Monday, December 10, 2012

Do You Suffer from Persecution?


Yahoo News reports: 

Atheists around world suffer persecution, discrimination: report says


GENEVA (Reuters) - Atheists and other religious skeptics suffer persecution or discrimination in many parts of the world and in at least seven nations can be executed if their beliefs become known, according to a report issued on Monday.
The study, from the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), showed that "unbelievers" in Islamic countries face the most severe - sometimes brutal - treatment at the hands of the state and adherents of the official religion.
But it also points to policies in some European countries and the United States which favor the religious and their organizations and treat atheists and humanists as outsiders.

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This made me wonder how many readers of this blog would report feeling persecuted or discriminated against for their beliefs, atheist or not?

I would like to hear from you!

Also, do I suffer from persecution? 
NO, I enjoy every minute of it.

Persecute Away.  I can take it.



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If you enjoyed this post you may also like to read:
25 Ways to Pass on "Love" and "Tolerance" to My Child

Going Back in to the Atheist Closet

3 comments:

  1. Generally Australians are not very religious, but we definitely have our share of fanatics. I have experienced being excommunicated by a cult, then being cut off from a mainstream faith community. And that wasn't even for atheism - just the sin of questioning! They would be so shocked if they knew I no longer even believe in god!

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  2. To trumpet my atheism in public would make me as much an oddity as the person who talks about a "relationship w/Jesus" to anyone within earshot.

    So I don't "come out" and make people confront me. The people who know me well, listen to what I say (or *don't* say), and observe what I do (or do not do) will draw their own conclusions. It obvious I'm not religious, and in subtle ways, I say so.

    As a yoga teacher, in a world full of woo-woo, I decline to spread the New Age Good News. I am about getting the body to feel better, stronger, and balanced. No "toxins" or "chakras" or "cleansing" involved. Some poses will help you poop, though. Getting to that tight spot in your glutes with the right combination of twisting and forward bending? Priceless. Using your breath to focus your mind and notice your mental habits? Even the renowned atheist Richard Dawkins advoates mindfulness in "The God Delusion."

    If I went around picking fights about religion, proclaiming atheism is the only sane choice, I might get some backlash, esp. working with the public. Anyone who's hostile is bound to get some in return. (That's karma -- another woo-woo concept that is reasonably illustrated with "what you give is what you get"). It doesn't always work, so I don't preach it. Otherwise, every cheat and liar would be suffering punishment. As it stands, they run the country.

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  3. I'm a relatively new homeschooling mom (who also happens to be an atheist), and I live in a community outside Chicago where people rarely talk about their religious beliefs, but I am open. However, when I was still living in Texas, I was actually fired from my job for not being a Christian. I had never told anyone I was an atheist, but because I did not participate in fundraisers for anti-choice marathons and such, and because I never accepted invitations from coworkers to attend their church, it was automatically assumed that I was an atheist. So when a coworker was about to be laid off due to budget cuts at the company, she convinced the president to get rid of me instead because of my "lack of morals." I was a hard worker, worked overtime frequently, did the job of at least two people, yet I was the one who got the boot because the president preferred an open Christian to me. I considered suing, but I had just found out I was pregnant and was devastatingly ill for half of my pregnancy. It was not worth the fight at the time. If it happened today, I would be loud.

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