Query:  Can the united states take an official position of atheism?

In order to avoid what I might consider off-topic speculation.. I do not mean as a practical matter, only as a legal matter: i.e., does an government's official position of atheism constitute an unconstitutional respecting of an establishment of religion? or, i.e., could the government take your position (as an atheist) on religion and not run contrary to the establishment clause of the first amendment?

When I read the theta healing thread, I was reminded of this. I decided to create a new thread for more exposure with a new aim, where instead of just discussing the various claims, we could actually put them to the test and see what they're about. Now, I am not sure if theta healing is the exact same as the healing offered by the website I'm going to link, but in any case they sound similar - long distance energetic healing. The way we can do this is, the man who runs the website, spiritportal.org, offers a free 20-minute session of distance healing. All you have to do is contact him at http://www.spiritportal.org/contact.html (the email is [email protected]) and set up a time for a free introductory session. During the healing all you need to do is lie down and relax, and observe your body/feelings. After you have the session, I hope you will come and post your experiences. I hope that you guys will be as open as possible to the experience, as I bet that the majority here doubt the possibility of such a transmission of energy, especially at a distance with someone you have never met, never seen, never known. It will take a minute to write the email, and then twenty minutes of relaxation to realize the test. Also, having myself experienced the healing, I am sure it will benefit everyone who undertakes it, whether they realize it or not.

There is a view that moderate religious groups hide fundamenalists. That the fundies are a small minority.

But I wonder.... Lets make a list (or scatter-graph, whatever) with fundies on one side, moderates on the other and a healthy grey section in the middle.

Blows self up, or otherwise kills for god - fundy.

Non-practitioner, uses religion for ceromonial purposes (weddings etc) - moderate.

Evangelists - fundies

Goes to church occasionally but doesn't let it alter their world view (predjudices etc) - moderate.

Doesn't care about the environment because revelations will come first - fundy

Believes that homosexuals, athiests whoever are evil just because they were told so - fundy

Does not eat certain foods because they were told not to - ??? (if religion can control what you eat what other control do they have over you?)

Wears/does not wear certain things (including jewelery) because they were told to - ??? (if religion can control what you wear what other control do they have over you?)

Pathological need to go to church every Sunday - ???

Talks a lot about who's going to hell - fundy

Voted for Bush - ?

...

I think the sides are more even than people think.

Why is it that many conservative Christians think this way - they say "life is sacred" to support ther being against abortion and ending life support (taking the life a human who never developed consciousness or one who did and lost it permanantly -  often someone who specifically said they didn't want to live that way) but then are pro-death penalty and against giving any kind of help to humans who are conscious and in a bad situation - ie welfare, universal health care, etc. Why do they care so much about fetuses and the brain dead?

Poll: OUTLAW IRRATIONAL RELIGION???

 This is a simple poll. The excerpt below is from the Richard Dawkins website by Daniel Dennett:

It used to be the case that we tended to excuse drunk drivers when they crashed because they weren't entirely in control of their faculties at the time, but now we have wisely inverted that judgment, holding drunk drivers doubly culpable for putting themselves in that irresponsible position in the first place. It is high time we inverted the public attitude about religion as well, finding all socially destructive acts of religious passion shameful, not honourable, and holding those who abet them - the preachers and other apologists for religious zeal - as culpable as the bartenders and negligent hosts who usher dangerous drivers on to the highways. Our motto should be: Friends don't let friends steer their lives by religion.