What Grinds My Gears!!!!

[FenwickHockey65]

I'm a Catholic.

I can't say I'm a very good one. I hate going to Church, I hate thousands of people, I support things like the death penalty.

On that note, I still believe in most of the stuff the Church teaches. But I could honestly care less about stuff like this. It seems like most of the people who do decide to make a big deal out of stuff like this are just trying to get attention for themselves and have their 15 minutes of fame.

[Paperer]

Ha, did you get the title from Family Guy? I love that show. Butttttttt:

Boo hoo wah wah.

It. Does. Not. Hurt. Anyone. It didn't stop you from becoming an Atheist, why would it stop anyone else. It didn't make me become a Christian, and having it removed wouldn't change it either.

I am no religious nut. I support stem cell research all kinds if "condemning" things, but come on. Growwwwww uppppp.

[Justin]

Frankly, as an Atheist, I think that it's important to observe my right to be an atheist, as well as it's important to observe your right to not be. As for the prayer in schools topic, if I don't believe in God, why should I be forced to pray to him? However, I don't think it's fair to restrict your ability to pray to whatever God it is that you believe in. I always liked the system we had in school. Every morning we had two minutes of silence for silent religious observance, if we so chose.

Do I believe it's necessarily appropriate that our currency says "In God We Trust"? No. But, it's a saying. You're not forcing a religion upon me. Do I believe that the US is a Judeo-Christian nation? No. I don't believe it ever was. By the same logic used in the video posted above, the US still supports slave labor. Here's how: slavery was legal when we were founded as a nation. We still allow companies to trade in this country that outsource work to other nations that use sweatshops, etc.

But, honestly, I don't think this is anyone's attempt to "rewrite history", it's something that a group of people truly believe will benefit our nation and our freedom. I believe it's a load of crap, because I believe that those phrases are important parts of our history, and they're open to interpretation, but that particular group of people are simply trying to do what they believe will benefit our nation, much as many of you are by defending the placement of those messages.

To elaborate a bit more on the "Under God" in the Pledge bit, that has both a religious and a historical context. One could argue that "One nation, under God" means that we were born of religion, and looking at history, we were. Much of our society is based upon the teachings of religion, and one can appreciate the historical value of that, and adhere to the teachings of Jesus, or Buddha, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster without believing in any of those Gods.

[PQ]

I'm shocked.

[manimsoblack]

As a devout atheist (lol) I think this is rather dumb. In God We Trust on a building doesn't force any religion on anyone. Think of it as whatever you most trust/believe in as God to you. I cherish reason above all else. So "In God We Trust" means "In Reason We Trust" to me. Granted it may not be that easy for others to cope with something but rather than fight an asinine battle find a way to make it work for everyone. But it goes both ways. Churches have billboards and it's no big. Atheist have billboards and everyone and their mother is out crying about how it's destroying the neighborhood. Granted I admit that some of the Atheist billboards are deliberately provocative and I don't necessarily agree with that. But a billboard telling me I'm going to eternal damnation for not following the same rules you do isn't very nice either. All in all it all comes down to choice and respect.

http://lukeprog.com/religion/gods.html

Why so much fighting?

[jakemaxx]

Originally Posted by BlackXIV

God gave us the ability to choose. As Christians, it is our job to spread the gospel. Someone has told them about God and Jesus they just choose not to accept.

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Matthew 7:13,14

Why must one loose their right to religion for someone else who doesn't believe? If reading "In GOD we trust" on money, and saying "under GOD" makes you feel like Christianity is being forced on you....that's not the case. It is the Holy Spirit convicting you, God working in you, God seeking you.

i like you lol

[Mindz]

@ the topic...








On a side note:
R.I.P George Carlin, one of the best tell-it-like-it-is-because-it's-funny-as-truth comedians. His angles on life are very similar to my own.

