Coming Out Argument

Coming Out: I Am an Atheist

Amongst the celebrations for legal gay marriage all across the United States and many celebrities/non-celebrities coming out, there is now a new spin to the saying: “I’m coming out”. Former North East Hampshire MP in Britain has now revealed to the public that he is coming out as an atheist in the article written by Matt Chorley in the Newspaper Daily Mail. The title is “Conservative MP comes out... as an ATHEIST: James Arbuthnot says Tory need to believe in God is the same as pretending not to be gay”, The Daily Mail, 16 January 2015 (http://dailym.ai/1IJ2oka).

James Arbuthnot, the now former minister of defense, announced being an atheist in the House of Commons four months before stepping down during the debate
He was one of the few philosophers that criticized against religion, yet, still reasoned that humans had a right to believe and was tolerant (Lecture PowerPoint, September 22). In that argument laid the truth for the opposite matter: people with religious beliefs and values should also be tolerant and allowed to express their secular views. If Voltaire were still alive, he would agree with Arbuthnot’s regret that the world was becoming intolerant and have great expectations for people to have the same religious views rather than being free from one (Lecture PowerPoint, September 22). Additionally, we mentioned Frederick the Great in lecture in having similar arguments to Voltaire during the Age of Enlightenment. Especially at a time where he led reforms that stressed education and growth of a powerful army in Prussia, he revealed no favoritism for atheists or religious citizens for state positions (i.e., Frederick the Great was also was tolerant of all religions) (Lecture PowerPoint, September 22). This exemplified that one should not judge a person in a state position by the means of their religious or non-religious beliefs. Furthermore, Frederick the Great would also be against the intolerance of a country to peoples’