After watching a few random clips on YouTube I got to thinking about American society, more precisely the matter of religion and how it holds a large part in how America seems to run. I then got on to a short 1 minute clip where seth mcfarlin (hope i spelt his name right) says that he's an atheist and then they way he and the talk show host talk about atheism is as if it's some sort of movement. So this got me wondering: Is atheism a repetitively new thing in America? Being a Brit quite a lot of people if not most the people I know are atheist or at least agnostic. How can a country run on the values of a religion, especially a single one (Christianity). Don't get me wrong I have nothing against religion you can believe in whatever you what it has nothing to do with me, but by having this one view, does it discriminate against say Muslims or Hindus?
Would love to read some opinions on the subject since the society that i live in is just so multi-cultural.
A lot of people complain about it but for me, at least what I see personally, it's not as bad as people make it out to be on here. Almost everyone I know would be more then happy to welcome a Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic etc. into our community as long as they are decent people.
Although I'm guessing what I experience isn't what the rest of America is like.
I don't know a single person, not in any extended circles, who really believes in God. I find the whole thing really strange. The closest thing I have to religious folks are the druids up at Stone Henge and that's a little drive away.
This is a song about cum on hotel walls.
At 11/12/12 03:00 PM, Otto wrote: I don't know a single person, not in any extended circles, who really believes in God. I find the whole thing really strange. The closest thing I have to religious folks are the druids up at Stone Henge and that's a little drive away.
I agree it seems that us Brits have slightly given up on religion, I know there are a lot of Muslims in the area I live in but they seem to keep to themselves as a repetitively small circle and not really interact with the rest of the community.
At 11/12/12 03:04 PM, corey289 wrote:At 11/12/12 03:00 PM, Otto wrote: I don't know a single person, not in any extended circles, who really believes in God. I find the whole thing really strange. The closest thing I have to religious folks are the druids up at Stone Henge and that's a little drive away.I agree it seems that us Brits have slightly given up on religion, I know there are a lot of Muslims in the area I live in but they seem to keep to themselves as a repetitively small circle and not really interact with the rest of the community.
Pretty much it. All the churches mostly serve to comfort the sparse christianetc. community and run fund raisers for primary schools now. I'm glad we're progressive in some respects, even if our outlook on other things is still embarrassing i.e. drugs, gay marriage, and more recently nationalisation v privitisation
This is a song about cum on hotel walls.
At 11/12/12 03:08 PM, Otto wrote: Pretty much it. All the churches mostly serve to comfort the sparse christianetc. community and run fund raisers for primary schools now. I'm glad we're progressive in some respects, even if our outlook on other things is still embarrassing i.e. drugs, gay marriage, and more recently nationalisation v privitisation
Ah I somewhat agree with you there, for example on the drugs, where I live pot is turned a blind eye, I've been at many a party where it's pretty obvious that everyone's high and the police have turned up, as long as you're not creating disorder the police seem to not really care. I don't understand why it isn't legal in the UK actually since it would generate so much money from tax and we could ease out of the large debt that we are in and even (just throwing it out there) cut the tax on petrol prices because they're pretty high, (I read somewhere that something like 65% of the price was tax) which is good because the government generates money from it but it pushes up the price of nearly every single good that is sold in shops meaning that people are slowly losing money.
At 11/12/12 03:17 PM, corey289 wrote:At 11/12/12 03:08 PM, Otto wrote: Pretty much it. All the churches mostly serve to comfort the sparse christianetc. community and run fund raisers for primary schools now. I'm glad we're progressive in some respects, even if our outlook on other things is still embarrassing i.e. drugs, gay marriage, and more recently nationalisation v privitisationAh I somewhat agree with you there, for example on the drugs, where I live pot is turned a blind eye, I've been at many a party where it's pretty obvious that everyone's high and the police have turned up, as long as you're not creating disorder the police seem to not really care. I don't understand why it isn't legal in the UK actually since it would generate so much money from tax and we could ease out of the large debt that we are in and even (just throwing it out there) cut the tax on petrol prices because they're pretty high, (I read somewhere that something like 65% of the price was tax) which is good because the government generates money from it but it pushes up the price of nearly every single good that is sold in shops meaning that people are slowly losing money.
