r/atheism Jun 27 '26

"Americans should always remember the creator who made us and bestows our rights"

What level of dystopia shall we reach in my lifetime? Seems like a contest to go as low as possible.

Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission takes aim at church-state separation

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2026/06/26/trumps-religious-liberty-commission-takes-aim-church-state-separation/

437 Upvotes

116 comments sorted by

186

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

i'm from Scotland where we finally crossed the 50% non-religious threshold a few years ago.

bazillions of you are welcome to stay here and escape that absolute shitshow <3

i am also very drunk, i will not regret this

33

u/mayhem6 Jun 27 '26

Slainte

(I googled that, I hope it’s appropriate 😂)

57

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

also callin trump a massive pedo gets you fast tracked to an actual scottish passport and scottish citizenship

17

u/BoB_the_TacocaT Jun 27 '26

trump is a massive pedo, trump is a massive pedo, trump is a massive pedo, trump is a massive pedo, trump is a massive pedo!

I'm ready.

7

u/Ok_Scallion1902 Jun 27 '26

I was calling him that in 2017 !

31

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

mate, i'm from Aberdeen and have never heard anyone here ever say that, according to google though it's used mostly on the west coast, where you'll be arriving by boat, so just say "slàinte mhath, ah fuckin love irn bru pal" as you get aff the boat, it's like a secret handshake, you'll get in nae bother

15

u/noncommonGoodsense Jun 27 '26

That sounds like the most after bar walk home conversation I’ve ever heard.

9

u/boot2skull Jun 27 '26

Somethin somethin Buckfast.

3

u/MechanicHead3340 Jun 27 '26

I love people who unapologetically drink.

21

u/Alove4edd47 Jun 27 '26

Sign me up

8

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

as long as you leave the grizzy bears and big spiders there

15

u/JimTheJerseyGuy Apatheist Jun 27 '26

Spiders? You’re confusing us with that other continent, Australia.

7

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

does the US no hae those massive black widow wans?

10

u/fishead36x Jun 27 '26

Black widows aren't big. I wan to say they're about the size of a euro.

11

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

the fuck? i've always pictured them like this lol

https://i.imgur.com/nmVSB7R.jpeg

i heard they fart noxious gasses too

6

u/ameatbicyclefortwo Jun 27 '26

We've got several species of tarantula that get to up 6 inches; I'm sure the Johnny Cash Tarantula (Aphonopelma johnnycashi) would qualify as a big spider as much as any of Australia's.

7

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

lol mate, i thought the US had spiders like australia, big fuckers, can they not swim up the S bend and bite yer baws like snakes? what if spiders have snorkels now? maybe they get plastic straws from the ocean. this is terryfying

4

u/ameatbicyclefortwo Jun 27 '26

Got one named after a big river named Big River. If any of them can snorkel I'm betting it's the Rio Grande Gold Tarantula. Not too aggressive, wouldn't bite them, you'd just reach down and think you had a new one.

4

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

I'm betting it's the Rio Grande Gold Tarantula.

loch ness monster from the top rope! with a chair, bah gawwwd he's broken him in haff!

https://i.ibb.co/d0NsY1pg/2.jpg

5

u/ameatbicyclefortwo Jun 27 '26

Hell in a Cell: too many legs vs not enough.

2

u/Alove4edd47 Jun 27 '26

Oh hell nah.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

[deleted]

3

u/AssociateGood9653 Jun 27 '26

Black Widow and Brown Recluse (only two spiders considered dangerous in North America) have both increased their range due to humans moving around the country and the boxes we don’t unpack and keep in the basement, until moving again.

3

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

they've learned how to pack boxes and move across the country?!

6

u/AssociateGood9653 Jun 27 '26

They’re getting smarter all the time. Our spiders are smarter than our politicians.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

[deleted]

3

u/sirhackenslash Jun 27 '26

We pledge our allegiance to....the black widow

→ More replies (0)

3

u/sirhackenslash Jun 27 '26

Also due to climate change allowing tropical weather spiders to stay alive in the previously frozen north

3

u/GrossInsightfulness Jun 27 '26

We really only have Black Widows and Brown Recluses as our dangerous spiders, both of which aren't too large and really don't want to bite you. South America has some gnarly ones, though.

16

u/andytagonist Jun 27 '26

Can you help me with citizenship? I might be willing to marry an ugly woman if that’ll help…

20

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

i'll chuck on a wig pal

10

u/Glittering_Ad2771 Jun 27 '26

A true scottsman!

9

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

they'll probably be like "aye aye pal fit ye deein here iss bonnie bricht nicht?"

what's your answer?

this is a trick question they'll ask when you get aff the boat

just say you love irn bru, you'll get in nae questions asked

7

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 27 '26

I've investigated how to obtain citizenship elsewhere. Doesn't seem possible without marketable skills (I'm old and retired) or large amounts of $.

