Secular Rebellion
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The truth is not as far out there as you might imagine.
Male
29 years old
ATHENS, Georgia
United States
Last Login: 1/19/2009
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Secular Rebellion's Interests
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| General | Watching the media lie, the government cheat, the evangelsits steal, and trying to make a little bit of sense from it.
 | | Music | "The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."
- Abraham Lincoln, American president (1809-1865).
 | | Movies | The unprotected minority
It has come to my attention and the attention of many of you I am sure, that we as non-theists are being discriminated against both covertly and overtly in our day to day lives. Whether it is in the realm of employment, social life, military service, holding public office, or elsewhere- we are an unprotected minority.
According to the Civil Rights Act of 1964: ..SEC. 201. (a) All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin...
But we as Atheists enjoy a unique type of discrimination. It is our LACK of religion that makes us the target of so many, and some people read the law as such that we have no protection whatsoever when targeted for our beliefs. In 2003, a discrimination lawsuit was filed in Tennessee by atheist Carletta Sims, against her employer Associates Commerce Solutions was dismissed because it was 2 Baptist employees and not senior management that made the work environment for Ms. Sims hostile. Those employees are still in their positions, and Ms. Sims was not offered her job back.
What is worse than discrimination in the private sector is BLATANT state-sponsored discrimination. The type of language used in the state constitutions of Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee contain language expressly promoting discrimination against Atheists. Right there in black and white, flying in the face of the United States Constitution these states saw fit to promote their religious agendas through prejudice and persecution.
This has got to stop. We are in the year 2006, in supposedly the most free country in the world and we are being targeted. If you are black, gay, Muslim, paralyzed, Jewish, Pakistani, or any multitude of minorities and you are faced with blatant discriminatory practices it can be considered a hate crime. But if you are an Atheist... it is business as usual.
Please pass this along- there are too many that do not realize how extensive the problem is. Hopefully by learning more about this problem, we can become a part of the solution.
Here are the examples of the illegal and immoral clauses in certain state constitutions, and how they go against our national constitution.
THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
Article VI, Clause 3
"... but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
Amendment I
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"
And here is what the states have to say.
Maryland Declaration of Rights, Article 36
"That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion, or profession, or for his religious practice, unless, under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent, or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain, any place of worship, or any ministry; nor shall any person, otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; ***provided, he believes in the existence of God***, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefore either in this world or in the world to come."
Massachusetts' State Constitution, Article 3
"Any every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves peaceably, and as good subjects of the commonwealth, shall be equally under the protection of the law: and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law."
Apparently Non-Christians and Atheists are not "equally under the protection of the law".
The following are especially disturbing.
Arkansas State Constitution, Article 19 Section 1 ("Miscellaneous Provisions")
No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any court.
Mississippi State Constitution. Article 14 ("General Provisions"), Section 265
No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office in this state.
North Carolina's State Constitution, Article 6 Section 8
"Disqualifications of office. The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God."
Pennsylvania's State Constitution, Article 1 Section 4
"No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth."
South Carolina's State Constitution, Article 4 Section 2
"No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor who denies the existence of the Supreme Being; ..."
Tennessee's State Constitution, Article 9 Section 2
"No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state."
Texas' State Constitution, Article 1 Section 4
"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."
***This SPECIFICALLY targets Atheists. Bush..s home state. Go figure.
 | | Television | "I'm glad some people have that faith. I don't have that faith. If there is a God, a caring God, then we have to figure he's done an extraordinary job of making a very cruel world."
-Dave Matthews
"Faith is the commitment of one's consciousness to beliefs for which one has no sensory evidence or rational proof. A mystic is a man who treats his feelings as tools of cognition. Faith is the equation of feeling with knowledge. "
-Ayn Rand
"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies."
-Benjamin Franklin
"They know that it is human nature to take up causes whereby a man may oppress his neighbor, no matter how unjustly. ... Hence they have had no trouble in finding men who would preach the damnability and heresy of the new doctrine from the very pulpit."
-Galileo Galilei
"So long as the priest, that professional negator, slanderer and poisoner of life, is regarded as a superior type of human being, there cannot be any answer to the question: What is truth?"
"The Christian faith from the beginning, is sacrifice: the sacrifice of all freedom, all pride, all self-confidence of spirit; it is at the same time subjection, a self-derision, and self-mutilation."
-Frederich Nietzsche
"There is so much in the bible against which every insinct of my being rebels, so much so that I regret the necessity which has compelled me to read it through from beginning to end. I do not think that the knowledge I have gained of its history and sources compensates me for the unpleasant details it has forced upon my attention."
-Helen Keller
"What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy."
-President James Madison | | Books | 
| | Heroes | God vs. the Loch Ness Monster
If I were to come up to you on the street with a pamphlet claiming the existence of the Loch Ness Monster as hard fact, and DEMAND that you abandon your theories to the contrary or you would be devoured by the spiteful wrath of Nessie... chances are that you would think me an absolute moron, and perhaps a tinge unstable. But the same type of thing happens on the streets of my city, Athens, Georgia and around the world every day.
You see, today I was assailed by a gentleman in a secondhand suit with colorful pamphlets crying out eternal damnation to the soul of the man that doesn't accept Jesus Christ, and therefore GOD as solid fact and truth.
