Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Right to Choice of Belief... Atheism

As the Right to Choice of Belief  was posted previously,
here is also the Right to be Free from Religious Belief.
This shall be protected by one's Right to Respect.

There is a huge stereotype associated with the non-religious person,
as a person who lacks morals due to lack of belief in a God.

However, many atheists uphold solid values and good moral nature,
based on values derived from family upbringing, education, culture, and character.
Atheists have beliefs, explains one atheist:
"Like people of conventional religious faith,
atheists have beliefs about the nature of the world and the place of humans within it."

Atheist poster

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is comical how people believe that people without religion lack solid values and good moral nature. In a recent study I heard about they found out that atheist knew more about religious topics then the religious people. If you do not like people that do not have a religion, then do not pay mind to them. We all have rights and we all should have the right to be respected.

Luz Mery said...

I think everyone has a right to their own beliefs. We should not have to judge a person because of their religious beliefs. As long as each person respect their own value and beliefs we should be able to get along well.

Jenny said...

"There is a huge stereotype associated with the non-religious person, as a person who lacks morals due to lack of belief in a God." I do not believe that people who do not choose to believe in a God lack morals because there are numerous amounts of religious individuals who are complete hypocrites and have no idea what the definition of morality signifies.

JR

michelle said...

haha. this made me laugh... DONT JUDGE ME!

Honestly, I know way too many atheiest's, but I am not one. I do believe there is a higher power and all, more than Half of my Family believe in Santeria and I as well. so, imagine how much my Atheist friends make fun of it! lets face it, there are way too many people who cross that line of having faith in their God to all the way up in '' I love Jesus. he's my homeboy, so I gotta tell everyone and put stories of the bible on my Facebook status'"... I really dont mind it, cause I have respect for other peoples religion and belief...Here's a quick story for you guys: I went to dinner with two of my friends at cheesecake factory... (Nicole C.)- this was before the 500 calorie diet! haha.. anyways, a man came up to us and asked us if we believe in heaven and if we deserve to go there. I automatically stare at my friend who obviously doesnt believe in anything, and said to the guy: No, i dont. I'm a devil worshiper" ( by the way, she was giving him sarcasm, she's not a devil worshiper!)..my mouth dropped when she said that. the guy gave her the death stare and walked away... and I still had my mouth opened, and still going over in my head on what just happened... some people take their religion to an extreme, but thats their choice. I personally, Believe in God, its his fan club that i cant stand. you just need to have respect for other peoples beliefs and religion, and ignore it if it bothers you so much!

-michelle

cd884 said...

I just think that we all have the right to believe what we want to believe in and if that means not believing that there is a God well then go for it. I personally don’t care what people believe in or what they don’t believe in. My family believes in Santeria and many people have viewed us as wrong or weird but that’s what we believe and should also be respected.

Miglaude said...

The individual belief of atheism is to mistrust everything else. Atheism and religion are two entirely different living things. Religion is best known for its regularity and customs. I believe each person has a belief and practices it different. This is the Worldview, and our right.

Esmeralda A said...

I believe that if someone does not believe in god that should be respected. No one has the right to force religion upon anyone. EA

Unknown said...

do not think a person lacks moral due to lack of belief in a God. When I think of the right to be free from Religious Beliefs, I automatically think of the right to be free to act on your religion with out offending anyone and their beliefs along the way. Besides, just because you believe in a certain religion doesn’t mean you have better values or morals. Take for example this article that I have attached: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08213/900770-85.stm

-Nicole Chaplin-

Anonymous said...

I think we have the right to be who we are and believe whatever we want, therefore I do agree with the right to be free from religious belief. Whether or not you believe in God(s) shouldn’t define who you are as a person. I think that our beliefs come from our upbringing and experiences. If one chooses to be Atheist he/she should receive the same amount of respect as someone who might agree with your own beliefs. -v.p.

Anonymous said...

I think we can not judge anybody for their religion belief or because that person doesn't believe in God, then for us that person doesn't have any good values or any moral. A lot of people got to church every Sunday and they talk about God the whole day and they are hypocrites with no moral and no values whatsoever. Good values and moral is something you born with, and it could be learn too, but definitely its not something you acquire weather you believe in God or not. Laura R.

Espy said...

I see nothing wrong with someone being an atheist. As long as they have values and live an ethical life, then I have no problem with that. In my life I've ran into so many "religious" people, that have been the type to go to Church every Sunday, and the rest of the week they are scumbags.

Anonymous said...

why should we follow the trend to believe in something that everyone else seeks. our identity is being apprehended

f.c.

Terrance Carter said...

It's the right of the individual to believe in or who they choose. No person should be forced to believe in anything.

Anonymous said...

At Michelle's post, LOL!
I agree with her one hundred percent on this one. Everyone has the Right to be Free from Religious Belief. We should all respect everyone’s religion even if we do not agree with what they believe in. We are all different people and come from different customs and cultures. I personally believe in God. But I also respect my friend’s religions. No matter what, it is what they believe in, and it is what makes them happy in the end. As long as the person has morals and respect, that is all that should matter. We are all people and we were created equally. As equals we should value one another.
-Shivani

Anonymous said...

