I am a religious guy, ask me anything and I will give you the most honest answer I have under my belt. However in a world where being attacked for your religion is the quickest way to activism I have to question the honestly and character of people who cry foul on the basis of religion.
Recently a bus driver was fired supposedly for praying while transporting children. Those children have filed petitions to get him rehired, despite the fact the school says his termination was due to securing a handicap person in a wheelchair improperly. In a country so hell bent on separation of church and state (something that does not exist in the constitution) I some how find it hard to believe that the school would need to concoct a make believe reason to fire this guy, when being to religious probably would have fit the bill fine. This Fox News interview, addresses some issues in this case, as well as other issues concerning religion and interaction with non religious groups.
I will say the atheist in the interview panel seems a bit angry, and sure does hang on to that statistic of 1/3 college students are atheist (a stat I personally do not believe). The interview indirectly raises a few interesting points. At what point do you stop being a Christian do you only pray in a closet as one of the hosts says? What obligations to others do you have as a Christian, and how do you treat/interact with those opposed to your belief systems?
I would love to hear from you all about what you think and how you interact with those that have different belief systems.
TheSmallVoiceOfPolitics 
I wonder what goes on in the minds of atheists ? Is it a dissatisfaction of being let down by god or religion. Life does throw some curve balls at times …. but from what I can understand is that once they are helped out of their dilemmas they make as good theists as the rest of us. It is a mental block that some use for protection .. blaming god is so much easier to cope with situations that don’t make sense … it allows you to just …. be .. exist without any debate that may force you to take an arbitrary stance in life.
I think it is important to let people be … don’t rub them up unnecessarily .. let them sort themselves out in their own minds … wish for good things for them without interfering directly. It allows them to return to the fold when they understand god and wish to return to the fold. Nobody ever can stay away from god …. ever … they owe their very life to him. This fact alone is enough to put cheer in the world.
Of one characteristic of mankind I am acutely aware … do not presume to understand another. You will never fully understand another for just when you think you do .. they will do an about flip .. just to prove you wrong. This fact alone brings peace into my heart and allows me to believe in the power of god to be truly god. In these assumptions lie many many truths which we try to come to grips with.
I have only known one atheist very well, and it boils down to the science of the matter for him. He has never and probably will never found any beliefs he has upon faith. He is in the need of concrete evidence that can be tested by himself, and he does not see a possibility of that in religions that worship a God.
I would say it is fine to let people be, as long as they are not suffering. If a person is suffering for any reason, we should help them rise above the challenge they face.
As I was out of the country .. I apologise for the delay in replying. I guess you are right and I really too prefer to let people be. I learnt this after trying to help many people and soon understood that it is they who must first want to be helped .. so I now let well be. But I enjoy a good discussion nevertheless.
I wonder what goes on in the minds of theists? Is it a confusion about how atheists aren’t angry at something they don’t believe even exists? All the anger you have towards unicorns, fairies, and other nonexistent things is the same as the atheist has towards ANY god, not just yours. Because they don’t believe they exist. And only crazy people hate stuff that they don’t even think exist.
I am quite angry at invisible pink Unicorns. 😛 I personally am not confused. Belief in any god is a decision one makes based on something that cannot be tested, reviewed, or quantified. I find no fault in those that do not believe, because they need evidence to support belief systems. The first commenter here may, but I do not.
To be clear while you are quite correct in saying “only crazy people hate stuff that they don’t even think exist.” I have often felt anger directed at me for my beliefs, which is not the same thing as what you describe here. This anger has not come from just atheists, but LDS members, family, people who believe in God but practice nothing, and folks who I know nothing about.
Funny but I can truthfully say that don’t really hate anything … I guess we must all be allowed to have our own view points … they are the only things that make you .. you and me … me. What I really enjoy is a repartee of thoughts and me trying to sort things out from my own point of view. Buddy .. do enjoy your thinking just the way you want .. for we are all trying to resolve something or the other … and whose to say that you are more right or that I am.
We just love to pontificate … its all there is to it.
Hey, you know two atheists, not one! 😉
The guy that lost his job for praying- that’s a tricky situation. He was basically “practicing religion” while working, and his works happens to be toting around a bunch of impressionable kids. Personally, I think firing him was a bit extreme… a warning would have been sufficient.
Ask yourself this- would you feel the same level of upset if an atheist had been fired for explaining evolution to kids on a bus? If the answer is no, then you’re letting your personal bias affect your judgement.
That being said, when I have kids, I’m not going to worry if they see people praying. In fact, I welcome it; kids should be exposed to different belief systems so they can make their own decisions about what they believe.
On another note- I’ve never heard the “1/3 of college students are atheist” stat. It is, however, pretty widely accepted that higher intelligence results in higher incidence of atheism, and lower intelligence results in more “religiosity”. Google Scholar “intelligence and atheism” if you’re curious.
I personally do not see a problem with evolution, so I would not have a problem and it does not do a good job at reflecting if I have a bias here. That being said, I really think that the school was not lying when they said he was fired for not securing a handicapped child properly. In this day and age, people argue vigorously to remove all religion from public buildings, and I don’t think they would have had to make a reason up if they wanted him gone for praying. I was really trying to bring to light the issue of people hiding behind religion when there may have been a perfect non religious reason to get rid of them.