Have you ever noticed that the people most often whining about religious persecution in this country are the least persecuted group? Yes, I'm talking about Christians. For some reason, the religious right seems to think that Christians (especially fundamentalists) are getting the shaft by the rest of the U.S.
I can't quite figure out how they've come to that conclusion. I mean, government does everything it can, it seems, to try to accommodate them, to not offend them. The GOP at times seems to be mostly made up of them. And yet, any time someone tries to enforce the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, they start screaming about persecution and anti-Christian legislation and so on and so forth.
The hypocrisy that goes hand in hand with their cries truly astonishes me. For, if the finger can be pointed at anyone, it is the fundies who are doing the persecuting. And one of the biggest targets for their persecution is, of course, the atheist.
We're blamed for every ill of society. We take the rap for everything because, you see, it is the lack of Christian morality that is at the root of all our problems. And, as we all know, we atheists brainwash children in our basements, raising them to be evil and to hate America, just like us!
Hmm... It makes me wonder...
I wonder how many Christians worry about having rocks thrown at their cars, or finding their vehicles with slashed tires or plastered with religious bumperstickers. I wonder how many of them receive the most vile hate mail saying that they're despicable, un-American, or evil. I wonder how many of their children are made fun of by their classmates because of their beliefs, or are prevented from joining clubs because of them. I wonder how many Christians are hesitant to tell others of their beliefs because they fear the reactions they'll get from others.
I, for one, am sick and tired of guarding my thoughts. I am not ashamed of my atheism. I make no secret of it anymore. I do not particularly care what others think of me because of it, though I admit that the above behavior does bother me when it happens, whether to me or anyone.
Perhaps above all else, I am fed up with the double standard that exists in our society. We non-theists are expected to tolerate the belief systems of the theists, to respect their views and not ridicule that which we find ridiculous. On the other hand, few theists respect or tolerate the views of the non-theist. All too often, they react with shock and outrage. They proselytize and preach and think nothing of our feelings.
It is okay, for example, for them to blame atheists for everything, for former President Bush to say that he doesn't even think atheists should be considered citizens. But let an atheist challenge a Christian on their belief system in a rational way, let one atheist say that there isn't a god, and all of a sudden, out comes the Christian indignation. How dare we?
Well, we have to dare something. We sure don't get to broadcast things the way Christians do. Our television programming is rife with such things as "documentaries" about angels and revolting shows like "Touched by an Angel." National news magazines have long articles on heaven and God. Religious dogma is force fed to us at every turn. "In God We Trust" is minted onto our currency. Our impressionable children recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day in school, proclaiming that we are "one nation under God." Non-theist boys are forbidden to be members of the Boy Scouts of America, a fact that most people don't know and almost no child understands.
People need to put things in perspective and see who is truly being persecuted here. Christians as a whole are pandered to in this country. There's no persecution of them that I can see. On the other hand, I would be very surprised if many people even care that non-theists are being treated unfavorably. The price we pay for living lives free from superstition seems to be this persecution.
It would be nice if theists would practice the tolerance and acceptance that so many of them preach, but it seems that many of them are unable to do so. And if persecution is their only way of dealing with us, then bring it on, believers. Bring it on.
