Loading ...
Photo by mind on fire (flickr.com)
I was recently asked a question on my formspring account that I thought deserved a longer reply:
Do you know any atheist who has not been persecuted for his/her (lack of) beliefs?
Ah, persecution. I think this word is used far too often by privileged people. For example, overly sensitive Christians claim persecution by those who don’t agree with them and who promote secularism and equal treatment. Of course this isn’t persecution at all, but who doesn’t like playing the victim when they’re so used to getting their way? I know a childish tantrum when I see one.
Anyway, there is real persecution in the world, and no matter who is being targeted, I think we should all fight for their rights and freedoms. People are imprisoned for their political and religious beliefs in many countries across the world. Many are tortured or killed simply because they will not follow the majority. To these people of all religions and non-religions, I say I’m so, so sorry. That is what persecution truly looks like. We belittle their lives when we claim to go through the same struggles.
So how about atheists being persecuted?
As you can see, I do not think many atheists are actually persecuted in the most serious sense in the developed nations, but I know some are personally harassed or discriminated against because of weighty false assumptions about the character and morality of non-theists. This is wrong, and it should definitely stop. We do have the right to speak up about inequality and gaining respect.
Have I been a victim of this treatment? Not really, no. I’ve had many people assume false things about my character since learning of my godlessness. I’ve had to keep my atheism a secret from my work environment for fear of layoffs and general stress. I know that I could not be voted into office if I ran as an atheist. These sorts of things are not terrible hardships, however. As I see it, I’m very fortunate.
So there you have it: I don’t think many atheists are persecuted in this culture, and I certainly have not been myself. Are things unequal? Yes, they are! We’re treated as an unimportant minority even though our numbers say differently. I hope things will change in my lifetime. We may not always be a so-called “Christian nation”.
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010, 2:35 pm | 
christianity, politics, questions, religion, society | 
RSS feed
| 
Respond | 
Trackback
March 10, 2010 at 3:50 pm
*nod nod* I’ve definitely had people act like dicks towards me because of being an atheist. But that’s it. It’s a far cry from the days when people were regularly burned at the stake for deviations from religious dogma, let alone anything as radical as atheism. Humanity has actually come a long way, in that sense.
Also, it strikes me that a lot of that bad stuff mostly stems from ignorance, not deliberate maliciousness. I’ve known many people, say, who have some boneheaded ideas about atheism, but they don’t mean to be jerks — they just don’t know, and haven’t questioned what they think they know. When you gently correct them, they usually respond well.
Gregory’s last blog ..Honesty Project, Day 1: Starting off by jumping in the deep end.
March 10, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Yeah, how simple can it be, really. Most people are just douchebags out of ignorance. And as we know, ignorance breeds fear and fear breeds hate and so on. Confront the ignorance and the rest of it cleans right up (well, mostly). I do think that is one of the main reasons for movements like the Out Campaign and other public atheist/freethinker/secular efforts. Why sit in the dark and complain that people don’t understand us? It just doesn’t make sense.
March 10, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Nice post. I notice for myself that when I get angry at the Boy Scouts, for example, it’s more about the fact that they exclude gays than that they exclude atheists. I don’t recall seeing news accounts of people in the US being beaten or killed for being an atheist, and even when I lived in Texas, about the worst that happened to me was becoming some Christian’s conversion project for a semester.
March 10, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Oh I am definitely angry with the Boy Scouts for religious discrimination too. But hey, we all have one or two causes that get us riled up more than others.
March 10, 2010 at 7:17 pm
have to agree with you. atheists aren’t given the best treatment in this country, but having lived next door to south africa, i know what real persecution is, and atheists have it good compared to blacks in the apartheid days!
like you said, they deserve better treatment, but, yeah, it ain’t that bad.
and christians have it so rough. *tears whelming deep in my eyes* give me an effing break!
funny enough, us agnostics never seem to get it as bad as atheists. i guess they still have hope for us. but most agnostics i know would rather be atheists than christians. i know i never hide the fact i don’t believe in the bible or the christian god!
