Atheists of Florida’s legal coordinator charged sex crime

[Robert]

Before you say Atheist is not a religion, think why there needs to be a The Atheists of Florida’s organization in the first place.

Does the existence of a homeowners association make homeownership a religion too? What about the ironworkers' union; is ironworking a religion?

Yes, that wasn't really thought through, was it? :-D

 

[redrumloa]

Yes, that wasn't really thought through, was it? :-D

Correct, you and Fluffy didn't really think it through.

 

[cybereye]

Before you say Atheist is not a religion, think why there needs to be a The Atheists of Florida’s organization in the first place.

Does the existence of a homeowners association make homeownership a religion too? What about the ironworkers' union; is ironworking a religion?

Now FluffyMcDeath and redrumloa start to blur between religion and organization. Any form of organization is a group of people identified by a shared interest or purpose. Religion is a form of organization of institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

The sole purpose I can see for an atheist association is to promote the idea there is no god. That makes it religious in nature.

The idea that there IS a god is religious in nature. The idea that there isn't a god is not. The Communist party isn't Capitalist in nature simply for the reason that it opposes Capitalism.

The purpose of an atheist association is to promote the rights of atheists and protect them from the prejudices of the superstitious society they live in.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Religion is a form of organization of institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine.

I actually take a position closer to faethor's suggestion above. I personally hold that there is no such thing as an un-organized religion. Personal systems of belief fail to be religious of themselves because they are personal. To be a religion there must be a group that holds a common set of beliefs, that the group has laws and systems of enforcing those laws, and that the ultimate authority in the group should be ascribed to an entity or system that is beyond human reach so cannot be deposed by force.

By placing ultimate authority above the highest human authority in the hierarchy the leading human powers are protected since removal of the top humans would still leave the ultimate authority un-deposed.

However, the ultimate authority from which the top priests derive their power and protection is fictional and therefore open to a non-military attack which is the attack of reason. It is why there is so much religious teaching against knowledge and learning and so many admonishments to stay away from people who would say that the ultimate authority of the religion is fictional.

 

[cecilia]

Of course she's eeeeevil - she's one of them evil atheists!

So, this doesn't bother you?

She wanted to stop the neighbor's son from playing basketball, according to the affidavit.

I guess you'd have to be a parent to see what is wrong with this in reference to a 10 year old.

if I was annoying a neighbor my mother would have told me to come inside and stop acting like an idiot (although she wouldn't have used that word)

some people don't know how to parent

 

[faethor]

Before you say Atheist is not a religion, think why there needs to be a The Atheists of Florida’s organization in the first place.

Does the existence of a homeowners association make homeownership a religion too? What about the ironworkers' union; is ironworking a religion?

Now FluffyMcDeath and redrumloa start to blur between religion and organization. Any form of organization is a group of people identified by a shared interest or purpose. Religion is a form of organization of institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine.

What comprises a religion? Reward, rules, rituals, relationships, and values drived from or in concern of the Supernatural. And of course an organization. Since Atheism lacks everything that encompasses a religion, except for organization, it's clearly not a religion.

When we look at organizations I think Fluffy speaks for that here that having an organization is not mandated by having to be religious. Certainly the NRA or NAACP are organizations that are not religious and they have the same mandate as the 'Atheists of Florida' -- support the legislated rights of their members.

Of course there is CASH, the Church of American Secular Humanism established by Frank Zappa after a stupidly crazy Alabama Judge stated Atheists was a religion infultrating the School books. Any clue if the "Atheists of Florida" get to stay there tax free?

 

[cecilia]

Zappa is brilliant and funny

http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/index.php ... r_Humanism

Zappa paraphrased Oliver North, saying, "As a result of Judge Hand's finding on this matter, I sensed a need for the creation of an 'off-the-shelf, stand-alone, self-financing (religious) organization, capable of worldwide covert action.'

He also said, "If the Judge's ruling is struck down ... and, in fact, it should be, there is still a need for this church. The people of Our Faith refuse to be persecuted any longer by a fanatical fifth column, shoveling money in the direction of 'special friends' in Washington, D.C."

:mrgreen:

 

[Robert]

Yes, that wasn't really thought through, was it? :-D

Correct, you and Fluffy didn't really think it through.

What did we miss?