Very much like your thinking. I hate to sound cliché but legalisation takes money out of the hands of the criminals and into the economy. Oh America you don't even know what expensive fuel means. Which part are you from? I'm from Somerset, literally right next to Glastonbury which is a little hive of hippie-dippie incense sticks shit. We have the same story with dope aswell, but it's contrasted with all the incredibly posh people who live in the scattered mansions and lordly manners and estates; it's a weird mix down here.
But more on topic, even here, where there's a church in a parish every 10 feet, nobody's really going. I know that in some cities like Southampton though there are still catholic schools where kids must go to church to attend because these are simply better schools, however, my aunt puts her kids there and they all know it's tripe.
This is a song about cum on hotel walls.
At 11/12/12 03:07 PM, corey289 wrote:At 11/12/12 02:58 PM, Ilssm wrote: Although I'm guessing what I experience isn't what the rest of America is like.which state do you live in? do you think it varies from state to state?
I'm in central Florida, and yeah, I think it does.
At 11/12/12 03:21 PM, Otto wrote: Very much like your thinking. I hate to sound clichÃf© but legalisation takes money out of the hands of the criminals and into the economy. Oh America you don't even know what expensive fuel means. Which part are you from? I'm from Somerset, literally right next to Glastonbury which is a little hive of hippie-dippie incense sticks shit. We have the same story with dope aswell, but it's contrasted with all the incredibly posh people who live in the scattered mansions and lordly manners and estates; it's a weird mix down here.
But more on topic, even here, where there's a church in a parish every 10 feet, nobody's really going. I know that in some cities like Southampton though there are still catholic schools where kids must go to church to attend because these are simply better schools, however, my aunt puts her kids there and they all know it's tripe.
I'm from Berkshire (more precisely royal Ascot, so a large mix from council estates to the Queen's summer house). We get a load of private schools in the area so every once in a while you end up getting invited to a very posh party where the kids all get hammered of a bottle of WKD whilst you chill in the back with a bottle of Jack. i've even sold a little pot at such events just because posh kids have no real idea about the "real" world, I remember selling an 8th for £50, but that was a one off due to the opportunity. But continuing on with the churches I have to admit that there must be about 5 or 6 within a 10 mile radius. I just don't understand where the funding comes from since you never see them "active".
At 11/12/12 03:41 PM, corey289 wrote:At 11/12/12 03:39 PM, jjjkuk wrote: Like every other popular thing, it is. Many people happen to be atheist, but some are just going with it acting like they're cool.How is pretending that you don't believe in good cool? Is self image a large factor?
Atheism's becoming less like a lack of belief in any gods and more like a label for people who hate religion. Ironically people are trying to change the definition of atheism making it seem like a religion. For example, quite a few atheist humor facebook pages and reddit have been saying that atheism is the practice of good morals while not having a definite god/goddess. It's not. It's the disbelief in any god and nothing more.
Even though the amount of people converting is growing, it's still a relatively small demographic, making it great for people who want to separate themselves from the norm.
At 11/12/12 02:54 PM, corey289 wrote: After watching a few random clips on YouTube I got to thinking about American society, more precisely the matter of religion and how it holds a large part in how America seems to run. I then got on to a short 1 minute clip where seth mcfarlin (hope i spelt his name right) says that he's an atheist and then they way he and the talk show host talk about atheism is as if it's some sort of movement. So this got me wondering: Is atheism a repetitively new thing in America? Being a Brit quite a lot of people if not most the people I know are atheist or at least agnostic. How can a country run on the values of a religion, especially a single one (Christianity). Don't get me wrong I have nothing against religion you can believe in whatever you what it has nothing to do with me, but by having this one view, does it discriminate against say Muslims or Hindus?
