"Persecuted" Atheists in America Need a New Perspective [View all]
Cameron English
2 days ago
The Financial Times reported last week that "Godlessness is the last big taboo in the U.S., where non-believers face discrimination and isolation." It's a serious charge, and at first glance there seems to be some truth to it. Numerous polls have revealed that Americans wouldn't elect an atheist president, while other surveys suggest that non-believers are viewed as the "least favorable" group by a majority of Americans.
Such statistics make for good human interest stories, but their significance is exaggerated. Keeping this issue in its proper perspective, there's no reason to feel sorry for the irreligious in this country.
Each year, around the start of Christmas season, Christians all over the country get themselves riled up over the so-called "War on Christmas." Each year, I respond the same way, and I now direct the same comments at atheists: Get over yourselves. Christians around the world are murdered every year because of their beliefs. A recent Pew Forum Study put the number as high as 100,000 annually. Just consider the contrast for a moment. When Americans feel discriminated against, they give sappy interviews to sympathetic journalists. In other parts of the world (say, Yemen or North Korea), people know they face discrimination because they might take a bullet for their convictions. Like I said, perspective.
So we may be relatively comfortable in America, but why are atheists looked down upon? The Financial Times suggests that it's because Christians are ignorant or judgmental, but considering how atheists portray themselves, it's difficult to think of them as a victimized minority. The famous biologist and author Richard Dawkins called religious belief "... one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate." About.com's "Best Atheist Book of the Year" in 2010, as chosen by readers, was innocently titled The Christian Delusion.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/4102/persecuted-atheists-in-america-need-a-new-perspective