In statements filed in court, the six inmates explained why the solar eclipse would be an important occasion for their respective beliefs: as a time to perform a special Muslim prayer, a spectacle evoking a scene from the New Testament, and a gathering to celebrate science and reason.
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Jeremy Zielinski, an atheist and one of the plaintiffs, was granted permission to view the eclipse on religious grounds in March before the statewide lockdown was announced, according to the lawsuit.
You might not understand the point of Pastafarianism. Nobody is pretending. The central tenet of faith is that ridicule is a spiritual act, that fanciful beliefs are arbitrary and spurious, and demand ridicule as a moral obligation. The FSM (PBUHNA) is made in the image of the absurd because the concepts of faith are absurd. You won’t find any Pastafarians who don’t believe in that.
If you want to find some pretenders, visit a local church on Easter.
The point is that if you let one religion claim something, then you have to let the rest of them too. In practice that means people with “closely held beliefs” get free passes, but people who make decisions based on logic and reason don’t.
So someone can claim certain clothing can be an exception for a closely held belief, but an atheist can’t have the exact same outcome because they don’t have a religion to use as a reason. I’m fine with some leniency, other than the fact that atheists don’t get any.
Pastafarianism is a closely held belief. Why shouldn’t they have the same rights as everyone else? The courts have created two classes of religions by rejecting the Pastafarian faith.
Have you not yet been touched by His noodly appendage?
While funny, it still injects religion into the equation by requiring someone pretend to be part of a religion.
There are in fact some religious rights which accrue to atheists too:
Atheism isn’t a religion, and that is an example of treating it like one.
agreed
You might not understand the point of Pastafarianism. Nobody is pretending. The central tenet of faith is that ridicule is a spiritual act, that fanciful beliefs are arbitrary and spurious, and demand ridicule as a moral obligation. The FSM (PBUHNA) is made in the image of the absurd because the concepts of faith are absurd. You won’t find any Pastafarians who don’t believe in that.
If you want to find some pretenders, visit a local church on Easter.
The point is that if you let one religion claim something, then you have to let the rest of them too. In practice that means people with “closely held beliefs” get free passes, but people who make decisions based on logic and reason don’t.
So someone can claim certain clothing can be an exception for a closely held belief, but an atheist can’t have the exact same outcome because they don’t have a religion to use as a reason. I’m fine with some leniency, other than the fact that atheists don’t get any.
Pastafarianism is a closely held belief. Why shouldn’t they have the same rights as everyone else? The courts have created two classes of religions by rejecting the Pastafarian faith.
Why are you asking me about something I didn’t say?
Who’s pretending heretic?
Me, I would be pretending :P
Do you know the consequences of not believing in his Noodliness? … Well nothing, but… I lost my train of thought.