Category: philosophy/religion topics
i really didon't know where to post this, at first i didon't believe so figured the joke board, then noticed that it was actually an actual ruling by a court so i thought news and views, but i'm going to post it in here.
this may cause a bit of a debate, but what do you guys think.
You must read this........a proper decision by the courts..........for a
change.
FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY.
In Florida, an atheist created a case against the Upcoming Easter and
Passover days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against
Christians, Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that
it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days. The case was
brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by
the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, "Case dismissed!"
The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the Ruling, "Your honor, how can
you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and
others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and
all other atheists have no such holidays."
The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you do. Your client,
counsel, is woefully ignorant."
The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or
holiday for atheists."
The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm 14:1
states, ‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the
opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is
a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.
LOL!
Okay, I did not find that funny in the least and think that judge should be fired. How dare he make such assumptions, and in a court of law, no less? Just because I believe in many gods and goddesses and just because monotheists believe in one, that doesn't mean that everyone has to believe in something. Actually, there are atheists who are very spiritual. They just don't have a deity in their faith. I can't wait till I show my friend this. She's gonna go nuts! As for a day for atheists, I'm kind of on the fence, though obviously, for different reasons. Most people assume that all atheists have no belief in anything. Of course, many don't, but, as I've said, many do. So perhaps a spiritual day or a day for nondeistic faiths?
now, let's see, in order to have a day to honor something you have to have a celebration. easter honors that Jesus Rose from the dead. Throughout history traditions and rituals have surrounded this. Passover symbolizes the flight of the jews from egypt. traditions can be traced back thousands of years to that time. so, if we are going to have an atheist day, how do you all want to honor it? what traditions and fun things do you want to start to pass it on so it will mean something? of course if you have fun things and traditions to pass, on then it might seem like a religion........ oh gosh, where is the tylenol?
My friend said this is probably a hoax. In any case, she knows of several atheists who honour the birth of certain scientists. So say we were to take Darwin. Perhaps, they could read things about him, go to a zoo, watch nature shows etc. The same could hold true for other inventors/scientists, do something that would be special to them or that's associated with them on that day. Btw, these are my ideas. I'm not sure if anyone does them or not, but this is how we honor The Gods in my religion.
I want an inventors' day but am neither cranky nor whiny enough to beg for it ...
The original post is funny - progressive recursion? I don't deny anyone the right to believe or not, I at once thought it was all tomfoolery but it does sound like a hoax made by a religious zealot. Its irony is attractive though.
Here's my real beef though: nobody likes a spoil sport. If I don't celebrate a particular holiday why should I crash their party? Eleni if I were around you and yours and you all had a holiday either I'd participate as an observer / ousider if so allowed or not at all but certainly not bust up your game.
Atheists aren't the only ones doing it, and most don't. It's zealots of all types that gotta play the party crasher on everyone else's day. Kinda like spoiled kids because it's the neighbor's birthday and not theirs ... kinda makes me sick actually. Whatever happened to being a good sport? And I've said that watching two zealot groups bat it out like animals over who got what spot for whose holiday. No sportsmanship ...
I have to agree with you here. Sure, it's nice when you can celebrate etc, but why ruin someone else's fun. I don't get upset at Christian holidays or try to make something on that day just because they're celebrating. If we have something, great. If not, then there's always another day.
The atheist should be thankful the judge gave him a holiday.
Some Atheists seem to be trying to unite all Atheists by creating a cultural atheism. The only thing all Atheists believe, is that God doesn't exist. It is wrong of a minority of Atheists to try to speak for all Atheists.
Actually, historically, both easter and christmas are, if not atheist holidays, at least not christian holidays. We honestly have no idea when jesus died or was born, and we're actually very sure, do to historical records written at that time, that it was not in march for his death, and december for his birth. In fact, christians can't even decide when easter should be anyway, the greek orthodox easter is almost always on a different day from the rest, as is all the other orthodox easters.
both christmas and easter were holidays created by the pope of the catholic church. Christmas was set on december 25 because there was already a holiday on that day, a solstice holiday for pegans. Same with easter. the pope set them on that day so it would be an easier transition for new christians.
Thus, they are already holidays for us atheists. Besides, can anyone really say christmas has to do with jesus anymore? How many times have you sat around a fire and sang, here comes santa clause, or jingle bells, or one of the other songs about him? Its about family, and being with your loved ones.
As for the judge, if its true, he should resign for making a ruling based on the bible, not the constitution of the state, which is unconstitutional under the first amendment.