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Atheism is a religion (view source)
Revision as of 11:18, December 24, 2015
, 11:18, December 24, 2015no edit summary
If the view that there is no God (or are no gods) is a religion, it is argued its expression is constitutionally protected in the [[United States]]. <ref>The Supreme Court has said a religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being. In the 1961 case of [[Torcaso v. Watkins]], the court described "[[secular humanism]]" as a religion. [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45874 Court rules atheism is a religion] </ref> The government cannot force [[atheists]] to recant and adopt the opposite belief.
If the view that there is no God (or are no gods) is a religion, it is argued its expression is constitutionally protected in the [[United States]]. <ref>The Supreme Court has said a religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being. In the 1961 case of [[Torcaso v. Watkins]], the court described "[[secular humanism]]" as a religion. [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45874 Court rules atheism is a religion] </ref> The government cannot force [[atheists]] to recant and adopt the opposite belief.
In his BBC documentary ''The Trouble with Atheism'' the award-winning journalist Rod Liddle indicates:
{{cquote|Some atheists have become rather dogmatic. Terribly certain in their conviction that there is no God and anyone who thinks there is is a deluded and dangerous fool.
,,,atheists are becoming as intransigent about their own views as the people they so despise. [[Atheism is a religion|Atheism is becoming a religion]] of its own. It already has its gurus and its revered sacred texts... It has its magnificent temples within which lie mysteries and unknowable truths.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi_KSjetXJg BBC Documentary The Trouble With Atheism BBC Horizon Documentary]</ref>}}
If atheism is not a religion, then the expression of atheistic ideas is still covered by the First Amendment, but only by the [[free speech]] and [[free press]] clauses.
If atheism is not a religion, then the expression of atheistic ideas is still covered by the First Amendment, but only by the [[free speech]] and [[free press]] clauses.