Are Atheists discriminated against?

[no1_vern]

FRom CNN Transcripts:

ZAHN: And when we come back, tonight's out in the open panel takes on the controversy over discrimination against atheists. There they are lined up, ready to sound off. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And welcome back. We're talking about whether there's widespread discrimination against atheists, folks who don't believe in God. Let's check out with our out in the open panel now. Stephen Smith, Debbie Schlussel and Karen Hunter. Hey Debbie, it took me 10 times to say your name right. (INAUDIBLE) So do you think atheists should keep their religious beliefs secret? What's their beliefs period?

HUNTER: What does an atheist believe? Nothing. I think this is such a ridiculous story. Are we not going to take "In God We Trust" off of our dollars? Are we going to not say "one nation under God?" When does it end? We took prayer out of schools. What more do they want?

ZAHN: Are any of you going to defend them here tonight?

SCHLUSSEL: No, I agree with her 100 percent. I think that the real discrimination is atheists against Americans who are religious. Listen, we are a Christian nation. I'm not a Christian. I'm Jewish, but I recognize we're a Christian country and freedom of religion doesn't mean freedom from religion. And the problem is that, you have these atheists selectively I believe attacking Christianity. You had a case in California where school children were forced to dress as Muslims and learn from the Koran. In Michigan they're saying high school (INAUDIBLE) in high school where they say Muslim prayers at the football games, public high school, (INAUDIBLE) in high school. You don't see atheists complaining about that. I really believe that they are the ones who are the intolerant ones against Christians.

ZAHN: What happened to love thy neighbor, the idea that we should be able to practice free speech?

SMITH: That's nonexistent. We all know that. We talk about that in America, but that's pretty much nonexistent, especially in the red states, particularly in the south. That's where the atheists are having the most trouble. When they talk about violent acts that have been enacted them or (INAUDIBLE) exacted against them or what have you. That's the kind of area they're talking about. I think in New York City, I don't think people care too much about it. We're a Christian country. There's no question about that. I love the Lord. So does Karen, so does everybody that I know. But the reality is that you're entitled to believe what you want as long as you're not imposing your beliefs on other people.

ZAHN: Is that what you think they're really doing?

HUNTER: They don't have a good - marketing. If they had hallmark cards, maybe they wouldn't feel so left out. We have Christmas cards. We have Kwanza cards now. Maybe they need to get some atheist cards and get that whole ball rolling so more people can get involved with what they're doing. I think they need to shut up and let people do what they do. No, I think they need to shut up about it.

SMITH: I don't think they need to shut up. The reason why I don't think they need to shut up is because there's a whole bunch of people in this world that we can look at and say they need to shut up and they certainly don't. You got everybody fighting for their own individual cause. This is their cause. We might not like it. I don't agree with it at all, but they do have a right.

HUNTER: I think they need to shut up about crying wolf all the time and saying that they're being imposed upon. I personally think that they should never have taken prayer out of schools. I would rather there be some morality in schools. But they did that because an atheist went to court and said their child -- don't pray (INAUDIBLE).

SCHLUSSEL: And what about this obnoxious Michael Newdow, who went all the way to the Supreme Court for his child, the child doesn't know what's going on, to try and get under God taken out of the pledge of allegiance. They are on the attack. It's obnoxious and they do need to shut up.

SMITH: They are going on the attack, but the reality, again, is everybody has their own cause. The fact is there's a whole bunch of people in America who need to shut up and they don't. So why should these people be any less. We live in a nation. We're supposed to be tolerant. We're supposed to be accepting of other people's viewpoints, even when they are not our own and the fact is, if they're an atheist, that's their right. They're not going to change my belief in God (INAUDIBLE).

ZAHN: What I find so interesting is when you look at the statistics, that they were the most hated of all the minorities, gays (INAUDIBLE).

SMITH: I'm not even willing to believe that. That's news to me. I heard that, I read that, I just don't believe it.

HUNTER: You can't pick an atheist out of a crowd.

ZAHN: Can you explain to me where you feel the assault? When 97 percent of the folks in this country claim to worship some kind of God, the 1 to 3 percent of this population that doesn't believe in God, who are they hurting?

