ForumsWEPRAtheists and Homosexuals

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cbreezy623
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cbreezy623
60 posts
Nomad

As an atheist I am a victim of prejudice. (Nothing too serious it's more of an annoyance. Things like people telling me I'm going to hell, go to church, bla bla bla.) I was wondering who you guys think has it harder when it comes to prejudice and hate, gays or atheists? (I am in the US, where both groups are treated like crap.)

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Getoffmydangle
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Getoffmydangle
152 posts
Blacksmith

Re the original question: Who has it worse depends on circumstances. I would guess that typically the LGBTs have it worse than atheists. Its probably easier to hide being an atheist. But for both groups, discrimination should not be tolerated. To (loosely) quote Austin Powers' father: "the only thing I cannot tolerate is people who are intolerant of other people's culture, and the dutch!"

djme
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djme
125 posts
Shepherd

VonHeisenbourg

THANK YOU!!!

I am in the US, where both groups are treated like crap



cbreezy623, you may be treated like crap here, but get over it in middle-eastern countries you would be stoned if you were caught being homosexual or denying that Mohammed wasnât real *time change* in England if you admitted that you were a protestant and would not deny you belief you would probably be burned at the stake :P
djme
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djme
125 posts
Shepherd

*saying* that Mohammed wasnât real

handlerfan
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handlerfan
185 posts
Nomad

I think that in England we accept atheists as much as we do Christians and Jews and Muslims. There is more prejudice against homosexuals. I have heard little prejudice against atheists in the USA.
I think that the USA was not a product of religeon but of a desire to be independant of a monarch imposing his or her religeon on the people.
I think that we think little of the Queen being the Queen of Canada as well. I tend to think of Canada as being to a great extent independent of us.

MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
9,470 posts
Farmer

you may be treated like crap here, but get over it in middle-eastern countries you would be stoned if you were caught being homosexual or denying that Mohammed wasnât real *time change* in England if you admitted that you were a protestant and would not deny you belief you would probably be burned at the stake :P


Just because someone may have it worse than you doesn't mean that the bad situation you're is something you should "just get over". A worse situation doesn't lessen the bad situation you're in.

I have heard little prejudice against atheists in the USA.


Some polls have indicated that atheists were/are the least trusted minority in the US. At least from 2007. That means given the choice between trusting that pedophile r@pist or that atheist, most Americans would truth the pedophile r@pist more.
partydevil
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partydevil
5,133 posts
Jester

Some polls have indicated that atheists were/are the least trusted minority in the US. At least from 2007. That means given the choice between trusting that pedophile r@pist or that atheist, most Americans would truth the pedophile r@pist more.

must but a poll in churches. under the people that work there.
prety often they **** a child themself.

on a more serious note: they are crazy.
Nerdsoft
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Nerdsoft
1,266 posts
Peasant

you would be stoned

Dear god, have you even been to Turkey!? Do you know anything about the Middle East!? I've been to Egypt, Lebanon, Israel (that's right, I got into Israel with Lebanese stamps), Palestine and Jordan and most of the people I met were as open-minded as the average Christian, Jew, Hindu or atheist. Just because the ME is simmering from the Arab Spring doesn't mean that's the face of Islam.
May I remind you that the ME is where we got the basis for most of our technology? Something that is often left out, even in the UK.
samiel
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samiel
421 posts
Shepherd

as a religous person and somewhat conservative person I catch more flack from atheists calling me stupid and bisexuals and homosexuals calling me intollerant which is weird because I live in Alabama and support gays anyway I would say homos cus athiests have more legal rights

Kasic
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Kasic
5,557 posts
Jester

as a religous person and somewhat conservative person I catch more flack from atheists calling me stupid and bisexuals and homosexuals calling me intollerant


Probably a bias in that view, as you're more likely to pay attention to/remember every time someone calls you something, as opposed to being present for and remembering every time it happens to someone else for the gay/atheist bashing.

