An atheist inmate at an upstate New York prison won in a backdoor fashion when he joined five of his fellow prisoners in a lawsuit asserting religious rights to witness the April 8 total eclipse, despite a prison lockdown.The law firm representing the inmates said the agreement, "will allow our six clients to view the solar eclipse in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs.
The fact that he is a convicted serial rapist is reason enough to deny him anything but the most elementary of rights. But the ruling by the prison declaring atheism to be a religion still needs to be reversed.It makes as much sense as talking about true fiction. The website says that in the latter decision, it "specifically included 'Secular Humanism' as an example of religion."It's true that Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black rendered a footnote in Torcaso that named "Secular Humanism" as a religion that does not believe in God. But unlike Buddhism, which fits this description, Secular Humanism does not.It defines Humanism as "without theism and other supernatural beliefs" .
The organization further contends that "More than two-thirds of people who identify as humanists and who are members of the American Humanist Association also identify as atheists."