Athiests make up about 3% of the population of this country. The vast majority of the US population believes in some kind of deity. Furthermore, we’ve had God as part of our nation since before it was a nation. It is part of our national heritage, with many Christian principles enshrined in the Constitution itself.

The First Amendment is there to prevent the federal government from setting up a “Church of America” scenario similar to what had been done in England during the time that the American colonies were forming. Christians who refused to follow the official religion of England could be thrown in jail, so the framers of the Constitution, in their wisdom, had enough sense to do whatever they could to restrain the federal government from going down this path.

Other than that, however, the framers were perfectly comfortable with religion, even the ones who didn’t really follow Christianity all that closely. So, unfortunately for you, you are going to have to live with some of the symbols of God around you.

I think you’ll be able to bear up.

Thanks,

David

How about buddhism?

Atheists have to put up with God being on our money. Is that fair? C’mon, it is you guys who are pushing stuff down our throats all the time! Ten Commandments in government buildings? No thanks.

I don’t want the Quran shoved in my face, let alone your bible.

Actually, you know little, then, of the anti-slavery movement in America. Some of the earliest and strongest opponents of slavery were Christians. In England, it was William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian, who decided to make it his life’s work to end slavery.

Between 1787 and 1807 Wilberforce campaigned tirelessly for a legislated end to the British slave trade, a part of the economy financially analogous to our defense industry today. He introduced the measure again and again, and repeatedly his “perennial resolution” was defeated by moneyed interests that supported political leaders.

But in 1807, the vote went in his favor 287 to 16, an event historian G. M. Trevelyan called “one of the turning events in the history of the world.”

The fact is, the Bible does not condone slavery, it does acknowledge its existence and, for ancient Israel, required the mandatory freeing of all slaves every seven years, the year of “Jubilee.”

So, let me ask, what has athiest thought been over the decades or centuries regarding the practice of slavery? Were there athiest organizations that, like so many Christian organizations, actively opposed slavery?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks,

David

David