Atheists fight discrimination too

[deucemagnet]

Atheists fight discrimination too
In the U.S., there are laws protecting them. But laws aren't always obeyed, or enforced
By Greta Christina, Alternet

“You atheists are just taking on the mantle of victimhood. There are laws protecting you — especially the First Amendment. Therefore, you’re not really discriminated against. And it’s ridiculous for you to claim that you are.”

Atheist activists get this one a lot. When we speak out about ways that anti-atheist bigotry plays out, we’re told that we’re not really oppressed. We’re told that, because we have legal protection, because anti-atheist discrimination is illegal, therefore we don’t really have any problems, and we’re just trying to gain unearned sympathy and win the victim Olympics. (I’d love to hear Bob Costas do the commentary for that!) It’s a classic Catch-22: If we speak out about oppression and point to examples of it, we’re accused of “playing the victim card,” and the oppression becomes invisible. And if we don’t speak out about oppression … then the oppression once again becomes invisible.

If you’ve ever made this “discrimination against atheists is against the law” argument, I have some really bad news for you. You may want to sit down for this, it may come as a shock:

People sometimes break the law.

More: http://www.salon.com/2012/08/09/4_reasons_atheists_have_to_fight_for_their_rights_salpart/?source=newsletter

Another great article from Greta Christina that contains lots of useful links.

[deucemagnet]

1. D'oh!

I didn't notice that Trotsky already posted this in Religion. Still a good read, though.

[trotsky]

2. No big deal - I thought I should probably cross-post in here anyway...

so thanks for saving me the effort!

[sakabatou]

3. Yes, we get fucked-up many, many times.

[Curmudgeoness]

4. Yeah, and it is illegal to discrimination against women

or races or disabilities. And since that is against the law, there is no discrimination on those fronts either. Right!

I have been very lucky. I have not felt blatant discrimination because of my professed non-belief in any god. The worst that I get all the time is "I don't believe you" or "oh sure, you are just saying that". No biggie, since I don't really give a shit if they take it seriously or not. But it is the not so blatant things that are everywhere---prayers at public meetings, links between atheists and communists/terrorists/boogiemen, public school tax money that I pay going to religious schools. These are not personal attacks on me, but they might as well be, because it feels the same.

[Oregonian]

5. I think the country suffers more than me

While I hate being discriminated against, per se, I take more offense as an AMERICAN to these breaches of the First Amendment. I am not personally harmed by crosses in public squares, nor am I personally discriminated against if I am forced to hear some bible lecture. I have the necessary frontal lobe to tune out that bullshit.

But I think it's damaging to the democracy that I share with the rest of the aggrieved when a church uses the power of the government to exert their fiction on me.

[JRLeft]

6. I am afraid to tell people I am an atheist, because I fear losing my job and having friends and

family hating me.

[Arugula Latte]

9. If it comes up, you could maybe say something like:

"I just could never make myself believe in supernatural stuff." It sort of throws it back on them and makes them think, "Wait, is that what religious beliefs are?"

[ShadowLiberal]

10. Same here, I'm afraid of the consequences if anyone in my real life knew

Lets just say my life would be a lot harder if everyone knew I was an atheist, for several reasons.

-The company I work at (which my dad also works for in a different department) with around 30ish people, has a lot of very religious people. Several of them got their job there by meeting the CEO at church. Several people at my company go on yearly religious trips with their church to help poor parts of the world. Also, I've heard at least one person who works here saying to another person that she could never respect an atheist. I don't think I'd be in danger of losing my job, but it would become a lot more unpleasant to work there.

-A lot of the people in my family either are or were when they were younger very active in the church. Two of my grandparents were elders at their church for over a decade, one of them used to play the church's organ to. My brother is an ordained pastor looking for a church, my father was once a deacon for several years until he got too busy with work.

-One of my great aunts has a son I see every couple of weeks who's a real bible nut who often gets mad at his church's pastor for not being more conservative & strict in his sermons. He's a guy who's said he'd love to go to a nearby church if his wife would let him that made some local news when the pastor publicly called a guy out in the middle of a service for cheating on his wife, (which he had) and kicked him out of his church, no 'forgiveness of Christ' for him.

[Iggo]

7. But it's okay because we're meanies.

[onager]

8. No we don't!

We're just a bunch of whiners.

We never had it so good, here in One Nation Under G...er, Under Fuzzily Defined But Strictly Ceremonial Concept of A Higher Power.

We keep griping and nit-picking about the subtle difference between "religious symbols" and "4-ton traditional Xian symbols parked on public property."

Some of us are just dense and can't understand the also-subtle theological differences between liberals who believe in superstitious tripe and conservatives who believe in the same. I believe the proper name for the latter is "dumbasses."