Dislike and distrust of atheists?

[Cobol]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack of religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

"How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?"

It has never slowed me down, maybe the problem is that you are not an atheist, you are an antitheist, and the resistance you are feeling is a reaction to your own bias and prejudice.

 

[George-ananda]

I think you are underestimating theists opinion of atheists in the 21st century. Times have advanced and diversity is not so shocking. Most of us theists are more enlightened than the OP insinuates.

 

[bobhikes]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

While I don't think its as bad as you state their is a prejudice against atheism. While some of it is caused by religious beliefs some of it is being caused by atheist themselves. Constantly criticizing and challenging even the slightest believed right is making more enemies then friends. The best way to approach it is to build bridges not break down walls. Find common ground between the two. Nothing is 100% bad and Nothing is 100% good.

Bridging the good might actually collapse the negatives of religion faster. People might leave the religious negatives if they could get the positives from atheism.

When you beat an animal it will likely attack. We are humans we can out think and don't have to attack. Using sugar will always work fast and they'll be more willing.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I think you are underestimating theists opinion of atheists in the 21st century. Times have advanced and diversity is not so shocking. Most of us theists are more enlightened than the OP insinuates.

I agree that we've come a long way. But it's also true that until recently, atheists ranked lowest trusted group (recently edged out by Muslims) in polls. And instances of things like custody bias against atheists has happened. And those laws against atheists taking state governance positions are there, albeit unenforceable. The feeling of frustration and being distrusted arent coming from nowhere. Not everywhere either, but not nowhere.

 

[Valjean]

"How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?"
Camouflage!
crucifixes, bibles, scattered biblical quotes.
I've always wanted to don a miter, but I worry it might be too much...

 

[Cobol]

"How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?"

It has never slowed me down, maybe the problem is that you are not an atheist, you are an antitheist, and the resistance you are feeling is a reaction to your own bias and prejudice.

Bias and prejudice are not the words I would use to describe my position.

Triumphalism and sectism are more accurate.

 

[Ingledsva]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack of religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

Such laws show the stupidity of allowing religions to take over governments.

*

 

[Kenny]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack of religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

love me!

 

[suncowiam]

I think you are underestimating theists opinion of atheists in the 21st century. Times have advanced and diversity is not so shocking. Most of us theists are more enlightened than the OP insinuates.

Definitely not most of theists but definitely more of theists these days.

 

[shmogie]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack of religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

Oh please. What nonsense. All you need is evidence for your bizarre statements. Don't just spew opinion, if something is true, it isn't without evidence. You have a habit of venting your anti religious spleen by making outrageous statements that every reader must accept, just because you said it, you think

 

[Cobol]

Oh please. What nonsense. All you need is evidence for your bizarre statements. Don't just spew opinion, if something is true, it isn't without evidence. You have a habit of venting your anti religious spleen by making outrageous statements that every reader must accept, just because you said it, you think

You know darn well you discriminate against atheists. I can sense it in your post above, and as far as having evidence for my post, just do your own research.

The time that Jesus Christ supposedly existed is one the most heavily documented periods in ancient history. Yet there is virtually zero historical evidence of his supposed existence in any contemporary historical record.

When discussing the alleged existence of Jesus Christ, one piece of "evidence" that frequently gets mentioned is the account of Flavius Josephus.

It has been demonstrated continuously over the centuries that "Testamonium Flavium" was a forgery manufactured by the Catholic Church, and was inserted into Josephus's works. The Testamonium Flavium account is so thoroughly refuted, that biblical scholars since the 19th century have refused to refer to it, unless to mention its false nature.

 

[psychoslice]

The theist have nothing over the atheist, its the atheist that need to distrust the theist with all their silly childish stories.

 

[1137]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack of religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

I'm sure it must be easy to feel victimized, which is why so many do it. I do think that this county has a Christian culture which carries far too much power in our justice system. I imagine whatever issues an atheist may have in court would only double for someone on the LHP!

But no, for me it's nothing more than the nature of one's position. I don't think atheists are less moral, or nihilistic, or abusive, or anything of that nature. And in fact there are many atheists I have no issues with at all, not a one. But when it comes to a place like an online forum, you get a lot of... garbage. It's specifically that garbage for me that turns me against atheism, nothing else, and not in any non-philosophical way.

 

[Nakosis]

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

I don't push my beliefs. In fact I doubt anyone other than the folks on RF knows my beliefs. Among family and friends, I don't discuss religion or politics. I find both to be unnecessarily divisive.

There are plenty of other things to find in common to talk about. If someone were to ask me, I'd be honest about it but usually no one asks.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack of religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

It's illegal to hold public office in seven states if your an atheist? Separation of church and state makes the illegality of any such policy void.

Never heard of that one. I can see favoritism from the voters if the demographics fit in favor of theists.

Anyways theists should be educated more. They started out in life as atheists themselves until someone introduced the ideology behind theism. If anything, any type of hatred is definitely misguided and irrational considering that theism is a baseless construct.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

Avoid bringing it up in situations and environments where there is no benefit to talking about it and a risk of it causing you harm, such as at a place of employment. It's rarely necessary for anyone to know, so it's generally avoidable that other people find out unless you want them to.

As for such a "disadvantage," it is generally outweighed by the advantage of generally being a more rationally-minded person of higher intelligence than your average religious-minded person. Most things in life are generally a trade-off of some kind.

 

[Willamena]

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

First, I'll just point out that not all atheists can be described as secular. Probably, very few.

Atheists have the same advantages afforded LGBQ, women, and people of colour. They can protest in the streets, blog about their experiences, and petition their government officials for change.

 

[jonathan180iq]

"Oh, woah is me! I'm an atheist who's demographic has historically been marginalized..."

I do not care about this line of argument because I see no future value from it. I don't think we should want pity or special treatment, for any reason. It's a good thing that we've had to claw for our place in society. I relish the scrutiny - it's what makes us better.

 

[David T]

Human society has long declared high rates of secular phobia the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people within America.

Atheist parents have been denied custody rights in the wake of a divorce. It's illegal for an atheist to hold public office in seven states. Charity donations are rejected when offered by secularist organizations.There is no question that atheists, agnostics, secularists, and others who eschew religion are widely disliked.

Americans equate lack of religiosity in general with being immoral and un-American. People simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than other minority groups.

Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know is an increasingly shaky endeavor. In order for religions to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain, and anyone who rejects faith, or calls it into question, is a threat. Atheists have no faith in God, and thus theists are threatened by the growing presence of atheists, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky: religious faith.

How can secular folks contend with this disadvantageous position?

Here in oregon self declared atheism makes up 4% of the population. Interestingly there are a lot of self declared atheists that "believe" that the growing number of not a part of institutional accedemic religion are them!!! Hardly because for them, atheism is a part of the imstitutional, accedemic religion and nothing more. Its interesting in a state that's one of the lowest in religious affiliation also has extremely low percentage of self declared atheists. Maybe they didn't grow up with religion who knows.