Question for the "Aganist Atheist Discrimination"

[WinePusher]

Can any members cite real instances of discrimination aganist atheist? I tend to reserve the term "discrimination" for severe "discrimination" cases such as seperate schools and water fountains based on race.

I notice the description promotes atheists should be able to get a job despite their atheism, can you cite instances where atheists have been denyed jobs based on their convictions, or lack of convictions?

Also, please don't cite the examples of atheists not being elected to political office. It is not discrimination when the american people exercise their right to cast their ballot based on the candidate they want, the american people get to decide what qualities and factors they will consider when voting, and if they don't want to vote for an atheist then they have the right not to and it is not equivalent to the real discrimination cases we have had of segregation.

Can the atheist, or member of this group, say that they have never taken a candidates religious backgrounds into consideration? Is it ok to vote along religious/personal belief qualifiers when it comes to Christian Fundamentalists and not ok when it comes to atheists?

[nygreenguy]

Can any members cite real instances of discrimination aganist atheist? I tend to reserve the term "discrimination" for severe "discrimination" cases such as seperate schools and water fountains based on race.

I notice the description promotes atheists should be able to get a job despite their atheism, can you cite instances where atheists have been denyed jobs based on their convictions, or lack of convictions?

Also, please don't cite the examples of atheists not being elected to political office. It is not discrimination when the american people exercise their right to cast their ballot based on the candidate they want, the american people get to decide what qualities and factors they will consider when voting, and if they don't want to vote for an atheist then they have the right not to and it is not equivalent to the real discrimination cases we have had of segregation.

Can the atheist, or member of this group, say that they have never taken a candidates religious backgrounds into consideration? Is it ok to vote along religious/personal belief qualifiers when it comes to Christian Fundamentalists and not ok when it comes to atheists?

People wont vote for an atheist because they are atheists. People outright say this, polls outright say this. This is textbook definition atheism.

I dont not vote for someone because they are christian, rather because their policies may reflect their religion. This is a merit based decision, which rules out discrimination.

I did a quick search and found a few examples:

Gray, Tennessee: Carletta Sims joined a financial firm in June 2001. Shortly afterward, two Baptist coworkers took offense upon learning that Sims was an atheist. Management granted the coworkers’ request to be assigned workspaces further from Sims. When Sims complained about a picture of Jesus left on her computer, management discharged her. Sims filed suit, seeking $250,000; U.S. District Judge Thomas Hull ruled that “religious discrimination (or preferential treatment of Christians) can be inferred.� In January 2004, the major bank that had since acquired the firm settled with Sims for an undisclosed amount.

Ada, Oklahoma: A Baptist student told a local newspaper she wouldn’t take professor William Zellner’s classes because he was an atheist, triggering a flurry of abuse. Zellner received harassing notes and telephone calls, some threatening. His car was vandalized, for a time on a daily basis. A local church sold “I am praying for Dr. Zellner� buttons. His children experienced shunning and beatings from religious children.

Minneapolis, Minnesota: First-grader Michael Bristor, an atheist, was denied an honor roll certificate when he refused to participate in an unconstitutional “prayer time� at a public school. For three years, administrators ignored the family’s complaints until a lawsuit was filed.

Caro, Michigan: In December 2001, Anonka—an open atheist who maintains a museum of Christian religious atrocities—appeared before the Tuscola County Board of Commissioners to challenge a nativity scene placed on public land. Commissioners responded angrily, saying she had no right to be present and proceeding to ridicule her. Anonka and her family suffered repeated harassment including annoyance calls, threatening calls and letters, and vandalism. In February 2004, the county settled in U.S. District Court, agreeing to pay an undisclosed sum and to issue a “public expression of regret.�

Pocopson, Pennsylvania: My own atheism came to prominence when I became involved in a legal challenge to a Ten Commandments plaque on the wall of the Chester County, Pennsylvania, courthouse. Neighbors organized a shunning campaign, some area merchants refused to do business with me, and I received hundreds of threatening letters and phone calls. (The depth of public animus against me became a subject of local news and magazine coverage.) I was forced to close my interior decorating business because of death threats that compelled me to stop visiting the homes of persons unknown to me.

