To be fair, some atheists do deny the existence of any kind of deity, not just the traditional Gpd of established religions. The physicist Lawrence Krauss, for example, wrote a book called “A Universe from Nothing” – and a lecture based on it – which postulates that the known phenomenon of quantum fluctuations in a vacuum is evidence that matter and energy can come into existence from nothing, and claims (incorrectly, in my view) that this is analogous to how the entire universe came into being.
That said, to my knowledge there are no atheists trying to meddle in the curriculum of public schools the way that the Christian right is always doing. That allegation is a politically motivated falsehood with no basis in fact.
I know the thread has wandered, but coming back to the OP, I grew up as a highly devout Mormon in Utah in the 70s and 80s.
Reflecting the commonly held belief, Joseph Smith has a revelation that explicitly quotes Gad as saying that the constitution was divinely inspired, and the founding fathers were raised up by God for the purpose of writing it.
My obviously very Mormon AP History teacher couldn’t come right out and preach about it, but he came pretty close.
As a devout Mormon, anything was a sign of divine intervention. If you haven’t ever been a believer, you wouldn’t understand. I was surrounded by really intelligent people who had blinders when it came to Mormonism. They would never be as unquestioning about other aspects of their lives, but they would accept the most ridiculous things.
Yes, I didn’t mean that only Mormons can be true believers (although they think so). I meant that devote believers of any faith can have a deep belief that goes well beyond any rational sense.
Kinda makes sense in a way. Unlike many religions, the LDS (like the US constitution) often amend doctrine to accommodate changing mores and circumstances.
I’ve taught operating systems, and you have no clue as to what they are. There are of course many varieties, and they have evolved over time. Just like god concepts and religions.
As for abortions, fanatical anti-choice politicians have caused doctors to flee states like Texas where practicing medicine to the best of their ability can get them arrested. Women with dangerous pregnancies - and dead fetuses - can be forced to go far longer than is safe. I don’t know how many women these people have killed, definitely some.
As for godless societies no surviving - Japan is doing okay. Buddhist nations are fine. A lot of Europe is majority non-religion now. So, guess not.
I think lots of religions do that, though they claim it is from divine revelation and that the religion always taught that, but was just misunderstood by humans. Otherwise we’d still have slavery.