March 10, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Agnosticism sounds so… peacekeeping. It sounds like a non-committal middle-of-the-road position to take when you’re too soft to declare “I don’t believe in any god” or “I believe in a specific spiritual path”. I realize that to many, agnosticism is a philosophical position chosen by thinkers who have examined and searched for evidence. You’re one of my very favorite agnostics since you are comfortable in your position and I believe you don’t choose it just to avoid making a decision. But believers may just see you as “a nice person who doesn’t know any better yet.” Watch out! Most of those evangelistic tracts are for you
March 10, 2010 at 10:08 pm
Thank you for writing this post. I’m flattered that my question inspired it.
Okay, so “persecuted” was too harsh a word. I agree with what you’ve written, but the main point about my question is that we, atheists (aka “heathens”) take a lot of crap from people who really should know better. Some of these folks are friends and otherwise intelligent individuals, but as soon as the A word comes up, they get so freaked out that they have to put us down, right to our faces.
I’m not whining – I mean, I’m tough and I can take it – but it seems stupid to have to defend NOT believing in magical, mythical stories and beings. I’m just saying it’s a shame it’s not the majority viewpoint in this world.
I’m careful not to stoop to that same, low level right back at them. I would like to think that I’m above it, but I’m human. I ebb. I flow. I cope. I share. Sometimes people like it and sometimes they don’t. I will not let them silence me in shame. I have rights. And not being in the majority may even be helping me better understand my (lack of) beliefs even better. Adversity is an effective teacher.
For the record, I am not about persecuting people in the true sense of the word, as you defined above. It’s wrong to fuck with other people’s lives over disagreements. I’m a humanist, after all. I believe that if we all can’t live a good life on Earth, that’s it. There’s no second chance. Atheists, at least for that one reason, seem to be more humane as a group than the religious groups have been. I would like people to open their minds to all those differences and celebrate them, rather than homogenize the world into a bunch of clones.
Benia Zouras’s last blog ..I Will Have Better Days
March 11, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Oh I’m with you on this. Imagine having to defend your lack of belief in leprechauns! Preposterous.
Great thoughts all around! I’m so glad you asked this question in the first place. So thought-inspiring!
March 11, 2010 at 12:30 am
godbots don’t think that they are persecuting us atheists when they say were are immoral perverts, they think they are being honest.
just like they think that saying the same about gays and lesbians is helping
March 11, 2010 at 12:33 am
@OlderMusicGeek
the reason agnostics don’t get a bad rap is because that is not a position on whether a diety is real or not
agnostic is a position that we can’t really know either way – it’s a statement about knowledge.
so it doesn’t challenge believers and they interpret that position as being positive.
whereas the atheist position is no evidence, no reason to accept the claims for a deity.
what’s funny to me is that the only difference between a believer and an atheist is ONE.
all believers are atheists to all other faiths but their own.
March 12, 2010 at 8:22 am
Only in America… I’m usually willing to argue any adherent to any superstition to a standstill. However, I reserve a particular passion for the brainwashed God Squad who turn up on your doorstop with their twisted agendae.
Bring on the anti-religious ethnic cleansers, I say!
March 12, 2010 at 10:10 am
“Have I been a victim of this treatment? Not really, no. I’ve had many people assume false things about my character since learning of my godlessness. I’ve had to keep my atheism a secret from my work environment for fear of layoffs and general stress.”
It seems to me that the only reason you haven’t been a victim of this treatment is because you’ve kept your lack of religious beliefs a secret at work. If you fear religious discrimination potentially resulting in layoffs and religious persecution resulting in general stress, then I’d say you’re not as fortunate as you think you are.
Atheists aren’t being stoned to death, but we still have to deal with discrimination.
March 17, 2010 at 1:04 am
You wanted me to disagree, but I can’t be two-faced! I’ll just quote what I said in the post
So take your disagreement and suck it.
haha thanks for the comment!
Trackbacks
March 10, 2010 at 6:49 pm