Wow, what is to gain? Well, faith is illogical, so atheists are promoting the use of reason. Usually that also means science. We get to discard the strange rules of the past that allow for slavery and treating women like property. We can eliminate the idea of a cosmic thought police, that makes us more free. We won't be controlled by any church hierarchy with false authority. Atheism isn't a religious system. If we want to create a good society, we will just have to make it up. There are some general guidelines promoted by secular humanists, but atheism in itself is simply the rejection of the idea of god. The USA is a fine (OK, somewhat flawed) example of a Constitutional Republic based on secular values.
For the past 8 years or so. The United Church of Christ was the first church in the US to perform same sex marriage. Since then more and more churches perform them. A few quotes from Wikipedia: In 1778, Thomas Jefferson wrote a law in Virginia which contained a punishment of castration for men who engage in sodomy, however, what was intended by Jefferson as a liberalization of the sodomy laws in Virginia at that time was rejected by the Virginia Legislature, which continued to prescribe death as the maximum penalty for the crime of sodomy in that state. Prior to 1962, sodomy was a felony in every state, punished by a lengthy term of imprisonment and/or hard labor. . . . The harshest penalties were in Idaho, where a person convicted of sodomy could earn a life sentence. Michigan followed, with a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment while repeat offenders got life.
Atheist, what's wrong with these Atheists today, Atheists, they just won't effen go away, Why can't they be like I am, perfect in every way, Oh what the hells wrong with Atheists today, God botherers, they talk and talk until their face is blue, God botherers they are forever telling you what to do, Why can't they be like we are, perfect in every way, Oh God help the effen God botherers I say,
arauca So you have a right to be a bigot based on your religious beliefs? And your right to be a bigot trumps a homosexual's right to marry whomever he loves? And his/her marriage is an attack on your religious rights? You do not have the right to impose your narrow, offensive religious views on others, period. If someone else's freedom causes you pain, TOUGH CRAP. GrumpyPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Pointing out ignorance, bigotry, hatred, intolerance, etc. is gained by showing that beliefs in gods leads to these negative traits that affect our societies in negative ways, usually in the form of causing conflict.
There are still sodomy laws in about 60-70 countries worldwide that make consensual homosexual acts illegal, and probably over half of these countries the law is specifically relating to men only. I know in the UK it became illegal in 1533 (Henry VIII) where it was a capital offence. It was not made entirely legal (at least if only 2 men with no others present) until 1967, and in the Isle of Man not until 1992. Oscar Wilde was famously convicted of it, as was Alan Turing (both for gross indecency, i think). Just browse the website for news and you'll see cases in Islamic countries, African nations etc, with a case in Cameroon on 2 men jailed for "looking gay", although they were later acquitted.
The truth shall set you free. Without an alien overlord to dictate "rules to live by", we're responsible to our own consciences.
My religion does not have any thing to do as how I feel I express my self according to how I have been brought up and how the environment was here when I come to this country. I am sure people of my age do not simpatize with what is going on now
Please post the case ; Prior to 1962, sodomy was a felony in every state, punished by a lengthy term of imprisonment and/or hard labor. . . . The harshest penalties were in Idaho, where a person convicted of sodomy could earn a life sentence. Michigan followed, with a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment while repeat offenders got life
Those are not cases. They are historical laws. However, here are a few examples for you: In 1924 the first gay rights society, called "The Society for Human Rights" was founded in Chicago. The cops noticed this and started watching the meetings; when the people came out of the meetings they'd arrest them all for sodomy. The society was disbanded after most of their members had been arrested. In 1957 in Idaho, police staged a "sting" to try to arrest gay people. They questioned 1,500 people, arrested sixteen, and sentenced fifteen men to prison. Sentences ranged from six months to life in prison. In 1967 police raided the Black Cat Tavern in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve. They beat several people very badly, and arrested 13 patrons and 3 bartenders. The crime they were accused of? The cops saw them kissing. In 1969 police raided the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan and arrested 13 people, most of whom were transvestites. This time the crime was "dressing like women."
So you convinced me there were abuses , last on is about 44 years ago. Lets get back to the post about atheist and their objective .
No, last one was this spring, actually. ==================== Gay men are still being arrested for being gay in Louisiana By Keith Wagstaff | July 30, 2013 At least a dozen men have been arrested by the East Baton Rouge sheriff's office in Louisiana since 2011 for agreeing to have consensual sex with an undercover male officer, according to a report by The Advocate newspaper. These men weren't handing over money or having sex in a public place. Instead, they were arrested under Louisiana's anti-sodomy law, despite the fact that such laws were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2003 in Lawrence v. Texas. The most recent case discovered by The Advocate involved a 65-year-old man who was approached by an undercover cop earlier this month in a park. The police officer, who denied he was a cop, reportedly asked if the man wanted to go back to the man's apartment for "some drinks and some fun." After the man agreed and led the officer back to his apartment, he was arrested for an attempted "crime against nature." Similar stings had been conducted by the sheriff's office even after the district attorney refused to prosecute them. Its rationale for the arrests? "This is a law that is currently on the Louisiana books, and the sheriff is charged with enforcing the laws passed by our Louisiana Legislature," Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, told The Advocate. "Whether the law is valid is something for the courts to determine, but the sheriff will enforce the laws that are enacted." Hicks is right that an anti-sodomy law still exists in Louisiana, where a ban on "the unnatural carnal copulation by a human being with another of the same sex or opposite sex" has been around since 1805. It is one of 13 states — including Michigan, Mississippi, and Florida — that still has anti-sodomy laws on the books. =========================== OK. Atheists in general want what homosexuals do - to be left alone to live their lives without being forced to do things they don't believe in.