This fellow was allowed to harass and harangue passerby at will, and actually had developed a cadre of likeminded types around him, slinging pamphlets like Kinko's was having a sale or something. This struck me as the strangest thing I have seen in recent times, and let me tell you why.
In order to understand why I think this fellow is off his rocker, and the people assisting him here were REALLY a little nuts, let's do a little comparison. For the sake of argument, let's compare god, and in this instance the christian god- to the Loch Ness Monster for a moment, and see which a rational minded human being would put more faith in.
Two thousand years ago, in a hardly literate and primitive culture in the middle east, there came a man who claimed to have been born from the womb of a virgin. Being a dad myself, I know how babies get born, and it's not by virginity, lemme tell you that. This man walked around teaching the people of the day to do things such as not commit adultery* and to throw rocks at their children for disobedience.** Then, when the government of the time got tired of him teaching such things and starting a cult, he was killed in a public display of the power of the ruling powers that be. Not unlike a fellow that had the same things to say was killed right here in America in Waco, Texas in 1993. Governments don't change a whole lot over time it seems.
The teachings of this man were documented many years, even centuries later by several authors, and then retranslated, edited and put together into a volume of 66 books. Which was then edited further by a fellow named King James, and the whole mess was then bound in a single compilation of accounts suitable to be left in the nightstand at the Holiday Inn. Fast forward 2 milleniums. Here we have people, millions of otherwise sane and respectable people, our pamphlet hander among them- accepting this book as law. As well as thinking less of me because I do not. And going so far as to threaten me and my "soul" (something else there's never been a picture of) with horrible repercussions after I'm dead and gone. The nerve of that guy! It's one thing to threaten to kick someone's ass, it's a far worse thing to threaten to have an invisible man kick my invisible soul's ass, after I'm dead and cremated.
Well in the case of the Loch Ness Monster, EIGHTY years ago there was *photographic* evidence of the beast, and there have been hundreds of photos and videos which could appear to depict a dinosaur-like creature. There have been sonar recordings of what appeared to be a sea serpent, there have been numerous books written by the *actual witnesses* to such a creature- in their own language. There is concrete and indisputable evidence of fossil record of creatures known as "plesiosaurs" which were ancient water-dwelling dinosaurs resembling the fabled beast. You can see examples of which at the Smithsonian and various other museums.
And you probably think the notion of the Loch Ness Monster is utter bullshit. I know I do. The idea of a leftover dinosaur in some lake in Scotland is pretty damned absurd, and even though there is PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE of such a critter, I am not impressed enough to take it as gospel. And the funny thing is, our friend the pamphlet hander wouldn't even believe in such a tale, even though there's far more concrete evidence of a lake monster than of his invisible god.
Yet, if I ran down and made some copies of a Loch Ness monster pamphlet, and swore up and down that if you didn't trust your entire life to Nessie that it would come in the night and eat you alive... I would be hauled off to the looney bin.
Think for a second people. I don't care what your parents told you. I don't care what the preacher told you. Step back and THINK for a minute. Think about the notion that there is an invisible force which could make itself known, but chooses not to, which has a hand in everything you do, everything you think, and everything you feel. that doesn't work for the department of Homeland Security.
An invisible force that made up some rules that are being broken all the time, yet they choose to not enforce them. The cops don't even do that. An invisible force, that according to their own book doesn't want men to have long hair, but who's prophet is always depicted with a sweet mullet?***
Think for a second. Even though it is ingrained in our culture, and the cultures of the world over, it sounds pretty far-fetched, doesn't it?
*"If a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death" (Lev.20:10)
** "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother ... all the men of the city shall stone him with stones, that he die ...." (Dt. 21:18, 21)
*** Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, (1 Corinthians 11:14)
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Secular Rebellion's Details
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| Status: | Single | | Religion: | Atheist | | Zodiac Sign: | Aquarius | | Income: | $250,000 and Higher |
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Secular Rebellion's Latest Blog Entry
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God vs. the Loch Ness Monster.
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Cockroaches and Ladybugs
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Another landmark day in politics.
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A fine day in politics.
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Raise up and get yo' vote on.
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Secular Rebellion's Blurbs |
About me:
The world in which we live is guided by an invisible hand. Literally. Every concept that is in play in our United States is driven and guided by the vile force of religion. Our presidents place their hands on bibles when swearing to defend a nation which supposedly has legislation separating church and state, there are wars being waged on foreign soil spilling the blood of many in the guise of serving democracy, but all the while furthering the Judeo/Christian agenda. We are applying economic and military pressure to truly secular and sovereign nations. And all because many of our citizens walk forward through life believing in an unproven faith, a blind faith in an imaginary god. It is time to help to change that, to end our wars, end our violence againt each other, end the pedophilia and malice that pervades the churches... it is time to open the eyes.
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Who I'd like to meet:
Kim Il Sung, Richard Dawkins, Jesus Christ, Penn Gilette, George Carlin, Mao Zedung, The Pope, George Jacob Holyoake, L. Ron Hubbard, Abraham Lincoln, Aldous Huxley, Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan...
and YOU.
Short video debunking "God's Plan"
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Bursting the bubble of delusion.
>..>
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