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11 year old not allowed to join Scouts as atheist


AZMike

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A very predictable response, yet you are making another assumption in your reply...that I was not around then. That's the great thing about the Internet...but you are no stranger to changing aliases now, are you?

 

I believe in something bigger than myself, and I don't mean BJ Raji.

 

The problem with believing in atheism is the odd combination of nihilism and self-loathing that comes with it. As a result, believers in athiesm have to spend time denigrating the beliefs of theists--it's totally predictable.

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Brewmeister says:

 

The problem with believing in atheism is the odd combination of nihilism and self-loathing that comes with it. As a result, believers in athiesm have to spend time denigrating the beliefs of theists--it's totally predictable.

 

Actually, most atheists I have known do not denigrate the beliefs of others, as Merlyn sometimes does. On the other hand, I have known many believers in God, of a wide variety of different religions, who denigrate the religious beliefs (and non-beliefs) of others -- and many that don't. Some of those believers who do denigrate the religious beliefs of others have done so right here in this very forum -- and they have outnumbered our one resident "avowed" atheist.

 

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Threads like this used to upset me a lot, first it would be to Breweister, is that scoutlike? Then to Merlyn, hey don't talk like that and now it's if you play in the mud you will get muddy. Merlyn has a right to his thoughts as does Brewmeister and everyone gets to decide if they want to read on

 

On the other hand, this past weekend Runners World magazine hosted their first Runners Festival in Bethlehem PA, they had a 5K and 10K on Saturday Oct 20 and then a half Marathon on Oct 21. People who did all three did the "Hat Trick" and I was among those.

 

Before each race they sang the national anthem and I have to say I was impresed. As much as everyone was talking and chatting, once they realized the Star Spangled Banner was being sung, they all were silent. It was better than anybody putting up the sign. For the half Marathon, 3,000 peole were talking and fell silent in 15 seconds, no side conversations, just quiet. A pair of runners, in full firefighter regalia replete with helemt and ax and an American flag. WHile the Star Spangled Banner was being sung, the runner hoisted the AMerican flag and people took off their hats and had hands on hearts. It was breathtaking.

 

Then the song stopped and the race was on and 13.1 miles later I was done, so done...

 

ANyway, we get to argue all we want, have fun and well, be happy we live here

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Kudos to you OGE. Having just sprained my ankle (fortunately after my scheduled backpacking trip), I'm impressed with anyone who runs any distance! Bethlehem is pretty hilly, was the course?

 

I think OGE makes the point that scouting doesn't have a lock on all things good for boys. We do take a leap that faith and patriotism are linked. (And maybe some of you are looking at your candidates right now thinking "it's going to take a miracle".) That's not always the case.

 

As a scouter, I use the outdoors to promote a theistic world view. That's for one simple reason. I've had more serious (and possibly decisive) discussions about faith on the trail than I have had under the roof of a house of worship.

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Brewmeister, my use of the word "most" implies that I have known atheists who do not respect the religious beliefs of others. As I also said, I have known religious people who don't respect the beliefs of others, and I have known people in both categories who do respect the beliefs of others.

 

As for "freedom from religion", that is one of those "labels" that I think don't contributes much to a conversation. In some cases it is used as a "self-label" and in others (including your post) it is used as a derogatory label. I'll leave the labeling to you.

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