Do atheists in America have the right to complain?

[BetterThanUtopia]

According to John Adams they don't.

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions
unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious
people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."


GTFO atheists.
One of the two signers of the Bill Of Rights didn't even take you guys seriously bahahaha.
John Adams was the second president of the United States of America. What have you done that was so important? Sign the Declaration Of Independance? ZING!

[RyanaAtheatiMagus]

what are you 12? Well going by your own little argument there i guess Christians should GTFO too because they are certainly of no moral milieu. And also by that train of thought, I guess you want some of the nations richest people holding this shitty economy together to abandon you and leave you to complete economic despair? Have fun without Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. I rue the day asinine little bigots such as yourself discovered the internet.

[TheGreatGazoo]

Err...the Bill of Rights was ratified, not signed. Shows how much you know.

[RyanaAtheatiMagus]

what are you 12? Well going by your own little argument there i guess Christians should GTFO too because they are certainly of no moral milieu. And also by that train of thought, I guess you want some of the nations richest people holding this shitty economy together to abandon you and leave you to complete economic despair? Have fun without Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. I rue the day asinine little bigots such as yourself discovered the internet.

[mÅlmightyÅtheistm]

LOL He signed a document proclaiming the country was NOT based off religious principles! Read below:

Treaty of Tripoli, Art. 11: As the Government of the United States of America IS NOT, IN ANY SENSE, FOUNDED ON THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries

[AnthonyStark]

I suppose you think we're all in awe of you because you did some homework and didn't actually use the phrase "... America was founded on Christian beliefs!"?

But, the quotation obviously equates religiosity with morality... suicide bombers, pedophilic priests and various other examples dispute this.

Oh and by the way, in a democracy, they do have the right to complain.

[BioHazard]

christian tolerance at it's finest

[Nowpower]

Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person's life, freedom of religion affects every individual. Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of an established religion tends to make the clergy unresponsive to their own people, and leads to corruption within religion itself. Erecting the "wall of separation between church and state," therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society.
We have solved, by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries.
-- Thomas Jefferson

And I believe it's still legal to use my own mind, no matter what any founding father may have said. Argument from authority fails.

[CatherineE:VT]

John Adams also said:

"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole cartloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity."

"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."

“The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature.... [In] the formation of the American governments ... it will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of heaven.... These governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.”

And as long as you're going to go there:
Thomas Jefferson said:

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear."

I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology."

"We discover in the gospels a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication ."

"No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever."

"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law."

"I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved-- the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!"

Oh, and look, I also have some from Benjamin Franklin!

"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."

"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."

"In the affairs of the world, men are saved, not by faith, but by the lack of it."

And let me throw in a couple from James Madison, while I'm at it:

The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed.''

"Every new and successful example, therefore, of a perfect separation between the ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance..."

So you can GFY with your drivel.

[stan]

This is my comment (I do find your question interesting by the way, among the others in this category): John Adams stated in your quote for "moral AND religious people" not "or." America was created for the ability to complain. I think Christians should complain just as much as Atheists because it's practicing our freedom of speech. Also, not even Christians (most that are logical) argue the fact that there are people within this government that use religion to win political campaigns. When in our constitution it states specifically that church and state should be separated. I suppose it is up for your interpretation (which it should be). For me, I don't think anyone should stop bitching.