No, I don't think the Constitution would be the same. Like Christianity, the Constitution is based on rights that are absolute, or "inalienable" in nature. That absoluteness does not correlate with atheism, which contains a more relativistic view.
I think you are being condescending of my opinion, man. Religion has held sway over this planet for 5,000 years and it's pretty f'ed up. It's all predicated on myth, unsubstantiatable stories of supernatural existence back when mankind had very little understanding of the nature of the universe. They have no basis in our modern experience or current understanding of reality. To me, that just makes us a pretty ridiculous species and it's embarrassing.
I may be wrong here but i want to say that many of the writers of the constitution were either atheist or agnostic... i know they were not overly religious by any means.
Sure we are living in a society where politeness is part of a social contract Some people believe the moon landing never happened. If an atheist runs across someone who believes Neil Armstrong is a liar, and then someone who thinks Christ is the savior he will put them in the same bin. I wouldn't call that respect.
You'll be sorry you didn't believe when scientists finally unlock the mystery of the deep blue sea and Cthulhu brings terror upon you.
Thomas Jefferson was branded by his opponents as an atheist due to how adamant he was about separation of church and state. Several other founding fathers are said (not my words or research) to have been deists but not atheists. "Like other Founding Fathers, Jefferson was considered a Deist, subscribing to the liberal religious strand of Deism that values reason over revelation and rejects traditional Christian doctrines, including the Virgin Birth, original sin and the resurrection of Jesus. While he rejected orthodoxy, Jefferson was nevertheless a religious man." http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/people/thomas-jefferson.html Also check this out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theistic_rationalism
Embarrassment is never about what other people think, it's always really about what we think about ourselves.. I look around at the possible paradise this planet could be for men and cry at how we have wasted it. Maybe it's really the fault of a talking snake. There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not? -Robert Kennedy-
I'm quite sure you personally don't. I just spent the holiday with my friend the methodist minister. He knows how I feel, I know how he feels and we are just fine with each other, lots of laughs were had.
Thank god you're not trying to play "gotcha" Cause if you were, trying to make some half-baked argument about the Constitution and what the guys who wrote it believed, by retorting with quotes from the Declaration of Independence, would be an epic fail.
What if I said Neil Armstrong was a liar who never walked on the moon but also the son of God who lied to save our sins - worthy of respect, and not a binnable offense, or can I be laughed at without fear?
Where does Armstongism fall on the violence scale from Jainism (1) to Islam (10)? Anything over a 7 you will probably be fine. Relevant video <object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/1wcrkxOgzhU?hl=en_US&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/1wcrkxOgzhU?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
