That is an interesting supposition and given the number of affirmations it has garnered, it resonates with many [most?] of the denizens of this board.

That said, I do not reside in a community where that opinion is meaningful. None of my friends or co-workers or fellow queue-mates at the local coffee shop or market talk about religion. I can not conceive of a community where one's beliefs regarding an existence of God happens ... I … just ... do... not ... get ... this supposition ... at all.

It resonates as a projection of ones inability to get all those other believers in a God to get the fact they are wrong … wrapped in a delusional sense of persecution. Kind of like the way the believers think Xmas is under some kind of attack by the secularists.

Solely relying on the gospels of jesus (as represented in the bible) as the end-all for one’s life view [given the pedigree of that book; all 4 books written long after the events occured by persons who put pen to paper having never witnessed said events] may bar a door to all the other sources of spiritual and secular options available to one searching for some real truth about reality.

IMHO, blind faith is what it is ... blind to any other options.

I am probably a Gnostic Atheist (in the current vernacular; although I do not feel any affinity for this label) with a caveat [in that I believe that if God exists, no human contrived religion approximates who it might be].

I believe that our small neighborhood in a multi-verse [maybe even a relatively smaller neighborhood in our own universe] may have had its math influenced by intelligences that are really old; transcendently older then most humans are willing to conceive of.

All that said, if I had lived centuries or even decades ago, I might have cared enough to invest some personal capital in arguing against religion in society. Now, in the later half of my 40s, I know that it does not matter one iota to my life or livelihood; so why should I care?

I do have 2 kids under the age of 10, who I am confident will find their own way in this world; and make their own choices for how they approach religion in their own perceptions of society.

Not that it matters to the person that wrote this article [and did not take the time to research the events leading up to this policy event ... then again, maybe he did and figured that no one would care how wrong the post was ... the meme would resonate with the target audience regardless of the facts so it was sale-able to an otherwise ill-informed and biased audience].

Anyway ... this regulation's origins began with an endorsement from Ronald Reagan [1] in 1987 and a policy announcement made by the FDA in November 2008 [2 - which appears to have been made when Bush was president]. Maybe Obama could have stopped it ... but he certainly did not start it.

1 - http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/history/topics/montre...

2- http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2008/11/1...

Well said ... I was in the choir of my Catholic church at age 6 … at age 7, I was an altar boy. Around that time I was enrolled in a Catholic primary school … Catholic religion taught 5 hours a week. My parents were Eastern European refugees from Poland from WW2 … they both met in the US after Father spent the war as a slave laborer in Germany [starting at age 14 in 1939] and mother who spent the 1st part of the war in a labor camp in Siberia until the Russians allied with the US. Monumentally f’up parents that raised me in the Polish version of strict Catholicism.

I got bibles as gifts at every b-day, Xmas and Easter. All bibles, all the time. I read them …. Unfortunately, I also read Heinlein and one of the bibles was abridged … referencing the fact that none of the gospels were written by anyone that had ever actually met, seen or heard Jesus speak … all written decades later, based on hearsay.

I did the math … and that was that … when time came for Confirmation … when they told us that this was our decision to make at age 12 … I said no … after conferences with my parents and school administrators, I finally agreed to go through the process owing to fatigue and intimidation. I actually had come to the conclusion I did not believe in any God, or god, that any human could imagine existed, at age eleven.

I do not believe that anything in my post indicated that Atheists should not speak out ... I was just opining about Atheism in general and my own view of reality... the concept and the term [Atheist] holds no meaning for me [although most persons who are religious would label me as one] ... given the probable facts regarding the nature of our universe, this one does not care. I'll live my life [thankfully, in prosperity] and hope my kids can do the same.

If one wants to be an activist for change regarding Atheism, good luck and best wishes.

Personally, I just do not get it. And, I am not sure why it matters. If you’d care to discuss why it matters, I will engage in that debate.

A long post but it may be worth the effort ... writing it was for me.

I honestly don't get it ... the whole "atheism" thing [including the term as used in casual discourse or hard debate].

I recall reading that there are thousands of distinct religions that anthropologists have documented in the document-able stretches of human history. Given that the hardware we all are equipped with probably originated around 100k yrs ago, while the software was developing over time, the number of distinct religions [each with its own view of God or gods] is probably at least somewhere in 20k – 30k range. One can draw one’s own conclusions from that series of statements regarding the validity of any one prominent religious belief in today’s society.

All that said, this is where most modern religions lose me, but do not make me feel that the term “atheist” applies:

The universe we inhabit is 14 billion or so yrs old [there are pictures to prove that].

There a billions of galaxies with [in many cases] hundreds of billions of stars each [more pictures as proof].

The science of evolution is evolving through the scientific method ... suppositions that can't be supported by peer reviewed studies are discarded [granted, they are sometimes resurrected]. Currently, the "theory" of evolution is probably on par with the "law" of gravity ... re: Dark Energy [an unobserved phenomenon that makes the math work].

Physicist appear to be coming to a consensus that a "multiverse" is probable ... the implications of which would probably be an infinitely old continuum of existence.

Did some all powerful deity create this universe 6,000 or so years ago for the human race to exist? Pretty much improbable.

Did some all powerful being precipitate the big bang and its associated math for this universe for supporting the creation of life? Possible but not probable.

Did some all powerful deity precipitate the big bang and its associated math for this universe for supporting the creation of life for the sole purpose of the existence of humans some 14 billions yrs later [in all that real estate]. Pretty much improbable [actually, absurd].

Does this leave open the possibility that our universe is the result of some intervention? Possible.

Does this make me an agnostic? Not really.

Does this make me an atheist? Not really.

IMHO, all that just makes me a thinking human that is trying to hone both what he knows and know what he does not know [ht: K'ung-fu-tzu].

I am not sure if what I believe in is "karma" [that is what I call it although I do not honor any religious beliefs] ... I believe that being polite, understanding and kind to others [by nature] will, over time, lead to one being happier in general and that fewer bad things* will happen to one's self [all in this life].

* - I am not referring to things like accidents ... I am referring to health and interpersonal dependent outcomes.

At a certain point, not answering this question, will answer the question regarding where you stand for everyone on this board [IMHO, that you are a christianist trolling as a reasonable person].

What is your position on taking christian beliefs out of one's household/churches and actively trying to foist them onto others through US governance [whether it be at the State or Federal level]?

Eloquent, circular and, IMHO, you are still side-stepped the one of the most relevant questions regarding the future of this country [which is predominantly christian].

What is your position on taking christian beliefs out of one's household/churches and actively trying to foist them onto others through US governance [whether it be at the State or Federal level]?

It is a relatively simple question. One agrees that one can or should try to manifest christian beliefs in US governance or one should not.

IMHO: you will not answer this question; you will either ignore this post or continue to dissemble.