I was watching Fox news and there was a debate about the recent trend of think tank books: allegedly intellectuals, who go beyond the scientific explanation for their argument and impose unsupported opinion. Of course most the atheist view any publication supporting religion as pressing our views on them.

Some of the more recent threads about making your kids go to church ( which in mho was a leading and manipulative attempt to press the atheistic view onto parents with deistic beliefs. by suggesting that making a child go to church actually make them leave the church later on)  also supports this trend or Fad as suggested on Fox.  

This is not a personal attack on the atheistic view in so much as I found the reference to non belief as a fad both offensive and disconcerting. Offensive in that people have the right to believe as the want in America and suggesting it is a FAD or cult was both oxymoronic and created a paradox.
Disconcerting in that intellectuals have gone beyond the realm of scientific method to press the issue. Through out history there seems to be societal crescendo and de-crescendo  in this thinking always leading to serious societal shifts and persecution of believers who are viewed as flawed and weak. This also created a paradox. Atheist as a form of cultism?
This is five threads in one.
First atheists as a cult?
Freedom of religion is being more and more narrowed to freedom to believe? There is a difference and is this a danger to our right to practice our faith in the future.
Is it  responsible journalism (now instinct) to debate and label a belief pattern in this manner and will it promote the fad.
Welcome to Pandora's box.
Thoughts?

Quoted: Atheism is as old as Christianity. J

Yes and that point was made. However the media represented atheists as a CULT CULTURE. It is  becoming a FAD to be an atheist. Like body piercing.
( taking cover here) It's become all the rage to drop the idea of the existence of GOD for the sake of social appearances. And then pick it back up when it is convenient?
There are several dangers is this "trend".
1) For Christians the ONLY sin that cannot be forgiven is to denounce the Holy Spirit.
2) Will this trend become an issue for adolescents dropping their faith because of peer pressure or a form of self expression.
3) Are we pushing past the Constitutional Right to practice religion? Is the interpretation of the law being so beleaguered by anti-religious biases that in the near future there will be an amendment that changes the wording to reflect " it is just the right to believe" ( as a concession to all ) as opposed to the right to practice ones faith. That's a dangerous change in wording.

Atheism is not a fad, it never was and never will be. Atheism is only for the ones that have the guts to question and analyze their own beliefs and accept the results rather they like it or not.

Whats happening is people who are not religious are getting sick and tired of other people pushing their views on them and pushing public policy to their own whims. Since 9-11 there has been an awakening that ideals can be dangerous and some groups just can't be left to their own discretions and especially so if they are fanatics.

Consider it as courtesy that some are trying to let others know that they need to apply some breaks before we get to close and run off the cliff. We're on this bus ride too.

Yes, there is some risk of loosing the right to practice. Of all things, a gun forum is the proper place to discuss such matters because the loss of rights covers a large field of subjects.

I do not think that (at this point) there is much in the way of restrictions on relgious practices. Sure there are some "hate" crime restrictions on what a preacher can say. There are also the restrictions placed by the normal requirements of the law. Still, I have not seen "issues" in my town.

""First atheists as a cult?"" As a doubting Christian, I don't see it. I studied the bible as best I knew how. It left me with more questions about the "truths" contained within. Atheists likely see these same faults and point to them as reasons why the bible is not true. It does not take a bible student to discover issues. Once someone points them out, that is good enough for many people.

The media is partially responsible for fads, that is a fact of life.


""Atheist as a form of cultism?"" I am sure this is very true in some circles already. There are entire churches dedicated to the "worship" of nothing. One can clearly say that is cult like.

cujet

Every religion has undoubtedly had it's atheists. (Just had a memory of reading as a kid about an Indian warrior named Roman Nose who came to the conclusion that what his tribe's medicine man was telling him was BS.)

You yourself have an atheistic attitude towards thousands of other gods, do you not?

One could make a stronger argument for Christianity being a fad. It will eventually go the way of the Greek, Roman and Norse religions we now consider mythology. But it'll last longer than Fox news.