Nontheist religions and beliefs

1
Nontheist religions and beliefs

• Consideration of Others

2
Agenda

• Purpose
• Army Policy
• Terms
• Selected Beliefs
• Myths/Truths
• Handouts/Examples

3
Army Policy

• DOD 1300.17 Accommodation of Religious Practices
  The Department of Defense places a high value
  on the rights of members of the Armed Forces to
  observe the tenets of their respective
  religions.
• AR 600-20 Army Command Policy The EO program
  formulates, directs, and sustains a comprehensive
  effort to maximize human potential and to ensure
  fair treatment.

4
Terms

• Theist relating to a belief in a god or gods
• Nontheist without belief in gods or the
  supernatural secular
• Atheist without or opposed to a belief in gods
• Agnostic lit. without knowledge colloq.
  uncertain of the existence of gods.
• Religion consists of a world view and a way of
  life

5
Religion

• Belief system consisting of
• World View
• God exists or does not
• There are or are not supernatural forces in the
  world
• Man is naturally evil, good, or neither
• Life repeats itself, death is a final end, life
  after death is possible
• Way of Life
• pacifism vs militarism
• rituals for worship or benefits
• dress, eating, and social habits
• enlightenment/piety through scripture or through
  internal reason

6
Nontheist Religions and Religious Organizations

• Atheism Atheist Alliance
• Secular Humanism International Humanist and
  Ethical Union
• Positive Atheism
• Freethought Church of Freethought
• Ethical Culture American Ethical Union

7
Myths

• Nontheists hate religion
• Nontheists recognize, as anyone should, that
  hate, especially for a group, is prejudice, and
  the object of that prejudice is generally
  independent of the hate. Nontheists may disagree
  with religion, but that does not prevent study of
  religion or interaction with religious people.
• Atheists are amoral
• Atheism itself means disbelief in a god or gods,
  and has nothing specifically to do with morality.
  However, secular morality teaches that doing
  good is good in itself and independent of the
  desires of any Higher Power, natural or
  supernatural.

8
Myths (cont)

• Nontheists worship Darwin
• Nontheism does not translate to religious terms,
  it has no object of worship of worship,
  scripture, hierarchical clergy, or rituals to
  define itself. Reason and experience help
  provide understanding.

9
Secular Documents

• Secular Humanism Humanist Manifesto
• Ethical Culture Eight Commitments of Ethical
  Society
• Church of Freethought Our Church Services
• IHEU Minimum Statement on Humanism

10
Conclusion

• Nontheistic and atheistic religions exist
• Many people, including soldiers are atheist
• It is important to respect atheistic belief
  systems as much as theistic belief systems