In most parts of the world, homosexuality is more discriminated against than atheism, but I think atheism is, in general, viewed as the more "evil" of the two. Homosexuality doesn't necessarily have anything to do with one's stance on a god, while Atheism is viewed as a direct threat to religion by many groups of people.
samiel
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samiel
421 posts
Shepherd

Probably a bias in that view, as you're more likely to pay attention to/remember every time someone calls you something, as opposed to being present for and remembering every time it happens to someone else for the gay/atheist bashing.

like I said I support homosexuality and no im not athiest biased I used to be atheist myself in a rough patch in my life
HUA7XFan122396
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HUA7XFan122396
80 posts
Jester

I am an Atheist, and I have a lot of homosexual friends. Homosexuals are born that way and stay that way, it's not a choice. And as for me being an Atheist, I just don't have time for all this religious crap, I go to a Catholic School, and in my religion class, I hear very smart people, praise God and say that people did impossible things. I just want to know how they know that there is any God in the first place, and how they know that Polytheism is false, how do they know there isn't more than one God? Also, the Jesus that they all think was perfect was like a terrorist in some Gospel Translations, and the reason there are only 4 gospels in the bible is because the rest of them had things about Jesus killing people, and badmouthing his teachers and such... One more reason why I am Atheist is because the Church was corrupt, and it will be corrupt again. They excommunicated a monk a couple months ago for trying to help women gain power in the church. Religion should just end altogether, is what I think. But, the day that God comes down from the Heavens and performs a miracle of some kind... That will be the day I become a Christian.

Strop
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Strop
10,817 posts
Bard

I was wondering who you guys think has it harder when it comes to prejudice and hate, gays or atheists?


I happen to live in an area where I can safely say that Christians have it harder than atheists, and maybe even possibly the queer constituent (and homosexual Christians have it the hardest). I won't say this is common, because homophobic expressions are still commonplace mostly everywhere.

Round here it's virtually de rigeur to make some disparaging comment about Christianity or Christians and how out of step they are with modern values. Of greater controversy is the laws due for consideration in Parliament re: anti-discrimination and religious practice, specifically taking away the right of religious institutions to hire based on religion and sexual identity. Given that these are outdated laws that are indeed out of step with current anti-discrimination practice that most people consider to be a no-brainer. Therefore the current PM did herself a great disservice by reassuring the social conservative religious lobby that she won't stifle the right to discriminate by religion or sexuality in the new, well, "anti-discrimination" laws, and quite possibly the biggest challenge the Church in general has to face is how they're going to deal with this shift in values, and just how integral it is to them, whether they continue to insist that this is part of the immutable word of God... or not. The Uniting Church, being social moderate-liberal, has been fractured over this issue, and I've seen a resurgence in other more spiritual denominations in a reassertion of what they consider to be their rights. It's going to get messier.

But to put things into perspective, I can think of places where you would have an equally hard time (i.e. you would probably be imprisoned, tortured, or killed) if you were a) atheist b) Christian or c) homosexual: Most Middle-Eastern countries, most African countries, much of the Indian subcontinent, much of South-East Asia, North Korea immediately spring to mind.
thebluerabbit
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thebluerabbit
5,346 posts
Farmer

But, the day that God comes down from the Heavens and performs a miracle of some kind... That will be the day I become a Christian.


you know, christianity isnt the only religion.

and i also have to ask: what if that god comes down, does some kind of miracle, and then you find out you totally disagree with him and think he is evil and immoral? would you still become christian and follow him?
HUA7XFan122396
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HUA7XFan122396
80 posts
Jester

and i also have to ask: what if that god comes down, does some kind of miracle, and then you find out you totally disagree with him and think he is evil and immoral? would you still become christian and follow him?

Well, in the Bible God made a bet with Satan, I believe he bet everything the Job owned that Job wouldn't turn against God, or something like that. But if he did come down and do something evil, I would believe that he was real, but I wouldn't become a Christian, I would just acknowledge that he did in fact exist.
thebluerabbit
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thebluerabbit
5,346 posts
Farmer

But if he did come down and do something evil, I would believe that he was real, but I wouldn't become a Christian, I would just acknowledge that he did in fact exist.


that warmed my heart and made me smile. we need more people like these
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