HUNTER: Eight to 12 percent. (INAUDIBLE) They're not hurting anyone. I personally don't have a problem with an atheist. Believe or don't believe what you want. Don't impose upon my right to want to have prayer in schools, to want to say the pledge of allegiance, to want to honor my God. Don't infringe upon that right.

SMITH: When they want to take - when they want to take God out of the pledge of allegiance or whatever, this is what I'm saying. They're saying, OK, that's Christian. What if you're a Muslim? What if you're someone of a different belief?

SCHLUSSEL: This is a Christian country.

SMITH: I understand that, but what they're saying is how can -- if we're inclusionary, why can't we include all that and we're not. That's my point.

SCHLUSSEL: (INAUDIBLE) Look where there are more atheists and where they've lost God, where the church is not that strong. Europe is becoming Islamist. It's fast falling and intolerance is increasing. That's the one reason our country has not become like Europe because we have strong Christians and because atheists are not strong. And I think that's a good thing.

ZAHN: On that note, I've got to cut it off, except for a quick Super Bowl prediction.

It seems like these "talking heads" dont think so. What do you think?

[Theophylact]

Great. You have a panel discussion about atheists, and you don't put a single atheist on.

[no1_vern]

Indeed, I noticed that. Why do you think I titled the thread the way I did?

[Theophylact]

You might be interested in the results in this article:

Religion Of Members Of Congress

• AME* — 2
• Anglican — 1
• Assembly of God — 4
• Baptist — 67
• Buddhist — 2
• Christian** — 18
• Christian Reformed — 2
• Christian Scientist — 5
• Church of Christ — 2
• Church of God — 1
• Church of the Nazarene — 1
• Congregationalist — 1
• Congregationalist – Baptist — 1
• Disciples of Christ — 2
• Eastern Orthodox — 5
• Episcopalian — 37
• Evangelical — 2
• Evangelical Lutheran — 1
• Evangelical Methodist — 1
• Jewish — 43
• LDS (Mormon) — 15
• Reorganized LDS — 1
• Lutheran — 17
• Methodist — 61
• Muslim — 1
• Presbyterian — 44
• Protestant** — 26
• Quaker — 1
• Roman Catholic — 154
• Seventh-day Adventist — 2
• Unitarian — 2
• United Church of Christ — 6
• unaffiliated — 6

*African Methodist Episcopal
**no denomination stated

Source: Count of religious affiliations of members of Congress compiled from self-identification in Congressional Quarterly profiles of each member. Totals do not include results of Dec. 12, 2006, runoff election in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District.

Of all the members of Congress, only 6 -- just over 1% -- listed themselves as "unaffiliated". Not "atheist" or even "agnostic", but merely without any specific church. As the article says,

[P]erhaps the most underrepresented group in Congress is the 14 percent of all American adults who, according to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, conducted by scholars at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, claim no religion at all.

They're either grossly underrepresented, or some of the members of Congress are closet atheists. If you think people aren't afraid to reveal themselves as unbelievers, you're kidding yourself.

[no1_vern]

I think thats more of politically motivated than anything else. Politicians know they will lose out to their more religious opponents.

[Theophylact]

Because?

I think that proves my point.

[zen]

So Theo, who in congress would fit the profile of a closet atheist? lol

Surely not the religous right!!lol

[Theophylact]

So Theo, who in congress would fit the profile of a closet atheist? lol

I have no idea, any more than I know who the closeted gays in Congress are. That's the point of the closet.

If you read the article, you'll find out a lot of things. For example, all the unaffiliated members are Democrats; all the Christian Scientists are Republicans; all but three of the 43 Jews are Democrats; 12 of the 15 Mormons are Republicans. Jews (1.3% of the population) are wildly overrepresented, and Evangelical Christians significantly underrepresented.

And frankly I don't care whether atheists are fully represented in Congress, because I don't care what a person's religious beliefs are or aren't as long as he/she leaves mine alone. I just think the numbers are interesting, as well as revealing.