[BlackXIV]

Originally Posted by manimsoblack

As a devout atheist (lol) I think this is rather dumb. In God We Trust on a building doesn't force any religion on anyone. Think of it as whatever you most trust/believe in as God to you. I cherish reason above all else. So "In God We Trust" means "In Reason We Trust" to me. Granted it may not be that easy for others to cope with something but rather than fight an asinine battle find a way to make it work for everyone. But it goes both ways. Churches have billboards and it's no big. Atheist have billboards and everyone and their mother is out crying about how it's destroying the neighborhood. Granted I admit that some of the Atheist billboards are deliberately provocative and I don't necessarily agree with that. But a billboard telling me I'm going to eternal damnation for not following the same rules you do isn't very nice either. All in all it all comes down to choice and respect.

I agree...."In God We Trust" and "Under God" do not force religion upon anyone. Then why are people (not neccisarily you) trying to get rid of it. I respect the fact that people have their beliefs or non beliefs and thats okay. there are some on both sides that are more zealous and righteous than most.

[PQ]

When do we have to take the American flag down?

[BlackXIV]

Originally Posted by irpq11

I'm shocked.

Why? This is the world we live in now. What is more shocking is how desensitized our children will be in the near future. Pray, brother.

[Rtoups]

Originally Posted by irpq11

When do we have to take the American flag down?

Now don't be a sensationalist. Nobody has said anything about the flag at all. An allegiance to a flag is very different than an allegiance to a god.

[djsnoflake]

I am an atheist also, but I have no problem with people who have religious beliefs. You leave me alone, I leave you alone and we all get along just fine.

I will tell you a funny story though:

In high school, worked at a coffee shop for awhile on weekends. These church ladies would come in every Sunday and have some coffee and desserts and then leave. Went like that every Sunday for probably 4-5 months. Then one Sunday, one of them says to me,"Don't you ever feel ashamed for sinning like this?" and I asked her what she meant.

"Well it is a sin to work on Sundays, that's the day of rest." So I asked her, "Well then aren't you sinning, cause you guys comming in every Sunday is making me work. If nobody came in on Sundays, I would have the day off."

I got fired that day LOL.

But anyways, while I don't believe in God, I beleive in being a good person, and that's what the world needs more of. Not fighting over who we should be praying to. Just everyone be a decent person to each other.

[coquinn8846]

A little of course here but trying to make a point, so stay with me here. Science huh! Have you ever wondered how blood pumps all the way to a Giraffe's head? Probable not but let me fill you in. It has an extremely huge heart that gets the blood there. Well when they bend over to get a drink of water the blood rushes so fast downward to the head you think their head would explode but nope. They have a sponge like material that covers their brain that absorbs blood. And when they stand up they don't pass out because there is another mechanism that allows the blood to drain back down very quickly that allow them to run from a predator if needed.

Sorry but Evolution is not that perfect! If a person doesn't believe in religion that is their business but that is why a lot of kids today are little turds. They believe they can do what they want and not answer for it. Some people think it is better to do what they want and not believe in religion because they don't want to feel bad for what they do. If not having In God We Trust on there isn't a big deal then why remove it or stop engraving it? It is a big deal to some and also to me because what next? If I seen someone burning the flag folks I would probably go to jail. I understand freedom of speech but if you don't like America get out. They may not like tax dollars going toward engraving those words but you not what I don't like paying for people on welfare that can work but I have to. Maybe I should file a law suit against the government for that. OMG I have to go into another thread and cool off, I am really sorry if I offended anyone because that was not my intention. I respect everyone on here I just don't understand with everything the way it is today violence, drugs, more kids being killed then I have every seen that a group of people have the time to file a lawsuit because they feel their rights are being violated because of In "God We Trust".

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

p.s. Please pray for Stephanie!

[brandotron]

I consider myself Agnostic, but who cares about titles. I was raised in the church, I still believe in intelligent design, but I do not believe in organized religion or any of man's interpretations of God or his word. Don't want to start a flame war, so that's as far as I'll go about me

That being said, I do agree with a few of the other posters in that I see "In God we Trust" as more of a historical statement than a generalization or a "rule". Being a strong believer in the separation of church and state, I would take issue if it were added to a newly constructed courthouse, or in this case, a government building. However, in this case, it's being engraved onto a visitor's center--so have at. "In God we Trust" is as historical to Washington DC as "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy." is to Disneyland.