Over Winter Break, I reunited with a friend of mine who came from one of the few staunch Republican families I knew in Bethesda. I was over at her house and fell into a conversation with her mother, who if anything was more rightwing than her daughter (who'd probably be best described as a moderate conservative). One of the topics of conversation we got into was religious discrimination in America. She had completely bought into the meme that it was Christians who were persecuted here, and atheists got preferential treatment from the government and society. I said that this was a tremendous exaggeration, and not being able to put a 2 ton ten commandments statute in the middle of a courthouse pales in comparison to the social and political ostracization faced by religious minorities across the country.
We went back and forth for awhile, and finally, I cited a Fox News poll saying that around 50% of Americans would refuse to vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for the Presidency. I thought it was my coup d'grace, until she said that she won't vote for one either. Unfortunately, "House" came on right then on Fox, so that ended the conversation. But I was aghast.
Today, Kevin Drum links to a study showing significantly higher negative views by Americans of atheists than of nearly any other group, including Muslims, Gays and Lesbians, and immigrants. The study's authors claim that atheists constitute a glaring exception to the rule of increased social tolerance that has prevailed over the last 30 years.
I am not an atheist. But I am a religious minority. I bear close to my heart Niemoller's warning of what happens when you don't speak up for those they come for first. Degrading the dignity of some threaten the dignity of us all. The message of millennia of human warfare, genocide, imperialism, and destruction is that above all us, respect the dignity of others. There is no alternative. And people who foster hate and resentment toward their fellow human beings are the handmaidens of Satan, even if they claim to speak for God.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I must really be a terrible, sinful person. A wifebeater, a thief, a fornicator, a litterer even!! A criminal at best.
Why? Because I am an atheist. No question - "THERE IS NO GOD. THERE IS NO AFTERLIFE"
So I must be a total failure too.
Why? Because the only record that the police have on me is a traffic offence when I was 18. Driving a wreck...
Well, just another reason to not want to visit the USofA. I might get arrested for being a non-believer.
Great post. I am willing to bet that there are many, many people, church-goers even, who would never ever ADMIT to being an athiest, even in an anonymous poll. I believe there are many more athiests out there than anyone really knows.
Dave,
"Otherwise qualified" is the confusing part for many. For many believers atheism is not ... well rational. Would you vote for a person who was "otherwise qualified" but believed in a flat earth or a geo-centric solar system? Would it be discrimination to say no?
And that's the question, in what way is it discriminatory (in a bad way) to wish to vote aligned with people who share your beliefs? I think it is a little elitist on your part to insist that people share your particular criteria for deciding for whom to vote, no?
Post a Comment