I HAD WRITTEN: "It's called the religion of ATHEISM."
DIMENSIO REPLIED: "Atheism is not a religion. Strike 1."
I HAD WRITTEN: "If it is okay to teach the THEORY of evolution-atheism..."
DIMENSIO REPLIED: "There is no theory of "evolution-atheism". There is a theory called the "theory of evolution", but no theory in science has "atheism" in either the title or the implications. Strike 2."
I HAD WRITTEN: "...it should also be okay to teach the FACTS of creationism."
DIMENSIO REPLIED: "What facts? I'll hold off on calling this one until you provide better information."
------------------------------------------
I AM RESPONDING: "I guess there must be a LOT of Ministerial people who are not as informed as you are then about Atheism being a religion. Please see the following URL for "religion of atheism" on Google:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22religion+of+atheism%22&btnG=Google+Search
Among the findings, you can find will find the following comments about Atheism being a religion at:
http://patriot.net/~bmcgin/thereligionofatheismx.html
(Bold and underlinings are mine)
The Religion Of Atheism
By Rev. Bill McGinnis, Editor
INTERNET DAILY CHAPEL
Public Domain
A person's religion is the sum total of his beliefs about God and the supernatural. [Please note that it says nothing about BELIEVING IN God; it says BELIEFS ABOUT God.] Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are the three largest monotheistic religions, with belief in one God, Creator of the universe.
Some other religions are polytheistic, with belief in many ("poly") gods, each with different functions.
Atheism is the religion whose belief about God is that there is no God.
Atheists don't worship God; they worship themselves or nothing at all. They don't take moral instruction from God; they take it from themselves or from nobody. They don't recognize God as Creator; they think the universe somehow created itself by some kind of natural process we don't yet understand. They deny the overwhelming evidence of design, and they prefer to think of Creation as a big accident.
Some Atheists, for their own political reasons, assert that Atheism is not a religion but instead is the total absence of religion. This allows them to spread their Atheistic beliefs freely in societies which insist on separation of church and state.
But this is like saying that black, (which physicists define as the total absence of color) is not a color. The car I drive is a big, old Chevrolet, whose color is black. In common practice throughout the world, black is understood to be a color, just as red is a color, despite the technical definition of the physicists. Likewise, Atheism is a religion, despite any technical definitions to the contrary.
If black is a color, then Atheism is a religion.
If Atheism is a religion, then it must be subject to the same restrictions imposed by governments on all other religions. In particular, in the United States, the teaching and promotion of Atheism must be prohibited wherever the teaching and promotion of other religions is prohibited.
But where is Atheism being taught and promoted? Masquerading as science or religious neutrality, Atheism is being taught by default in places where other religions cannot be taught, particularly in the public schools and other public places.
When creation of the universe is taught without reference to God, that is teaching that God did not create the universe. That is teaching Atheism and establishing the religion of Atheism.
When High School graduation speeches may talk about anything but God, that is teaching that God doesn't exist. That is teaching Atheism and establishing the religion of Atheism.
When U. S. history is taught without any reference to the importance of God and the Bible to the Founders, that is teaching that no God was a factor. That is teaching Atheism and establishing the religion of Atheism.
So what can we do to end this government teaching and promotion of Atheism?
First, we should recognize that Atheism is a religion. Then we should stop teaching and promoting it or any other particular religion.
Finally, we should remove all legal restrictions on teaching about and talking about all religions, even the religion of Atheism. This would allow all religious ideas to be considered freely in all public places, just as all other ideas may be considered freely in public places.
We should recognize that this free competition of ideas about religion is not "establishing religion," which is prohibited by our Constitution. Instead, it is the very essence of what our Constitution is about: freedom.
This is the American way, consistent with Freedom Of Speech, Freedom Of The Press, and Freedom Of Religion. Anything less than this is censorship and tyranny.
Then, with all restrictions removed, Atheism can be exposed as the hopeless fraud it truly is.
Blessings to you in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Rev. Bill McGinnis
bmcgin@patriot.net
http://www.patriot.net/users/bmcgin/ministries.html
"Teaching The Beautiful Christian Life"
http://www.patriot.net/users/bmcgin/chapel.html
INTERNET DAILY CHAPEL
Internet Daily Chapel Bill McGinnis Ministries
Contact: bmcgin@patriot.net