It may come as a surprise to some of you, especially the religious out there, but atheists walk a tough road. We face discrimination on many fronts, are often shunned by friends and family for our lack of blind faith and in some places even face imprisonment or death if we are open in our disbelief. The truth of the matter is that discrimination based upon religious ignorance is alive and well in the world and atheists are front and center where that hatred is concerned.
A report released by the International Humanist and Ethical Union and reported on by Reuters News shows how extreme this treatment of non-believers can be. According to the article:
The report, "Freedom of Thought 2012", said "there are laws that deny atheists' right to exist, curtail their freedom of belief and expression, revoke their right to citizenship, restrict their right to marry."Other laws "obstruct their access to public education, prohibit them from holding public office, prevent them from working for the state, criminalize their criticism of religion, and execute them for leaving the religion of their parents."
Think for a moment what this really means. Non-believers have to hide their lack of belief from authorities or risk extreme punishment or even death for using their brains to think for themselves. That's got to be something that people who live in nations where freedom of religion is an accepted principle have to find hard to comprehend.
It's also something that far too many of us take for granted. We take for granted the freedoms that we supposedly have and far too often think we should just leave well enough alone, even when the religious are continually trying to cross the lines that separate church and state in their efforts to bring us closer to a theocracy in which they could create the exact same types of laws and deny us equality under the eyes of the state.
For those of you out there who don't think we have the same type of oppression here in the US, you couldn't be more wrong. While it is true that our laws are secular and the constitution does guarantee freedom of religion, that does not mean that we are safe from persecution by the religious. All one has to do is a quick search to find stories about atheists who are fired from their jobs and denied their livelihoods for their lack of belief. Just look at the case Amanda Donaldson who was fired by a “good christian” for being an atheist, losing her health insurance coverage all while being treated for cancer. Yeah, that' real charitable of the douche-bag isn't it? This is also something that is far more common than we would like to admit.
You can also look to see what happens to kids when they announce their atheism to friends and family or fight against religion being pushed in public schools. People like Damon Fowler and Jessica Ahlquist can tell you how charitable, loving and tolerant the religious really are when atheists stand up for or are open about their lack of belief. Their stories show how evil the religious are, even when we are talking about their own family members or just kids trying to do what they think is right.
Religious people can openly speak their bullshit without fear of losing their jobs, as long as they are not proselytizing and violating some rule established in a workplace, but in many cases our lack of belief must be hidden or we risk losing promotions or jobs because of religious bigotry. Religious people can push for their superstitious bullshit to be taught in the classroom, but if someone stands up and demands that the separation of church and state be respected in our schools, the death threats and hatred come flying from all directions from so-called “good christians”. Religious people can be open and even pushy with their family about their beliefs without any fear of reprisal. Dare to out yourself as an atheist to your family and you risk ostracism, a barrage of hatred and even being thrown out of your home, regardless of whether or not you are still a child. Now that's what I call religious loving and understanding.
How many of you tell your kids to not talk about religion to their friends? How many of you do it just so they can get along because you know in your heart that being open will result in bullying, loss of friends and social ostracizing by the religious? How many of you are honest with your kids about this reality and tell them they really do have to fear the religious because they are so damned hateful and intolerant of people who don't share a belief in the supernatural? Do you tell your kids that any other belief system is better to these people than no beliefs at all?
It's time we stop deluding ourselves about what being an open atheist means. What it means regardless of where we live is that we are putting ourselves at risk, be it of imminent danger or simply ostracizing ourselves from the majority of society and ruining our career and social life. If you really think that you are safe in society, then why are you still in the closet? Why don't you speak up when someone is preaching to you? Why do you hide your lack of belief from work, friends and most people? The truth is because you know how unsafe being an atheist is, even in America where we pretend this is the land of the free. As atheists, we are anything but free because we know how hated we are by the majority of people who live around us and how vindictive they are once they realize that we are not “one of them”.
Next time some religious asshole is preaching about the bible and their god, ask yourself why you aren't chiming in and telling them they are full of shit. Next time some fucking moron is talking about the 6000 year-old earth and you are silently nodding in agreement with a smile on your face, ask yourself why you are not telling this simpleton that his religion is bullshit and he's a moron for believing religious tripe instead of proven science. The real truth is that until more of us stand up and be counted, the religious will continue to think that their bullying tactics are acceptable because it keeps us silent. Until every last one of us opens up, fights for total equality and fights against those who think they a have the right to oppress us, fire us or ostracize us socially for not believing in fairy tales then we will continue to empower the assholes and their continual assault on our secular society.
No comments:
Post a Comment