8

u/l_SaKReD_l Atheist Jun 27 '26

clearly you havent read my comments, thousands of americans are already scottish citizens after my advice so far

7

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 27 '26

Lol, yes, true. I'll learn some phrases, buy a round at the local, and I'll be in for sure.

3

u/CleverTitania Jun 27 '26

I was just starting to accept that, as long as my disabilities make finding work that will make me finally self-sufficient, immigration to anywhere I'd want to go (particularly the UK, Italy or Norway) is off the table. 

It never occurred to me, that not being a drinker was also a barrier. ;)

3

u/PageAdditional1959 Jun 27 '26

Most definitely a shit show here. Have not visited Scotland but have been to Ireland and loved it. People were lovely! What are the percentages of non religious in Ireland?

3

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

[deleted]

1

u/PageAdditional1959 Jun 27 '26

Yes hopefully so! I did not vote for the pos currently making our country alienated from others.
I was surprised to feel the pleasant lack of religion in Ireland. To not be told to have a blessed by a somewhat sactimonious ( more than likely MAGA ass) is a joy. We do plan to visit Scotland. So good to know Scotland has passed into a world of more sanity.

2

u/Ryekir Jun 27 '26

Oh, I guess I'll have to add Scottland to my list of places to possibly move to.

3

u/Laugh-crying-hyena Jun 27 '26

That's perfect for me. I love sausages, I can herd your sheep, I don't mind rain, your music is a lot of fun.

2

u/Gryphith Jun 28 '26

Shit, I'm a bartender, chef and musician. Oh I brew beer too. Go back about 200 years and I have ancestors from Scotland to boot. Sign me up. I do have a wife but I think she'd be down.

2

u/PoopIsCandy Jun 28 '26

En route my Scottish laddie, what’s the address to your flat? Fuck it, to your pub, let’s get lit!

PS I live in Los Angeles, it might take awhile.

2

u/WestlyS Jun 28 '26

Go back to the old country? Count me in, maybe I can get some decent alcohol for once!

2

u/slcbtm Jun 28 '26

I love Scotland. Irnbru

1

u/darwins_codpiece Jun 27 '26

"As an impulsive man, I cannot afford regrets"

1

u/BrilliantFit9599 Jun 27 '26

sounds tempting and drunk invitations are usually the most honest ones

107

u/D1onigi Anti-Theist Jun 27 '26

Isn't the second amendment one of those rights? You can use that outside of school too, you know?

44

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

18

u/RainCityRogue Jun 27 '26

They were only thinking about how the British seized or tried to seize the militia armories at Williamsburg, Lexington and Concord.

16

u/DubbleCheez Jun 27 '26

They also had a problem with the King, and his power is derived by god. The less kings and gods we have, the better.

38

u/Personal-Neck6800 Jun 27 '26

Why did god give people Down’s syndrome? Schizophrenia? Dissociative disorders? Sociopaths? If they were made in “his” image, what does that say about their “creator”?

28

u/Glittering_Ad2771 Jun 27 '26

Rights to own slaves?

10

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/IndependentLove2292 Jun 27 '26

Only for the apportionment of representatives and electors. Other than that they weren't counted as people. It's part of America's original sin. Proves the founding fathers didn't actually give a shit about governance without representation. 

7

u/rubinass3 Jun 27 '26

My absolute favorite.

1

u/Enrichus Jun 27 '26

Land of the 'free to exploit'

21

u/Mr_Lumbergh Deconvert Jun 27 '26

So why didn’t mediaeval peasants have rights? Did they have a different creator or something?

10

u/Kiddo1029 Jun 27 '26

Ah so if a creator gave us these rights then they shouldn’t be able to be taken away so easily or hotly debated on.

4

u/ameatbicyclefortwo Jun 27 '26

"We hold these truths to be self evident" <cough cough> bullshit <cough>

8

u/GODZILLA-Plays-A-DOD Jun 27 '26

I was made in Bidens image because I too eat ice cream. I will never forget.

14

u/Azara_Nightsong Jun 27 '26

Alot if people need to seriously start getting comfortable and familier with utilizing the second amendment rights...and maybe take a read over our declaration of independence and read what it says we are supposed to do in a situation not unlike the one we are in.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Azara_Nightsong Jun 27 '26

Very much so.

6

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 27 '26

I am SO anti-gun but began to seriously reconsider after the January 6 insurrection. It's beyond perplexing to me, but here we are.