Would love to read some opinions on the subject since the society that i live in is just so multi-cultural.
atheism is not new in the u.s. The u.s. is really not all that religious, at least not more than the rest of western society. Most people i know are atheist or christians. They don't act as they are typically portrayed. They don't hate gays, they don't believe people will go to hell if they aren't christians, and they don't take the bible literally... if they even read the whole thing. All of them believe in evolution as well...
No having your own opinion does not discriminate against others, making attempts to disprove other people's beliefs doesn't either. Name calling and excluding people or stereotyping people for their beliefs is discriminatory.
Seth Mcfarlane portrays atheists and liberals as being smarter in his t.v. shows.... ex family guy: Brian is a liberal and atheist.... He is one of the smarter characters in the show and yeah he does do some dumbass shit sometimes but most of the time he plays the one who supposedly knows what is going on.
Peter is pretty conservative most episodes and is a christian, he was mentally retarded in an episode and is always supposed to be someone who is average and uniformed....
Basically seth mcfarlane puts bias and spin to all the shit he does and the u.s. isn't as it is portrayed as far as being a really christian place.
Atheism is not a huge movement, nor is it a religion per say. There are already lots of atheists.
At 11/12/12 03:58 PM, TjStiches wrote: most people here in america are bigots and think the religion they were raised to believe is right is well, right. most people are not spiritually open, but what can you do, ignorance is bliss.
Bigots? Most people aren't bigots. Where do you live that you are surrounded by bigots?
At 11/12/12 03:58 PM, Otto wrote:At 11/12/12 03:39 PM, jjjkuk wrote: But some are just going with it acting like they're cool.Not here in Britain man, kids grow up never even hearing about god here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpsR1FEInK8&feature=related
this clip man, I know where Ricky is coming from because since the age of 5 I was near enough living of the government until my father caught his big break. For me i was brought up with Christianity (i was even christened). I think in my case it was more to give me the option of religion, but from the age of 7 I finally realised that tooth fairies and magical men from the heavens are not real (just a joke before someone gets all uppity). I do believe that it is the poorer classes that are drawn towards religion for whatever reason it is and i'm not really sure why.
It's not a new thing, Seth MacFarlane is a tool, he doesn't represent "a movement of atheists" as much as blind christians that have been prevalent among our population for generations are finally starting to use context clues and wake up. He or atheism as a whole have nothing to do with this trend.
"I sail through a golden nexus. By tanks with armor that glisten. I watch and I play with creations, and what I'm not reading, I listen." <-
At 11/12/12 03:56 PM, thegarbear14 wrote: Basically seth mcfarlane puts bias and spin to all the shit he does and the u.s. isn't as it is portrayed as far as being a really christian place.
I agree with you man but Family Guy is a Cartoon comedy, and that's why it's the way it is, to make people laugh. No one really believes that all Americans are even close to how they are portrayed in that show. however you look at people like say Mitt Romney the conservative presidential candidate, he did get a fair amount of votes which does show quite a similar belief because from the policies that I know of, he was very much out there with stuff like anti-abortion and anti - gay marriage, he seemed vary out there with his conservative views and got a decent amount of support.
At 11/12/12 04:13 PM, corey289 wrote:
. however you look at people like say Mitt Romney the conservative presidential candidate, he did get a fair amount of votes which does show quite a similar belief because from the policies that I know of, he was very much out there with stuff like anti-abortion and anti - gay marriage, he seemed vary out there with his conservative views and got a decent amount of support.
Mostly of it was because he wasn't Obama. Many people didn't like him at all because he was so filthy rich, he was almost completely unrelatable to the general public.
"I sail through a golden nexus. By tanks with armor that glisten. I watch and I play with creations, and what I'm not reading, I listen." <-
At 11/12/12 04:20 PM, Phobotech wrote:At 11/12/12 04:13 PM, corey289 wrote:Mostly of it was because he wasn't Obama. Many people didn't like him at all because he was so filthy rich, he was almost completely unrelatable to the general public.
