ghosts and Monsters is an unheathy thing to promote, but No one turns up to protest an elementary school production of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

Why is an elementary school Christmas pagent different?

If God is just a mere absurdity like talking bunnies why would it matter if a Bible was in a public school library? No one is out there demanding that all the copies of "Peter Rabbit" be removed from public view.

I don't believe in Santa. I even think that promoting the belief in Santa is counter-productive to a child's development. But, I don't fly into a foaming rage when I pass Santa's Village at the Mall. Why do Atheists get so upset at sidewalk preachers?

I am just as free to ignore Jesus as I am to ignore Ghosts and Goblins. Why should I be bothered by someone using their freedom of sspeech to talk about either one?

Answer 1

While I will defend you right to express your beliefs, to have religious items displayed on your lawn and to gather and worship as you wish I will fight against you using public lands for religious purposes.  I take the separation of church and state seriously.  

Answer 2

Same reason why Christians hate it when they see my arms covered in my Satanic tattoos or when I wear my Satanic Army t-shirt.  They can ignore it but they dont.

Answer 3

Men hate God without cause

Answer 4

I bet you are wrong about no one believing in Nemesis for starters

but ok I am not Atheist , but I do not feel that there should be any religious symbols in public buildings such as court houses

the two have nothing to do with each other

Answer 5

They would have all mention of the God of the Bible destroyed because inbuilt in their hearts is a knowledge that there is a God and therefore a judgement, and they don't want to be reminded about where they are going when they die.

Psalm 14:1  ....The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

Answer 6

They believe in free speech.......as long as you agree with them.  

Answer 7

Why do some christians get so upset when two men kiss? Or if I had a buddha statue in my yard?

Answer 8

Most of us don't have a problem with public displays of religious symbols, as long as they aren't on government/state buildings or properties. And it isn't just atheists...once AGAIN one of YA's great minds replaces "religion" with "Christianity." If I were a follower of Judaism or islam, I'd be upset with a nativity scene at my local public school too.

It's about keeping religion and government separate. I have yet to meet an atheist who protests the baby jesus in a church or privately owned residence or company.

Answer 9

They are agents of Satan and want to destroy faith in Jesus Christ and God.  Simple as that.  It is the only possible explanation.

Did you ever notice that if you catch someone lying or doing something wrong, they get real angry, but if you accuse them and they are innocent, they will not get angry, but calmly explain why you are wrong?

Of course, this is not a 100% fool proof method, but generally it is true.

Answer 10

Because this is the 21st century!  Not the sixteenth!  Magical beings have no place in schools or government.

And we don't care about Peter Rabbit being shown in public, because no one is trying to make laws based on Peter Rabbit or insisting that science classes teach that rabbits talk and wear human clothing because they "believe" it and think that "all views" should be taught.

Same thing with the Greek goddess...no one is trying to claim that she is REAL and that you need to devote your life to her and obey her. And the day that someone tries to include claims that a woman can turn into a goose which then lays an egg that hatches into a human into our children's science classes, we'll have an issue with that, too.

Answer 11

Well, Mr Bitter?

Would you care to invite an atheist to speak to your congregation on the values of Evolution, and The Big Bang Theory?????

Mr. Bitter  'No'!!

Gigi:::''You wouldn't???  Oh, come on! Why not''??

Mr Bitter:::   ''  Because that is not the appropriate place for such conversations''????

Oh, I see your point!!!

DO YOU SEE MINE????

Answer 12

I am not an atheist, I believe in God.

However, I do not want to see one predominant religious symbol everywhere I go. I think it is rude and unfair. If you want to have your religious signs and what not - go ahead. But so should the Hindus, Muslims, Jews, JWs, etc.  

Answer 13

Actually, I'm largely in agreement with you.  I don't even mind if school includes "Silent Night" in its "Holiday" assembly.  And I don't get upset when people wish me a Merry Christ mass.  However, your primary analogy is a little specious.  If there were a chance that because of the statue of Nemesis in front of a Courthouse, that a reconstructionist Hellenist polytheist might receive preferential treatment, we should probably think twice about that statue.  However, there is little chance of that.  Is there a chance that A SPECIFIC JUDGE who requests that a monument of the ten commandments be placed within the courthouse might be somehow biased in favor of people of faith?  Yeah, maybe.  

As with most things, we should try to generalize as little as possible and consider the specifics of each case or issue as they arise.

Answer 14

I don't care if private citizens display religious symbols on private property, and are maintained by their private funds.

However, if these religious symbols are displayed on public lands, on public buildings, supported and maintained by public tax funding, I have an inherent problem with my money being spent this way.  Our laws provide for the separation of church and state.  We should abide by our laws.

If you think my position is extreme, compare it to the position of christians if we start displaying hindu gods in our public buildings, and reciting the pledge of allegiance to the hindu gods in our schools.