We all have the right to believe whatever we want; we can choose to believe or not on whether there are gods. People tend to judge others on their religion; it is thought that if a person doesn’t believe in a god they are capable of doing despicable. This I know for a fact is not true; in my experiences I have witnessed that people who are obsessive believers in god are capable of doing things that other people are not. This is because they believe that the things they are doing are being influenced by this “god” figure that they have. Respect is a great thing, and religion (whether you have one or not) should have the greatest respect.
-D.Diaz

Anonymous said...

Different religions have different values, just as atheists do. What a person believes may be influenced by many things, and may vary over time. Personally, I believe in God and my humble belief is between God and me and no one else. Keeping an open mind towards our differences can help us see our similarities.
Gabe

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with the post, everyone as the right to his or her belief. The good book states, ‘The sun shines on the just as well as the unjust’; if God is not destroying an atheist then why should I? It is my firm belief that the wheat and tares should grow together until the day of harvest. Gary Norris

Unknown said...

Everyone deserves respect no matter who they do or don’t believe in. Being an atheist does not mean a person should be treated differently; everyone has their own choice on what they belief in. I watched a special on BBC about a debate on religion; Tony Blair, on the side of religion, and Christopher Hitchens, on the side against it. Hitchens added some insightful remarks of how religion could at times suppress someone’s freedom of choice. So with or without religion people should not judge a person’s demeanor based on religious beliefs.
Luisa Isla

Rosa F. said...

This right heavily correlates with the Right to One's Beliefs. I think being free from religious belief itself is a belief. The point is: no matter what you consider atheism or religion to be, we all have the right to be whoever we want to be and believe in whatever we want/need to believe. --Rosa F.

Anonymous said...

You shouldn't deny someones religion or lack of it. Their belief is their belief. Someone elses belief should not effect your own.

Anonymous said...

I believe some people judge others too strongly based on whether they do or do not claim a religion. I do have a religion but I don't practice often and I dont follow all the rules of it but I still consider myself that certain thing. It is hard to determine which belief system I fit into because so many are interconnected. We shouldn't judge people for saying they don't believe in something because im sure they if every religion were to think logically, scientifically about each aspect of it, they would find a flaw.

surfershoes

Anonymous said...

I believe in the right to be free from belief (atheist). I think its not right for a non- religious person to be judged. What does it matter to you? You should be responsible and only care about yourself and not what you think of others.

Francisco A.

Janet Almonte said...

Everyone should have the right to believe or not to in something. Obviously, if we will acknowledge the right to believe in any religion of our choice then this should also include atheism. Atheism is a belief in the non-existence of a deity or whether the person associates any meaning to the terms "God" or "deity." Many people have held this form of belief (atheism is not a religion) sometimes due to the ideals held in the scientific community of having no evidence of such circumstances. According to George Ricker an atheist himself, “Atheism is the absence of god-belief. All else is embellishment. Atheism has no dogma, no rites, no holy books, no places of worship and no clergy of any description. It offers no moral guidance, no political opinions and no world view.” I personally feel as if this has been the least controversial view of personal ideas because they do not claim of being the ideal views to uphold like many religions go around stating. We have never heard of atheists rallying for their views or starting wars and this is why we should use them as an example of the way humanity should behave instead of criticizing them for not believing in a religion.
Janet

Anonymous said...

People have the right to be free from religious belief. We should not judge them because of their ideas. I think religion is just a set of rules crated by men to control people. There are many ways to be free from religious practices without becoming a person that do not believe in a creator or God.

Claudia B.

RV said...

I think we can share our believes with others but ultimately we need to respect everyone's choice.

Anonymous said...

People have different believes and their opinions should be respected. For those reasons I agree with Right to be Free from Religious Belief (Atheist). If people do not believe in God or have a desire to follow a religion, it is their choice and that should be understandable and respected by other individuals.

Anonymous said...

I think we all believe in something. It doesn't necessarily have to per a God per say. If you don't believe in something, you will definitely fall for anything.

Eddie M.

Ingrid J. said...

People have the right to have or not have religious beliefs. Neither has anything to do with having morals; You either have morals or you don't. If God gave us humans a choice, who am I or anyone to take away that choice.

Anonymous said...

I love this topic!!! Who said that we have to believe in anything, including religion? Although I believe in many things, I surely am not going to let someone else influence what those things are. Has anyone looked up the definition of religion? If you do, you will get different interpretations of the meaning. Just because you don't believe in "Religion" surely does not mean that you do not believe in anything. I believe in me. LP

Anonymous said...

