Jade: an agnostic is someone who believes in a higher power but does not care, basically
No, an Agnostic is someone that does not know whether or not there is a higher power. Someone who believes in a higher power, but is not attatched to any particuler creed, is a Theist.
That may be an "oversimplification" but what is wrong with that?
The problem with it is that it's so grossly oversimplified as to be misleading and generally unhelpful in discussion, particularly of the sort we're having now.
Also, I never mentioned anything about clans or families or tribes. I said sects/septs: which are various diversions of the main religion.
Please go educate yourself on what a "sept" is. Wikipedia's a great resource. (While you're there, you may wish to check out the closely-related "Sippe" article—I wrote much of that one.)
Oh, I understand the fundementals of belief, and the psychological aspect and all that, but can never understand how someone could REALLY beleive.
Well, I can't speak for others, but in my case, two simple words were enough: "Divine intervention".
But as with any group of people, organized or not, there will be some who will use their belief/politics/power or whatnot to supress others or make fun of others or treat others in a hateful or violent manner. But that has more to do with that persons core values and makeup than it does with whatever belief, religious or political or whatever, that they follow.
This I completely agree with, with one caveat: Beliefs, religious, political, or philosophical (we can sum these up as "relosophical") affect a person's core values and makeup.
the biggest difference between the "religion" of atheism from other religions is two-fold: the majority of us do not feel the need to "spread the word" or "encourage" others to feel the same way. and we are not organized.
Once again, I disagree. Most of the atheists I know (far more than the Buddhists, Jews, and Muslims I know, especially, and even more than the Christians I know) do indeed feel the need to "spread the word". However, I do agree that atheists are not "organized". On the other hand, there are many religious adherents that are also unorganized.
Roughly 18% of the citizens of the United State of America identify themselves as atheist.
I'm very curious where you got this figure, as an ARIS study in 2001 showed that 0.4% of Americans self-identified as Atheist, and a Pew Research Council (slightly less reliable) study in 2002 found that 2% of Americans were Atheist. I'd sure be interested in seeing the details for any study which claims that Atheism has mushromed over 800% in the last 6 years.
Oh, and you've got your Jedi facts wrong. In one British census, a little under 0.8% of Britain claimed "Jedi" as their religion, mostly by way of a wide-spread, organized practical joke (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_census_phenomenon for lots more info). And remember that this was in the UK, where the "Official Monster Raving Loony Party" has been elected to political office…
Oppression of this sort is exactly why the first amendment was written, to defend people with a certain faith from being abused by those of a differing view, even atheists, who would use legislation or force to oppress those of a given faith.
Actually, as best I can tell, the first amendment was written for the purpose of keeping government from corrupting religion. Religious bigotry was still exceedingly widespread back in the day...