trampling over 10% of the population

We don't want to remove any mention of God from society, we just want to remove it from the government.

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
...I will agree that no one should be forced to be of any particular faith in this country.

You've already shown otherwise (wanting to keep 'God' everywhere by use of non-believers tax money).

However, when you have a country that has at its very principles "one nation under God,"

It's not. It's a law infringement that was wrongfully established barely over 50 years ago.

and you ask the populace of that nation to disregard that by removing any mention of God from society.

He said no such thing. He said from GOVERNMENT, not Society.

I still don't think you're getting it. God (with a capital 'G') is a proper noun, signifying a name.

en.wikipedia.org...

god with a lower case 'g', is just a regular noun. At that point, other religions can come into play, as almost every religion has a god or gods. But when you say God, you are only talking about one name, not a genre of beings.

And even if the 'g' was lower-cased, it's still illegal, and still uncooperative to society. As there are some religions that don't even believe in any god or gods at all. Buddhism, etc.

Either you don't know basic 3rd grade grammar, or you just can't stand behind yourself when you say you don't want the government to institute a one religion policy. And right now, in my view, it might be both.

It should be noted that even using god with a lower case g is alienating those who don't believe in any deities at all.

Originally posted by Johnmike
It should be noted that even using god with a lower case g is alienating those who don't believe in any deities at all.

and then it alienates those that do believe in a single deity with an upper case G.

again, society isn't what we're talking about. just government and everything involving taxes. and also, one nation under god is something that isn't at the heart of our society, e pluribus unum is.

No, actually, it doesn't. If you want to live in a country with a national religion, then the United States is not for you. You're free to do whatever you want with yourself, though. How is it alienating anyone by refusing to take a side?

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
and then it alienates those that do believe in a single deity with an upper case G.

Not really though. After all, God is a god, is he/she/it/whatever not?

When you say to someone, "pray to your god," rather than, "pray to God," you're giving them a choice on who to pray to. And even though the 10% of us atheists/non-god religions are still not counted in that, at least the other few hundred or so religions that have a god or gods have a fairer playing field.

I can see where Speaker is saying, something like: But you're a minority that don't believe in the boogie man. Well, true, but not very many people have the same concept of God. Especially Christians, almost none of them agree on their god. So if he wants to win his argument, he needs to defend the noun god, not the proper noun God.

Though, his argument will be trite as the first amendment does call for Congress to not be favorable to any religion. Theism is a religion in and of itself, and therefore should not be part of our government.

edit: And JohnMike, kudos on the Ron Paul signature. I hope he gets at least somewhat close to the whitehouse!

[edit on 5/13/2007 by Arcane Demesne]

I have nothing more to say.

[edit on 14-5-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

It's ironic when someone makes a post saying that they have nothing to say.