Calgary, Alberta: An eleven-year-old boy (name withheld) experienced daily physical attacks and threats against his life by schoolmates—notably the sons of three local pastors—after protesting intercom readings of the Lord’s Prayer in a public school. He was repeatedly body-checked into hallway walls and attacked in the rest rooms. One pastor’s son stalked him with a butcher knife in an empty portable classroom. Despite the seriousness of this incident, no action was taken. The boy’s parents transferred him to another school for his own safety

http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/ ... y_24_4.htm

During most of my life as an atheist, I have heard a few of the same statements made about discrimination when it comes to being an atheist. “At least no one is killing atheists here�, “You can't get fired for being an atheist�, and “Why can't you just be quiet about your beliefs� are three of the most common statements (which have all been said to me during to course of one 10-minutes long radio interview). I have become proof the second statement is false.

In my day job, I deal with customer relations. I have spent a lot of time building a good working relationship with my customers over the past 5 ½ years. I have had nothing but glowing reviews (which they have to give periodically). Needless to say, I found it quite odd when I was called into a meeting with my manager and informed that the customer no longer wanted me in their warehouse. This happened about 3 weeks after I appeared on TV and the radio, on my own time, promoting the billboard.

I will not divulge the name of the company that kicked me out, mainly because I don't want to be sued, but it is a very large company that produces undergarments. I had my suspicions as to why they didn't want me in their building, but they were confirmed when one of my supervisors pulled me to the side to let me know what happened during the meeting with the customer. They didn't like what I was promoting on my free time. They thought I was doing them a disservice by being in their building and being an atheist, I guess.

This is very serious because in my job, if you are dismissed from a large account, your job pretty much has a 3 month lifespan. The only reason my job is in danger is because I refuse to believe in fairy tales and I refuse to be quiet about it, especially in a place like Charlotte, NC that names every other road or building after Billy Graham. I never talked about my personal life while at work because its personal. I do not talk to my coworkers about my family or my friends and vice-verse.

http://thesouthernatheistgentleman.blog ... ation.html
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/ ... y_24_4.htm

Theres also a whole wiki article on it.

I will also say that you are really not making this a fair point. You try to define discrimination so narrowly that unless atheists are being dragged out and beaten, its not discrimination. According to your definition, we can effectively say there is no discrimination in the United States whatsoever. We all know this isnt the case.

[Lux]

Very good post NGG, but in all fairness:

According to your definition, we can effectively say there is no discrimination in the United States whatsoever. We all know this isnt the case.

Some groups are victims of physical violence in the United States, even to this day. Violence against latinos has been making a comeback, for example.

The fact that there are not as many cases of physical violence against atheists is pretty easy to explain, though. A lot of people have noticeable ethnic looks, but you can't tell if a person is an atheist just by looking at them. Maybe if we all walked around with "Thank God I'm an atheist" shirts we'd see more violence against atheists.

[McCulloch]

So I get out of work today and as always I walk across the busy intersection to get to my car. As I pass by several cars and come up close to one truck, I note there is something oddly familiar about the step to get into the truck's bed. I recognized it upon closer inspect - a Darwin fish placed, upside down, lazily on the back of the truck. Gah, damnit! I knew exactly what happened when I got back to the car and saw the glue residue from the fish. Some Christian, probably in a fit of that good Christian lovin', decided to dispose of my heathen fish by tearing it off my car and sticking it somewhere "obscure". They probably assumed that when the truck drove off, the fish would fly off the step and get run over a bunch of times somewhere out in the middle of the street and I would be none-the-wiser until I got home. Luck, or perhaps their stupidity, happened to side with me. I managed to get enough of the glue residue to "sticky" status so I could push it back into its place and hopefully it wouldn't be torn off again later.

Talk about Christian values - what the hell gives them the right to violate my personal property? How about I go to their house and rip off all their crosses from the wall, and toss them in the dumpster.