Comments on: The Persecution of Atheists

By: Jim Jones

Jim Jones — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:05:41 +0000

Atheism is a religion in exactly the same way that sanity is a mental illness. (And learn to spell).

By: Jim Jones

Jim Jones — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:02:31 +0000

Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Kim Il-sung weren’t murderous dictators because they were atheists. They were murderous dictators because they were evil, power hungry bastards.

They were atheists because they didn’t want any organization (like a church) which could challenge them. If it had suited their plans they’d have been whirling dervishes. Each created a cult of personality – in which they became gods, just as many kings have claimed they were anointed by ‘god’. That’s also what happened to an extent with Hitler – although he died a Christian.

They all embraced the same philosophy — “Unless you are the lead dog on the dog sled team the view never changes”.

By: Jim Jones

Jim Jones — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:51:14 +0000

In reality, there is no practical difference between an agnostic and an atheist (agnostic is more like a weasel word to me). Both will reorder their lives in exactly the same way to accommodate the possibility of a ‘god’ – not at all. If either ever saw evidence of a ‘god’ they would treat the evidence with the same level of skepticism and would require the same level of proof to believe.

It’s a difference without a difference.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:01:01 +0000

You made me think more clearly. I have long been a champion of the underdog and downtrodden. These days my supervisor is gay. And I just read about kids from some school being suspended (yes “suspended”) for driving a gay kid to suicide. You know what? I would want to make those kids who drove that kid to suicide deeply regret what they did for at least 20 years. Let that act influence their lives. They should become losers. They should never amount to much. That is my wish. That is not cruelty at all on my part. I have been an overweight kid on the receiving side of bullying. That is how I developed a kinship with the people who are different and could not help being different. Of course, I’ve been an atheist most of my life!

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 01:45:06 +0000

I am sorry you and your family have had these experiences. The religionists are cro magnons. That’s the most I can say about them. I have no respect for their ignorance. They have no excuse for their own ignorance.

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 01:41:48 +0000

There is a thread on Fox News.com a few months ago. Maybe it was Fox News’ Facebook. It was about atheism. The bloggers mostly were in favor of executing atheists! I saw so for myself. Funny that their own leaders, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh praise the ATHEIST Ayn Rand and her “Atlas Shrugged,” but they are too shallow to make the connection that atheism is not necessarily collectivist.

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 01:38:53 +0000

Huh? How come we atheists must move to North Korea? I’m a capitalist, not a communist. And I’m also an atheist. I would die the first day in NK. The USA is not a Christian nation, but the way. The first amendment guarantees freedom from having an established religion. Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin were deists. Ron Paul is a Christian but he is a strict constitution man who would not impose religion on us. So no, atheist can be Americans too. You want a theocratic nation? Look to the Taliban-ruled Afganistan as your model. Some model huh?

By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:30:28 +0000

persecute – to pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religion, race, or beliefs; harass persistently.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/persecute

By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:18:28 +0000

To downplay our treatment because it can be so much worse in other parts of the world is a terrible mistake and it borders on cowardice. I have three kids. They have all come home from school at some point, in tears, because of the harassment they receive in school. It was worse for my son who brought up his mistreatment to his teachers. Do you think it stopped? No way. Recently at my work I was forced to take an online harassment and discrimination training. I work at a state university. When it came to the section on religious harassment the guidance the university gave was “One should use caution and sensitivity when trying to influence others religious believes”. In other words people can preach to me but should stop when I become really upset by it. Do I not have the right to work without being preached to? When it comes to sexual harassment do we say “one should use caution when directing sexual comments at others”? no way. So while it is true that we are lucky we don’t live somewhere that is much worse, it is not justification for accepting things as they are.

By: John D

John D — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:22:31 +0000

My wife was forced to leaver her job as an 8th grade science teacher because she inadvertently mentioned not believing in god. A student asked her where do you go to church? Without thinking, my wife answered that she didn’t go to church. The follow up was “Why not?” My wife answered “I don’t believe in god”.
It wasn’t the parents that made her quit. The students began to harass her, vandalize her property, threaten her with violence including rape. The school administrators did nothing. That was last year.
Having gotten away with that, this year, the students confronted my daughter, a 9th grader. We had to withdraw her from her public school for her safety.
We want to move away from Texas, but we will lose our house and all of our savings. I feel like a German Jew in 1938.
This is what you can expect if Rick Perry becomes president. Yes, the ratcheting up of intolerance toward religious minorities began under then governor Bush. But actual violence against atheists began when Rick Perry came into office and really go going when the Tea Party started up.
We have started going out armed. (Of course, that’s not unusual for Texas residents) I do feel that we are in some physical jeopardy. Ten years ago, I would not have believed that a school girl in United States would bullied out of public schools for being an atheist. No, the TEA doesn’t care; the school administration would rather our daughter just go away than deal with it, even though she is GT and has always received commended scores on the standardized tests. The CHRISTIAN students who are the perpetrators are predominantly Free Lunch/Special Ed/”At Risk”/low income types.
So, while the discrimination may not be “official”; it is certainly tolerated. In many ways, this makes it far more effective and efficient.