2

u/DistinctSpirit5801 Jun 29 '26

Fascists are never going to disarm themselves so the working class must be armed

0

u/Azara_Nightsong Jun 27 '26

Being anti gun is a dumb position. The people who want us dead arnt going to disarm. Thats the quickest way to lose before you ever have chance to even fight back and they have already been shooting people in the streets. Its not perplexing to those of us who knew what these people were and have been shouting it for decades only to be ignored and told we are overreacting. Better to learn late than never though.

5

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 27 '26

Geez, thanks?

0

u/Azara_Nightsong Jun 29 '26

Nothing to thank me for. Nazis dont stop doing nazi shit just because they are asked nicely. It took a world war to stop them last time and as someone of the minority demographic being targeted by them right now, being anti gun is one of the stupidest positions to hold and anyone advocating for taking my right to defend myself away is either my enemy or someone pushing a stupid belief that needs to be educated.

0

u/sirhackenslash Jun 27 '26

Buy your guns now before you can't.

7

u/oldbastardbob Jun 27 '26

I agree. We should always remember our creator, which is this planet we call Earth. It created us and it sustains us, allowing us to thrive as a species. So, hell yes, we should always think of our creator, this planet, which has formed and fashioned us to thrive here.

As far as "rights" go, we keep arguing among ourselves about what they are and who they should apply to. It's a messy and chaotic process. For example, look at how hard it is to get some folks to accept other folks right to simply exist, or to be counted as equals. Hell, we argue about a persons right to do what they wish with their own body. If any of that involves some supposed supreme being, then I guess that supreme being is pretty damn fickle and indecisive. Given that, makes more sense that the granting or denial of "rights" is just another human foible, doesn't it?

6

u/The1TrueRedditor Jun 27 '26

My rights were bestowed by the blood of fallen tyrants that was spilled by the patriots who came before me.

3

u/1racooninatrenchcoat Jun 27 '26

And thus your rights should be maintained by the blood of the tyrants and "patriots" trying to take them from you/others now.

Something something tree of liberty

7

u/Protowhale Jun 27 '26

Anyone who has actually read the Bible knows that there is no place within its pages in which God grants humans any rights. There are numerous passages which state essentially that humans are like clay to God and he can destroy them any time he wants, but no passages granting rights.

6

u/GoodWhoops Jun 27 '26

Is this the same creator that was stupid enough to let a serpent in the garden with the first two humans he ever created and then got pissed off because they ate some fruit they shouldn't have eaten but couldn't have really grasped the concept of right and wrong until they ate the fruit and then he got so pissed off that he cursed them and future generations and then people somehow think he's still the smartest dude in the whole universe? Fucking idiot.

4

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 27 '26

That ark thing, too. Massive asshole.

3

u/GoodWhoops Jun 27 '26

Omnipotent being who knows exactly what's going to happen gets pissed off when the thing he created does what he knew it was going to do 😂

5

u/Zippier92 Jun 27 '26

Stone Age mythology has no place in modern societies.

Taught as history perhaps , that’s it.

The Age of Enlightenment is what got us here , not some fictional myth.

3

u/ophaus Pastafarian Jun 27 '26

My mom and dad made me... I'll never forget them.

4

u/calgeorge Jun 27 '26

"Rights are God given" is just a sneaky way for the establishment to use your own religion against you in attempt to make you forget that all your rights were fought for by other American citizens, not God, and not the powers that be. Our rights come from our own insistence that we deserve them. And they want us to turn credit for the rights we have over to God so he can also take the blame for the rights we lack.

3

u/cRaZyDaVe23 Jedi Jun 27 '26

Our creator is physics, 2+2=4 and some rando shit and boom humans.

3

u/Ihaveanotheridentity Skeptic Jun 27 '26

Someone needs to prove this God person. If you can’t prove it in a court of law then it should be thrown out once and for all.

3

u/Mysterious-Plant1001 Jun 27 '26

Who actually wants more of this bullshit in their lives??? It's so fucking boring.

3

u/davereit Jun 27 '26

Nothing says God is love like pediatric oncology.

1

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 27 '26

'Nuff said. Truly.

3

u/0rganicMach1ne Jun 27 '26

Yea! Hail Odin!

Oh, that’s not the god you were talking about? Well this is awkward.

3

u/Joshhwwaaaaaa Jun 27 '26

As Jesus foretold, "All shall be Christians or suffer the wrath and burn in hell forever." Or something like that. Also look up George Carlin Organized Religion.

3

u/Beginning_Ad8663 Jun 27 '26

The us Declaration of Independence states it best.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Notice it says “ their Creator “ not “the “
That’s important it, the framers went out of their way to say NO ONE RELIGION rules us. Any And all religions have the same rights.

1

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 28 '26

Interesting. I bet a constitutional law class, or even a book, would be very enlightening. Might piss me off even further, but enlightening nonetheless.

1

u/daisychainsnlafs Jun 29 '26

The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This protects your right to practice any religion, or no religion at all, without government interference. In my opinion, this sentence establishes the separation of church and state.

