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Permalink Reply by Pope OoO (Out of Order) on June 16, 2012 at 1:28am

In fact (light bulb!), I wonder if we could sponsor atheists to do just that? What if we could start an official Atheist Political Party? And run as many APP candidates at once as possible in every state that has a law against atheists in office?

Wow. What cool headlines, no?

(Thanks to Karen for getting me to think about this!)

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Permalink Reply by James Cox on June 11, 2012 at 2:37am

Dear Folks:

Open insults from christians 'I'll pray for you', 'your brain will work better if you believe in god', 'when you work for me keep your mouth shut', character assination, etc.

I have known my share of christians of many strips. It s unclear if the belief does them any good to be better people. 

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Permalink Reply by Rob the Ridiculous on June 11, 2012 at 7:04am

Christian religious intolerance, eh?

Hmmm, well some Christians are extremely intolerant towards Christians that adhere to a different sect of Christianity, so Baptists are calling Catholics satanists, everybody makes fun of the mormons, but when their own sect is under attack they cannot seem to tolerate it.

Also, the simple fact that a lot of religious people don't seem to understand the idea of a secular nation and as such their intolerance towards people that believe differently is quite minimal. Gay marriage is a good example, but so is abstinence and many other topics. Basically, a Christian will argue that "since I believe so and so, everybody should follow these rules". Of course if the shoe is on the other foot, the cries of persecution are plentiful. 

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Permalink Reply by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on June 11, 2012 at 9:11pm

this story will impact on someone badly.

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Permalink Reply by Mabel on June 12, 2012 at 2:00pm

Heather would never make it over there:

http://www.thinkatheist.com/photo/1982180:Photo:46?commentId=198218...

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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on June 14, 2012 at 12:38pm

Reg - as you might have guessed, I couldn't resist leaving a comment - why is it their god can't do his own punishing?

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Permalink Reply by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on June 14, 2012 at 2:02pm

I suppose it does not really matter which god we talk about when it comes to religious intolerance. Is it not strange though that whichever god it is, its followers tend to have the same intolerances as it does? I recall someone posted a good picture with a similar theme about a month ago if anyone can link a url to it.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Reardon on June 12, 2012 at 9:54pm

Restricting the life or liberty of anybody because religious dogma.

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Permalink Reply by Cameron on June 13, 2012 at 2:27am

The intolerance shown toward homosexuality and all of the rhetoric that goes with it.  If one can love the person but hate the sin, that is no better than saying one can hate the person for the sin.  The final nail in christianity's coffin for me was this matter alone.  I could not follow an organized religion that condemned me and many others without a single thought on the matter.  Homophobia finds refuge in the bosom of religion.

The rejection of legitimate scientific theories and teaching in schools (public or private) for the preservation of an interpretation of the bible.  Intelligent design is not a theory.  Evolution is...like gravity.  The cry to have so-called intelligent design taught in schools is not the right way to critique the theory of evolution.  Critique it by finding new evidence.  Poking holes may spur the search for new answers, but those holes do not mean that God did it without being able to show evidence that that is indeed the case.

Additionally, the subtly ubiquitous proselytizing and presence of religion in everyday life.  The desire is to proselytize everyone, to convert all, but not everyone wants it.  And the worst part is that when people critique the views and beliefs being imposed upon them, the religious folks cry foul, claiming persecution.  When a view or belief is made public it is subject to criticism and is no longer "sacred" (off limits), there is no special frame from which a person can argue when trying to tell everyone else to believe what he or she believes or else.  This is not persecution, this is public discussion, and if you are willing to initiate the discussion you had better be prepared for the critiques and reactions.

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Permalink Reply by Lindsey on June 13, 2012 at 3:35am

My state constitution says that I'm not allowed to marry the person I love.

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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on June 14, 2012 at 1:00pm

But seriously Lindsey - and I say this with no reference intended to differentiate same-sex marriage from any other kind - but isn't the institution of marriage itself, a hold-over from religion? A formal uniting of two people in "the eyes of god"?

Wouldn't it be more honest of atheists if NONE of us married? Civil commitment ceremonies I'd have no problem with, if the purpose was to hold yourselves up to friends, neighbors, and in effect, the world, but marriage - for ANYone - seems to have such religious connotations, and for atheists, to be so hypocritical.

I know, I know, there are legalities to be overcome regarding insurance, government benefits, etc., but if those could be overcome, wouldn't it be more logical for atheists not to recognize marriage as a valid institution?

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Permalink Reply by Unseen on June 14, 2012 at 1:20pm

The real purpose of marriage, many would argue, was to create a commitmment ultimately to the benefit of children, making two people (usuallly the parents) responsible for the care and well being of the child until adulthood. We could perhaps provide a law performing this function, but while it might not be called "marriage," in effect it would be much the same.

But apart from children, why marry?

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