Crossed

A Local Pastor and a Local Atheist Debate Is Secularism A Belief System?

Jan. 15, 2016

Rev. Dr. William C. Myers

Senior Pastor at Presbyterian Church of Traverse City

In Coralville, Iowa, our children participated in a school district event creating a "mock" community. Students played shopkeepers, bankers, civic leaders, police officers, or fire fighters. Others functioned as consumers, taking advantage of the services provided. There were schools, libraries, stores, offices, and hospitals – anything found in a community – except houses of worship.

The goal of the mock community was to teach children what is required to create vital, healthy communities. The message was "communities of faith are not part of such communities."

Tell that to the churches, synagogues, and mosques throughout our country providing shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, friendship for those in prison, education for those "left behind," and comfort for the grieving and dying. Most are not even members of our faith communities.

Come to think of it, these people were also left out of the mock community.

Over the past sixty years or so, secularism has become the judicially established religion of the state. The Bible, arguably the most important literary influence in the formation of Western civilization, is no longer taught in public schools. Prayer, the most intimate expression of a person’s faith, is no longer allowed publically. Why? The Bible and prayer are prohibited by the judicially established religion of our state: Secularism ("School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp.")

We have to wonder"¦ had we created public schools where children of all faiths were free to practice their beliefs and engage in activities where mutual appreciation might have been born, would we have so many American children filled with hate and fear toward those who don’t share their beliefs?

GARY’S RESPONSE

This country was established as a secular nation in 1776. "God Bless America" was written in 1918. "In God We Trust" was first required to appear on currency in 1957 and "Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 in response to Communist paranoia. To infer that a return to secular ideals now somehow establishes secularism as a religion is inconsistent with our history.

As access to information has increased, people are now more skeptical of force-fed unsubstantiated stories involving gods and life after death.

Nevertheless, the good that religious affiliation accomplishes is extraordinary. As a nation, we can maintain that without having to publicly sanction over 20 primary religions and an array of deities.

The only way to eliminate the "hate and fear toward those who don’t share their beliefs" is to eliminate public authorization of any of them. Secularism is part of that elimination. Calling it a belief system is nothing more than an attempt to inject religion back into the lives of those who simply want to ignore it.

Gary Singer

Gary helps businesses with their Internet marketing. He was raised a Catholic.

One of this country’s fundamental founding principles is the absolute separation between church and state. To me, that seems simple; Congress can neither establish nor prohibit religious exercise. Unfortunately many religious people want more. They are convinced that any prohibition to their specific public behaviors should be illegal. So they have resorted to the absurd claim that nonbelief is a belief system the government tacitly supports by denying prayer in public schools, or by refusing to display the Ten Commandments in a courthouse.

Describing nonbelief as a type of belief system is no different from describing healthy as a type of disease or bald as a hair color. It’s like saying those who do not belong to a club somehow belong to a club of non-clubbers. Sounds like nonsense to me. The absence of belief in a god is exactly that and nothing more.

I always try to accommodate those who believe in a supernatural being, life after death, etc. Anyone should be free to believe whatever they want, as long as those beliefs do not affect the rights of others, especially susceptible children. I continue to wonder why the religious feel such a burning need to force their beliefs on those of us who want no part of them. It is helpful to note that all religions evolved from nonbelief, unless you actually accept the story of creation as described in Genesis.

Let’s keep church and state separate. Let’s pray in our churches or homes; let’s learn facts and develop the arts in our schools; and let’s deal with governmental affairs in our courthouses. That would be true separation.

BILL’S RESPONSE

Gary’s statement is misleading. "Wall of separation between church and state" was written in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in response to their concern that Congregationalism was to become the nation’s religion. President Jefferson assured them the First Amendment would not allow for the establishment of a national church. The Bill of Rights is clear. The establishment clause preserves the right for people of all faiths to practice their beliefs freely and publicly.

Gary goes to great lengths to show how foolish it is to consider non-belief a religion. However, a quick Google search of "non-belief worship communities" brings up almost 7 million hits! They gather in "atheist churches," sing "atheist hymns," and make "atheist professions of faith." Sounds like a religion to me!

In this case, Bill and Gary only agree that the other is wrong; so they invite you to add your comments to this discussion via a letter to the editor or a comment at NorthernExpress.com.