re: High School Football Coach Baptizes Players

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Except a traditional and long accepted definition of the word atheism is, "I know there is no God". Meaning that there being no God can be proven. Since that is quite impossible, you and every other atheist are in reality agnostic.
A traditional and accepted definition of agnostic is, "I believe there is no God".
Christians and every other deists based religion live and worship by faith, or a belief in a higher power.
Now, people often point to some bastardized definition of atheism to prop up their proclamation that they are, in fact, an atheist, but by the definition it is impossible, as even the most intelligent of both believers and non-believers have yet to produce any tangible proof that God does or does not, in fact, exist.

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I can't think of any other example in English where this would hold.

Theist - Believes that there is a god, but doesn't believe they can prove it.
Agnostic - Doesn't believe there is a god.
Atheist - Believes there is no god and that this can be proven.

Makes no sense as a convention.

On the other hand:

Gnostic Theist - Believes that there is a god and that said existence is proven.
Agnostic Theist - Believes there is a god but that said existence can't be proven.
Agnostic - Lacks knowledge or belief in either direction.
Agnostic Atheist - Lacks a belief in any gods, but doesn't believe said nonexistence can be proven.
Gnostic Atheist - Lacks a belief in any gods and believes said nonexistence is proven.

Strikes me as significantly more clear.

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We are talking about something (the supposed influence of God) that really should transcend cultural barriers - but it doesn't. If the Christian God exists and wants people to understand His message, religious preference shouldn't so obviously come down to where you're born and raised. There should be something so clear and inherent about Christianity that good people understand it and are drawn to it whether they are born in the USA, Saudi Arabia or China.

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You do know Christianity originated in the middle east, right? It has cross oceans and spread to all the corners of the world. Christianity has millions of followers in China, and is considered the faster growing religion in China and even Iran.

I think most people don't realize Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all based off of a the same core of beliefs. The first five books of the Christian Bible is called the Torah for Judaism, and called the Tawrah (Islam) or something... I'll have to look up to get right spelling. Either way, all three religions make up the vast majority of the Earth's population. All three of them acknowledge Moses, David, and even Jesus. So yes, Religion has transcended cultures for thousands of years. The culture influence doesn't come into play until you branch off those basic shared views. Christianity believing Jesus is the Son of God, Judaism and Islam believe Jesus was a Great Prophet. All three believe and use the same core/foundation though.

So the map is really outdated, but it does prove my point that the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) covers most of the globe. It's a little discerning to see the map say China is not religious. That couldn't be further from the truth, Taoism and Confucianism are big as well as local religions/folklore. I guess the argument could be made that those are more spiritualities and not Religions.

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I am an atheist

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You're really, really hoping you're right, aren't you?

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If there is a god, I find it equally as likely that said god rewards honest disbelievers who led a good life while punishing lazy “believers” as is the alternative. 

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I am a Christian. I was a Catholic, but now I'm not. I have studied World Religions for many years. I can tell you about the main religions of the world and many of the smaller ones. That has not changed my faith. I do believe Jesus called us to spread his word, and I believe Christians have that obligation. What troubles me is where I think you have a problem with as well. Hypocrisy. Many people don't have a problem spreading the Word. What many struggle with is... THE WORD. How is it right to teach you about Jesus, and then insult you for being Agnostic? How is it right to tell someone they are wrong and going to face the fires of Hell for not believing correctly? Jesus preached love and compassion. That's where Christian's are failing. If I tell you about my belief and you disagree, why can't we still show love and compassion for each other? Why does it have to be judgment? No body on this planet, no matter their religion or lack of, deserves anything less than love and compassion. We can be smartasses on a website, maybe, it's definitely one of my flaws... But I don't see how shoving one person's belief down someone's throat is bringing them closer to your religion. It pushes then away.

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Nobody was forced under water...nobody was forced to attend. The football field wasn't scheduled to be used for anything else at the time, and wasn't damaged. Not a big deal IMHO.

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I suspect if a Muslim employee used the football field to conduct an initiation into Islam for willing students (however that is done) I doubt it would go over very well in the Reeltown community.

However, I imagine if a Christian teacher from Reeltown went to some other country to teach, say, English as a second language and was told they could not influence the students toward Christianity (even if asked about it) that they would come back complaining about it.

Hypocrisy. Total hypocrisy.

The bottom line for me: Parents and church leaders should be more than adequate to lead / teach kids about whatever flavor of religion they like. Unless it's a private school, let the coach teach the kids how to run a zone read and let the parents and church leaders teach the kids how live according to a particular faith.

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So the map is really outdated, but it does prove my point that the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) covers most of the globe.

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Major differences between Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

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Major differences between Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

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All three Religions branch off the same Tree Trunk. It definitely varies as it gets higher in the air and spreads out, but all three are formed from the same. To say any different would be incorrect.

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. I just don't understand why a baptism has to take place at the 50 yard line of a public high school football field.

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It's what the trumpets would call virtue signaling if they disagreed with it.

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All three Religions branch off the same Tree Trunk. It definitely varies as it gets higher in the air and spreads out, but all three are formed from the same. To say any different would be incorrect.

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Hell, there are countless twigs off of all of those branches. In spite of all the Bible reading and prayer for understanding God apparently can't get people on the same page. It's like He's not even there.