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'Like lesser Americans': Atheists face discrimination, persecution, report says
This news saddens me.
You do you think about this?
What should we do to face this discrimination?
GENEVA -- Atheists and other religious skeptics suffer persecution or discrimination in many parts of the world and in at least seven countries can be executed if their beliefs become known, according to a report issued 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 that favor the religious and their organizations and treat atheists and humanists as outsiders.
The report, "Freedom of Thought 2012," said "there are laws that deny atheists' right to exist, curtail their freedom of belief and expression, revoke their right to citizenship, restrict their right to marry."
Other laws "obstruct their access to public education, prohibit them from holding public office, prevent them from working for the state, criminalize their criticism of religion, and execute them for leaving the religion of their parents."
In the United States, for example, where freedom of religion and speech is protected, a social and political climate prevails "in which atheists and the non-religious are made to feel like lesser Americans, or non-Americans," the report said.
In at least seven U.S. states, constitutional provisions are in place that bar atheists from public office and one state, Arkansas, has a law that bars atheists from testifying as witnesses at trials, the report said.
Read the rest here.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by James Kz on -
I referred to that above. That is an unsupported statement of one journalist who did not record it, and no other journalists in the area heard it.
Still, it is in keeping with Dubya's positions, and I found it somewhat offensive, as I was serving in the Navy at the time.
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Permalink Reply by James Kz on
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You're welcome, Steph S. who is secretly Wonder Woman but I am not tellin' (:
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Permalink Reply by James Kz on
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I take that back. These are 11,807 images of Wonder Woman on Photobucket and as anyone can see, Steph S looks nothing like her, or her invisible plane.
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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on -
James Kz, this Navy vet (a shipboard electrician in the Korean War) deeply appreciates the GI Bill; it helped me pay for college, where I quit religion.
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Permalink Reply by Steph S. on -
Way to go Tom. Glad the GI Bill assisted in your college education - where you decided to quit religion.
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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on
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The news saddens me too.
What I feel about it varies. At times I want to cocoon; at other times I want to fight it.
To face it, MORE OF US need to do what gays & lesbians did 40-plus years ago: have our own Stonewall Riots. We have to charge at full speed out of our closet.
In this land of the free and home of the brave, we have to be brave if we want to be free.
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Permalink Reply by Steph S. on
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Tom I also feel like we should no longer hide. We shouldn't be persecuted for our non-belief. Yes, we need to be brave. We need to come out of our closet. However, that will prove to be tough for some of us who stand to lose our families when they find out the news. There are costs involved in coming out.
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