I remember being in Theology class in Catholic School when the teacher said if you believe in god raise your hand. I was the only kid in a class of 30 or so not to raise his hand. After that not only did the children in the class look down on me for my lack of "faith" but the teacher did as well. In an America with a African American president do you think that Atheists are the new "******s"(not using this term to be offensive).

[ ] your anecdote obviously justifies a mass generalization

what about african american atheists (also known as AAAs)?

leave your religiously fundamentalist state and come to europe. it isnt perfect, but being an atheist is cool here and there is a lot of culture to take in.

Unfortunately for you, all of that culture is based on religion.

This quote fits the thread perfectly.

Fwiw; Anyone who has the faintest clue on European history knows your statement to be one of complete ignorance.

As for arguing it...there is nothing to argue. If someone says "cars taste like apples" then fruitful debate isn't likely.

I really want to live in Europe some day. I'm thinking France. Not really sure what types of job opportunities I'd have there but I'm in need of change of scenery/culture.

Wow, what an uninformed, sweeping statement.

i wonder why america is still so religious compared to the rest of the west that lives in fairly post-religious societys. I live in Australia and i would say a high majority of people ive met my age are either atheists or indifferent atheists (don't give a **** about the debate). The christians are definitely outnumbered, hell i would say ive met as many, if not more muslims then christians. mostly the religious come from multicultral groups from very religious countries (south america, east/south europe, middle east). Perhaps it has something to do with the roots of america ie mass religious immigrants from europe, but then that doesn't explain why europe is more secular today

No only the bible explains it. Its called the mass Apostasy of the End Times.

The same religious conflicts that led to the immigration to north America were the ones that lead to the formation of the modern state concept (before this state pretty much just meant "one who has the power to back up his claims"). In this concept the state is a legal entity in itself with responsibilities to citizens and also it is "cut off" off from religion.

The last was mostly due to necessity. War and strife between different christian churches in north and south europe had effectively split the continent in half for more than 100 years. By allowing stateship unsanctioned by churches their power was effectively crushed and indirectly also their influence.

There is ofcourse a multitude of factors in addition to this, but I think the simple reason for "cultural secularity" being more common in Europe is the history of many of its nations as entities that opposed religious influence in legal and political matters.

(And before anyone whines and protests; No I am not claiming it was done perfectly, that there aren't exceptions or that religion does not have influence even if it is not included in the legal systems. Take your inductions elsewhere.)

Incidentally, this is also a common feature of dug-in "mind viruses." Predict that just before the end, people will start leaving your religion in droves, and then when people start leaving your religion in droves it will kick up an increased fervor in the remaining practitioners.

Why does it always just so happen that all these disturbing revelations happen to be analogous to psychological tricks?

Aaanyway. Atheists are more discriminated against than African-Americans? Yeah, probably. Atheists are discriminated against more than African-Americans? Nah, doubt it.

LOL. I'll bet someone out there is trying to look for virus to explain religion.

I actually think its part of faith which is the gift of God. Our personal love for God will always tip the balance in his favor.

Our minds really our like a compass. We either point to God or the devil because to not point to God is an automatic point to the devil.

Its an EITHER/OR offer by God.

Christians have spirit enlightened minds because once we accept Christ the Spirit comes to dwell in us.

I think the spiritual component we all have makes it look like a psychological trick. But the higher Spirit of God comes in to override the trick and firm up our natural disposition to faith. We simply elevate God's call over the World's phony lure.

I hope I explained my thoughts well.

I'd bet there isn't. Only in the metaphorical sense.

There is nothing that only the Bible explains correctly.

I saw on Fox news a while ago some people and a black guy were bashing atheists, and one read off a fox news survey that said more people said they were more likely to discriminate against atheists than any other group, and the black guy immediately said he didnt believe it and then they went on bashing atheists.

But you cant tell who's an atheist just by looking at them, so blacks really do have it worse off id say.

This is the key point, really. Put everyone on a list and people will rank atheists the least trustworthy, but I have never experienced anything resembling the discrimination blacks likely experience fairly often. I can imagine that atheists in very religious areas might have problems, but I think it's safe to say that most are located in educated, liberal populations.

Exactly. And I think people are much more likely to judge "atheists" in the abstract than "blacks" in the abstracts. But most people are also able to overcome those biases in the case of atheists, and view the person based on his or her individual merits. With blacks, less so - those who dislike blacks don't change their minds.

African Americans are far more discriminated against than Atheists.

I've heard discriminatory things many times about them but never once can I think of one against an atheist.

This has its roots in simple observation of human behavior. Not unlike the kind that Atheists apply to Chrisitians.

If an atheist sees a Christian do anything wrong he immediately draws a conclusion then applies it to the group. The same thing is done by non-African Americans to African Americans (and its much easier to do because of objective reality: blacks are easy to spot because of skin color).

Atheists don't go around as far as I know announcing "Hi I'm Bob and I'm an atheist". At least I've never seen one do it however objective reality trumpets the fact that someone is black everytime you lay eyes on him.

Also a lot of atheists are in the closet so nobody is even aware there's an issue. Plus there may be a sneaking sympathy for an atheist because everyone grapples with making a faith decision. What reaps atheist so many problems is that they themselves go on the offensive and exhibit supercilliousness when their atheism is challenged. Most people don't go around challenging atheists so they don't know about this propensity hence there's not a lot of prejudice. There will be the occasional outlier "religious fanatic" who has problems with atheists or someone the atheists have roughed up. Treatment inevitably shapes one opinion. How can it not? Human beings are a product of their own environment and experiences.

well, they're going to burn in hell. A completely segregated hell, but still...

ROFL...thx Dom...I needed that...

Now I can picture Autocratic down there with keys in one hand and Cerberus on a leash in the other....

Are you saying that I will not suffer in Hell, but rather play a small role in its upkeep?

Since I'm going to hell, I would like to apply for a "screw" position, as well.....I'll keep all the sinning whores and lapdancers in line.