Answer 15

You are Fabulous

Answer 16

It's not just atheists who care.  Anyone who cares about the U.S. Constitution is against it.  America is a constitutional republic, not a christian theocracy.

Discovery Institute's Wedge Document

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/H...

Discovery Institute's "Wedge Project" Circulates Online

http://www.infidels.org/secular_web/feat...

Wedge Strategy of the Christian Right: Pushing Religion in the Guise of Science

http://atheism.about.com/b/a/231021.htm

Christian Right Driving Wedge Into U.S.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/2...

Bible Classes in Public Schools: What's the Real Motivation?

http://atheism.about.com/b/2007/08/07/bi...

Conquering by Stealth and Deception

http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/...

Evangelical Christian "Cancer" in America's Air Force & Military

http://atheism.about.com/b/2007/11/15/ev...

Kill Or Convert, Brought To You By the Pentagon

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pi...

Gingrich's War on 'Secularism'

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/05210...

QUOTES AGAINST THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE

(and other choice quotes from religious leaders...)

http://www.ethicalatheist.com/docs/separ...

.

Answer 17

i dont go to church (well maybe 5 or 6 time a year) but i dont think im an atheist either - idk if there is a god yet so idk i guess im lost -- but signs dont bother me

Answer 18

The association of religion with the authority of the state is what makes this wrong. Courthouses are especially inappropriate places for display of religious views. Since our society is reluctant to challenge religious ideas, it is a bad idea to try to win points by using the power of the government to shelter one person's views. The issue is the use of the power of the government to sponsor one religious view over others.

Answer 19

When a court, an instrument of justice, writes the words 'thou shalt have no other gods before me', is it not reasonable to question the neutrality of the court?

Answer 20

From now on I will walk around with no trousers and underpants on.

I display my mark wherever I go, and nobody will be able to protest, because I have gone to the patent office and make it my personal religious symbol.

I will push it in the face of every Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist I see.

Now... isn't that totally offensive? So why must I be forced to read the garbage posted outside churches on my public roads? Witness my tax dollars going into their pockets?

Religion of all kinds is highly offensive to me, just as my backside would be offensive to you.

let's make a deal - you quietly, discreetly and privately have your relationship with God, I will quietly, discreetly and privately walk the streets with a backside attached to me.

Answer 21

"why would you want to take ten commandments out a Court House."

Because a court house is a government building, and the government isn't allowed to endorse any religion.

EDIT:

"I bet you'll leave the statues of the Greek Goddess in the Courthouse,, why the discrimination?"

A work of art is a bit different then a religious doctrine (the Ten Commandments). Greek statures promote good taste in art, the Ten Commandments promote Judeo-Christianity.

Let me put it this way: If the Courts took down the Ten Commandments from all the Courthouses and put symbols or scriptures from Wicca, Buddhism or Islam, Christian groups across the country would be fighting to take them down, just like Atheists were with the Ten Commandments.

Answer 22

When I become a judge this will go up in my courtroom.  Let's see how it turns out.  Why should I judge a man who has killed his insubordinate child?

9 " 'If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.

10 " 'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

11 " 'If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.  

Answer 23

I also feel it is an endorsement of religion in a place where we are to expect quite the opposite.

Answer 24

Non-believers see religious symbols as a reminder of their own mortality and that they have not prepared themselves to answer to Our God in Heaven once our earthly-years have come to an end.

Edit : Did Mother hit a nerve?

Answer 25

First, as a librarian and an atheist, a bible should be in a public school library.  There also should be a Koran, as well as the basic texts of all major religions.  That's for informational purposes  A lot of people believe in that stuff, it's altered the course of history, and much literature is based on the bible. Learning about a religion is entirely different from believing in it.  

Now, here is the difference between, say, Santa Claus and Jesus.  Nobody worships Santa.  Nobody over the age of about 7 thinks he's real, talks to him, calls him their best friend, believes they're going to see Santa after they're dead, etc.  To my atheist mind, there is no difference, but in a societal sense, they are quite different.  I'm sure you can see that and are being deliberately dense to make a point.  

(And, you might be interested to know that many "Christian" children are now forbidden to celebrate Halloween, so look for that to disappear from public schools pretty soon.)  

What I usually tell people who have difficulty in understanding the objection to religious (almost always Christian) displays in public places is to simply suggest that Allah be substituted for God or Jesus, and that passages from the Koran be used instead of Biblical quotations.  Can you honestly say that wouldn't bother you?  If you think it's nonsense, what's the problem?

And I'll vote for the first politican who can end a speech without saying, "God bless you, and God bless America."  What's that got to do with politics?  

Answer 26

I didn't realize how many courthouses across the country were being forced to remove the ten commandments, as this search shows. Blame it on old judge Roy, who was such a fanatic about having it in the rotunda of the Alabama courthouse that he got the 'separation of church and state' folks up in arms.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=ten%20c...