Everyone should have the Right to be Free from Religious Beliefs. One cannot judge another for not believing in a higher power or in their specific religion. Dictionary.com defines an Atheist as “a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings”. I have to agree with this. Most Atheist belief in love, the beauty of the universe, the joy of inquiry and discovery but when faced with believing in a higher power, they don’t. From what I have come to understand, most Atheists believe on what is real and what can be seen and felt. People should not discriminate against these groups because like us, they are humans and they are entitles to believe and chose what to believe in.
MelB

Anonymous said...

I believe that everyone has the right to believe in whatever belief that may have. All humans are born as atheist. No one is born with religious beliefs. It is instilled more often than not by our parents. If we stopped teaching religion to our kids, religion would go away after three to four generations. E.S.

Patricia Delgado said...

I agree that we have the right to chose our religion or non religion. We are born as an individuals, therefore, we have the right to select which religion we want to practice. Also, no one should impose anyone to practice or non practice each individual religion.
Patricia Delgado.

Anonymous said...

Thankfully, God gave us free will to make our own decisions :).

"You say, “I am allowed to do anything”]—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial." 1 Corinthians 10:23

Thankfully, we live in a country where religion is not enforced. (If you were in the middle east, you'd be one of them whether you liked it or not -- God bless USA). But the thing with religion is too many people have such high expectations as if their believers would receive some sort of superhuman power. This is not the case, catholics, santeros, muslims, christians, are ALL HUMAN! all prone to vulnerability, all prone to temptation, all prone to being weak & failing, all prone to mistakes & errors. Holding a microphone or a bible does not make them perfect (the same way you can fall, so can they --- so we're all hypocrites in our own way) What seperates them from each other are what they decide to believe in. Everyone should have the right to belive in what they want, because God is SUCH a Gentlemen, that He waits to come into your life, with your permission.

"Only fools say in their hearts,“There is no God.” Psalm 14:1 --KB

Anonymous said...

For my final paper I had to do a research on religions, their beliefs and praying practices. I also had to include Atheism as part of my retribution, which at the end I decided not to even mention it. I omitted Atheism because the information I found was improper and full of degradations to those who do believe in God. I looked on several sources and unfortunately the information was always offensive. I felt insulted and disrespected. As a believer, I supported my right without neglecting no one’s beliefs. I do agree with the right to be religious free and I agree that everyone has the right to believe in any religion they want BUT, it goes both ways, religious people must respect non-religious ones and vice-versa, sadly to say, it is not what I found on the websites. RESPECT is the key to a peaceful community. GS

TrustMeImADoctor said...

People have a right to believe in whatever they want. If they decide that their is no higher being or no afterlife that is their choice. I think people should not be judged for not following a certain religion.

Unknown said...

Yes, people should be free to not believe in any particular religion, it is a matter of choice. I am of the baptist religion as most of my family. I have a brother that grew up in the same environment, he no longer believes in religion or the bible. He has studied and read and developed an attitude that does not believe in religion. It is his God given right to do so.

Anonymous said...

'I pledge allegiance to the earth, one planet, many Gods & to the universe in which she spins.' - Unkn
Whether athiest believe in nature or are guided by philosophy or another form of belief rather than a religious aspect doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the same equal rights as any other. – D.T

kevin0121 said...

People should believe whatever they want to believe. Whatever makes them happy in life, if its being an atheist, christian,catholic etc.

Unknown said...

Men are free when they are in a living homeland, not when they are straying and breaking away. Men are free when they are obeying some deep, inward voice of religious belief. Obeying from within. Men are free when they belong to a living, organic, be.

Anonymous said...

I think the principal idea we should keep in mind when discussing the topic of religion is that, no matter what you think of life and how you choose to live it, you should always uphold everyone else's idea of life and God with respect. People tend to lack the appropriate ammount of respect when dealing with this topic because people tend to convince themselves that they are right, to an almost exclusive degree of confidence in one's own oppinon.

Javier H.

Anonymous said...

I dont know too much about religion, but to excuse the existence of God is trully an ignorant stement. In any aspect that you look at it physical scince, history, biology, theology, in any and every aspect, facet, ritual, or belief even (yes) in religion it all leads back to brahman or a force or something unknow or God or a triune being or Jesus or a higher understanding what have you. To not follow a sect is one thing but to lack faith is completley something else. there is no excuse for doubt when the evidence is emminenet.

Anonymous said...

If you don’t believe in God I respect your choice, but I do think you should use your logic and reasoning ability to come to an intelligent conclusion about “explosion to create life and evolution to create a cell” and see how it holds up to the theory of Evolution. You have the right not to believe in God and I respect that right, but you also have the right to know and find the truth. In my opinion, it is better to live like there is a God and not to find out later. God’s punishment for sin is hell in eternity.LBJR

Anonymous said...

Religion until this present day will be valued wether you are an athiest or believe in God. Religion is a "HOT" topic we can all agree. However, a lot of times an individual can confuse the right to religion for the right to spirituality. When giving ourselves to a higher force it is about a personal relationship. Religion fills us with hope in a hopeless time.

-GR