My friends laugh at me when I say we are fighting for the survival of our Constitution. That our American way of life is under attack by religions fundamentalist who want to re-write the Constitution to establish a theocracy for Christianity in America. We are fighting this battle right now, and losing.
We lose freedoms one bill at a time. We lost one other other day; the freedom to play online poker. Of course, all this means is that I will again become a criminal. But why should I be compelled to become a criminal just because I do not share the moral outlook of a fundamentalist Christian? My choice to play poker, smoke whatever I choose, have sex before marriage, or send emails to friends in North Africa, should not land me in jail. The next step will be telling me I can't burn the flag in protest or speak my mind on Deep Thoughts. Under the thumb of a religious theocracy, our freedoms will die.
Who is fighting to take our rights away? Asshats and nutballs like "John Doe" from Richard Dawkins website.
Dawkins, you and your atheist friends cannot win. America WILL become a Christian Republic even if we have to write a whole new constitution. Millions of us are dedicated to this righteous cause. We will succeed. And then we will invade godless countries like "Great" Britain and kill all of your heathens. First we need to take care of things at home and in the Middle East but we will get around to Europe. You Godless freaks will die but then you will roast in hell for infinite time. Goodbye you loser.
As an Atheist, I feel the heat. My inbox overflows with messages from John and Jane Doe. I get one every Sunday night telling me my time will come. That, when Christians are in charge, I will be on the same moral footing as a murderer. In a theocracy, atheism is not tolerated.
I watch the attacks on gay rights and shutter. It could just as easily be an attack on atheist rights. One I've heard before is that Atheists are bad parents - how long before it becomes something more sinister?
Eugene Volokh wrote a law article (pdf here) that cited 70 recent cases in which atheistic parents faced tougher obstacles in child custody cases...
Source: Quoted in Two or Three.net from Andrew Sullivan's Anti-Atheist Discrimination
...I would hold that children who have the opportunity to nuture and grow the spiritual part of their nature would be more wholly educated. Countless studies show how much happier, healthier, etc. devout people are compared with the general population and the irreligious.
Ignoring one aspect of a person, be it their physical, mental, emotional or spiritual side, will hinder the overall growth of that person. It is better to encourage the entire person.
Fundamentalist Christians are making the argument today that will take way our rights tomorrow. Atheist as bad parents, even unsubstantiated drivel like that which is quoted above, will be taken as fact by fundamentalist who believe what they are told. The only real answer is organizing, writing, and activism.