. however you look at people like say Mitt Romney the conservative presidential candidate, he did get a fair amount of votes which does show quite a similar belief because from the policies that I know of, he was very much out there with stuff like anti-abortion and anti - gay marriage, he seemed vary out there with his conservative views and got a decent amount of support.
well that's a given, his policies and objectives near enough went against the lower half of society, he's near enough lost the election due to that alone.
Atheism is mostly populated by young'uns. Basically it's a fad, because their parents didn't love them or something yadda yadda bing bong boom and atheism is just a way to act out against their parents to seem edgy. On the other hand, if their parents raised them atheist then they're just indoctrinated into that belief.
At 11/12/12 04:26 PM, Mumbo wrote: Atheism is mostly populated by young'uns. Basically it's a fad, because their parents didn't love them or something yadda yadda bing bong boom and atheism is just a way to act out against their parents to seem edgy. On the other hand, if their parents raised them atheist then they're just indoctrinated into that belief.
My dear sir we are trying to have a sensible discussion, if that is you're general belief that I hope it's not true but I find this statement flawed and with the use of "parents didn't love them or something yadda yadda bing bong boom" I believe that this post has contributed in no positive way towards the thread.
At 11/12/12 03:56 PM, thegarbear14 wrote:
Atheism is not a huge movement, nor is it a religion per say. There are already lots of atheists.
I agree, all of my religous friends up here in the Northern US don't really take it too seriously. But we're a Democratic swayed state that's Liberal so that could be a cause.
At 11/12/12 04:22 PM, corey289 wrote:
well that's a given, his policies and objectives near enough went against the lower half of society, he's near enough lost the election due to that alone.
Many, many reasons, but we're getting off-topic.
There are radical atheists in the US that were pushed into being so because of our volume of radical religionists. In getting out and talking with people, either they keep it private (like they should) or it seems like they just don't care. Y'know, like regular people would. UK, US, no different apparently.
I suppose if there WERE a difference, it's the radical Christians feel justified, playacting to elementary school history class lessons in that our country was founded on the principles of religious freedom...which they misconstrue as entitlement, paired with our constitutional Freedom of Speech & Religion, into never shutting the fuck up about how awesome Christ is. So what could actually be a handful of extremists at the core of a casual community fanning out radially from the church, merely seems like a majority from the sheer volume of whacky banter. Media coverage of the Westboro Baptist Church paints a more ridiculous light on them now, and only adds to the noise that was constantly output in the first place.
It was societal expectations, now slowly becoming reformed, as the youth is exposed to information more rapidly from more sources, they deduce for themselves in what they believe all the time. There'll always probably be believers, but as our population expands, that statistically shoves room in for whatever. Wiccans, Buddhists, Muslims, hell I even heard Satanism is trending when people found out the religion involved isn't nearly as Halloweeny as they expected.
"I sail through a golden nexus. By tanks with armor that glisten. I watch and I play with creations, and what I'm not reading, I listen." <-
At 11/12/12 04:26 PM, Mumbo wrote: Atheism is mostly populated by young'uns. Basically it's a fad, because their parents didn't love them or something yadda yadda bing bong boom and atheism is just a way to act out against their parents to seem edgy.
The people who hate on Christians only or one religion only sure are edgy, and give us Atheists a bad name.
Your kind could stop blocking stem cell research though.
On the other hand, if their parents raised them atheist then they're just indoctrinated into that belief.
Even though I'm an Atheist, I think indoctrinating children is child abuse. I know 99% of my friends would say the same, many of whom are also atheists or non-religious.
FILLERFILLERFILLERFILLERFILLERFILLER
Select between 5 monster racers, upgrade your monster skill and win the competition!
4.23 / 5.00 3,881 Views
Build most powerful forces, unleash hordes of monster and control your soldiers!
3.93 / 5.00 4,634 Views
© Copyright 1995-2014 Newgrounds, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
newgrounds.com — Your #1 online entertainment & artist community! All your base are belong to us.