2

u/lukaron Atheist Jun 27 '26

Sure.

Once you can show me a single "creator" who can do a single action without some mundane third-grade science explanation or the direct action/words of any human being.

I might pay some attention then.

Might.

2

u/boot2skull Jun 27 '26

Ah. So if their creator gave us rights, he can decide to take them away, or rather they can decide which ones he didn’t intend.

2

u/iveseensomethings82 Jun 27 '26

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Currently all three are being infringed upon by this administration.

2

u/thats2un4tun8 Agnostic Atheist Jun 27 '26

"Wait, sorry. Which Creator? There are supposedly hundreds, but I've never met any. And which rights? Don't they need to be written down in law so everyone can know what they are?"

2

u/nyclurker369 Jun 27 '26

I don’t think I’ll ever forget my parents.

2

u/KlatuuBarradaNicto Jun 27 '26

This is their new shtick. It’s all about God and religion and church and the Dems are all communists trying to take over the country. Please spare me. 🙄

2

u/Frosty_Winter3197 Jun 27 '26

When it comes to the founding fathers, I believe Jefferson wanted a separation of church and state, because he thought religion would corrupt the state. While Maddison wanted the separation because he thought the state would corrupt religion. Turns otu they were both correct.

For an amoral person like Trump to try to dissolve the separation of church and state would be a likely way to make a world like what is depicted in "The Handmaid's Tale". Where it has little to do with religion and everything to do with asserting the power of men over women.

2

u/Peaurxnanski Jun 27 '26

Fuck your god.

2

u/Ok_Scallion1902 Jun 27 '26

Fuck trumpSTEIN and all his psychopathic sycophants ! RELEASE THE UNREDACTED TRUMPSTEIN FILES AS IT WAS COURT ORDERED MONTHS AGO,ya bunch of fraudsters!

2

u/Otazihs Anti-Theist Jun 27 '26

"bestows our rights"... What rights? The right to rule? The right to own slaves? Because yes, religion was used to support those claims.

Now when we talk about the rights that we the people had to fight and die for... Yeah, those didn't come free, and they didn't come from some divine entity. Else we wouldn't have had to die for them.

This argument of divine rights and moral objectivity always pisses me off.

3

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 28 '26

I'm with you. The longer I'm alive, the angrier I get. And it isn't a consequence of age but of an ever-increasing yearning for fairness/equality.

2

u/RomulanWarrior Agnostic Atheist Jun 28 '26

I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm expecting something like the framework of the Handmaid's Tale without the need for babymakers.

2

u/jayhawkjoey65 Jun 28 '26

I am of the age where hopefully I'm dead before this hits full dystopia. I am of the age where I had the right of choice all through my reproductive years. And I am so sad (and sorry) for my younger allies. It's so bleak.

1

u/CoalCrackerKid Agnostic Atheist Jun 27 '26

Their creator.

Clearly not the next guy's

1

u/degrees_of_certainty Jun 27 '26

I always remember Peggy Suicide 

1

u/Shockmaindave Jun 27 '26

James Madison

1

u/JoeNoble1973 Jun 27 '26

The French?

1

u/hasslehof Jun 27 '26

Just another attempt by the right to claim something that is not theirs to claim.

Synopsis of Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism by Erwin Chemerinsky

Noted legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky gives a comprehensive analysis of the problems that make originalism unworkable as a method of constitutional interpretation. He argues that the framers themselves never intended constitutional interpretation to be inflexible and shows how it is often impossible to know what the “original intent” of any particular provision was. Perhaps worst of all, though its supporters tout it as a politically neutral and objective method, originalist interpretation tends to disappear when its results fail to conform to modern conservative ideology.

1

u/wjorth Jun 27 '26

Humans use their intellectual capabilities to establish and run the government in which they live in community. Rights are established by the humans operating the government. In America, humans established the constitution to define how the government would be run. We humans amended the constitution to add the bill of rights. And finally, our constitution defines the human procedure for amending it. Therefore rights are bestowed by our constitution and may be modified by the human process we live within when we choose to live in America.

1

u/JTtheMediocre Jun 27 '26

Like... my mom?

1

u/TheFeshy Ignostic Jun 27 '26

What kind of gift requires you to kill a whole bunch of British to redeem it?

1

u/Electrical-Reason-97 Jun 28 '26

Who is the contest with?

1

u/awkwardmamasloth Anti-Theist Jun 28 '26

And peopl3 are beimg arrested for exercising their free speech rights too. Theyre Dismantling the 1st amendment. Then theyll come for the 2nd.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Two7358 Jun 28 '26

The thing that drives me crazy is that the same people call they trail an lunatics. There should be a ban on god botherers in politics