[SoloCamo]

Some of those comments disgust me.

[no1_vern]

Which of the comments disgust you? Why? Do you believe that Atheists deserve better in this world? Why?

You know, they ARE considered a minority because there are so few of them.

[OuTpaTienT]

That wasn't a panel discussion. That was a joke. A bunch of air-heads that didn't take the subject seriously from the get-go. None of them had any valuable arguments nor any substance to back-up what they said other than that's just how they "feel".

Plus there was not an atheist in sight. It's like a bunch of white people discussing how they feel about racism. What's the point? What a waste of time.

[cyphen]

I'm a super-minority. There's only one of me in a country of 300 million. I must then also be discriminated against.

Come to think of it, i'm the only one of me in a world of ... what... 7 billion now? I am the most discriminated against person in the whole world.

People need to get thicker skin and stop being such whiny little babies.

[The Real Bingo]

I hope to God they're not discriminated against.

[EXreaction]

I'm a super-minority. There's only one of me in a country of 300 million. I must then also be discriminated against.

Come to think of it, i'm the only one of me in a world of ... what... 7 billion now? I am the most discriminated against person in the whole world.

People need to get thicker skin and stop being such whiny little babies.

Who are the ones that are bitching because they do not teach christian beliefs in schools?

Who are the ones who put under god in the pledge and on our money?

It is obvious that this is a christian country, and just like oh 50 years ago when it was a white country the blacks were discriminated against, and just like the gays are discriminated against now because christians think it is wrong.

As soon as the christians are discriminated against they claim conspiracy, bitch, and strengthen their hold on the country even more. But they have no problem discriminating against others because they know the truth.

I know most of the discrimination claims thrown around these days are plain BS(where we work they had to be careful about firing someone from Jamaica because he was Jamaican, even though he swore at the management and didn't do a damn thing, that is just plain BS), but when your with the majority most of the time true discrimination it is not noticed.

I hope to God they're not discriminated against.

Thanks for the try, but I doubt it will help.

[Beemer]

CNN has seen the error of their ways.

That wretched excuse to bash atheists on the Paula Zahn program that I criticized must have generated some intense and voluminous correspondence, because right now they're scrambling to do damage control. I just got word from Richard Dawkins that they are going to repeat the lead segment (the part with the ostracized atheist family), and then instead of showing the bumbling bigot panel, they're planning to replace that debacle with a new interview with Richard Dawkins. That's tonight, Thursday, at 8PM EST.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2...t_the_heat.php

Watch for the persecution complex of Christians in the days to follow....lol

Go Go Richard!

[jokostel]

Beemer... smoke to much ganja again?
that shit is starting to make you as bad as theo and SJ.

[EXreaction]

Well, it did get 3679 diggs at digg.com
http://digg.com/politics/CNN_Anti_At...ed_hate_speech

[no1_vern]

CNN has seen the error of their ways.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2...t_the_heat.php

Watch for the persecution complex of Christians in the days to follow....lol

Go Go Richard!

I think that its more of bowing to letters to CNN than seeing any error.

I disagree with the way they handled this issue(unless, of course, the idea was to bring attention to it by being deliberately unfair), they should have had at LEAST one atheist on the panel in an ATTEMPT to seem fair. Bringing a person like Dawkins onto the program may change opinions, but I dont think so.

Personally I havent seen any descrimination against atheists(doesnt mean there isnt). Atheists seem more vocal than the gay faction though. IN fact, it seems like this may be a part of the "bring atheism into the mainstream" program, like the "bring Gays into the mainstream" program. I wonder if the are linked? I know, NOT necessarily linked cause one political program can match another very easily but still...

[OuTpaTienT]

CNN has seen the error of their ways.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2...t_the_heat.php

Watch for the persecution complex of Christians in the days to follow....lol

Go Go Richard!

It'll be interesting to see how they handle the subject tonight. Whether they deal with it fairly and openly or they swing the opposite as their hit piece on atheists the other night. This will be the one and only time I make a point to watch Paula's show.

Did you see all the comments at the Digg link? Crazy.

[EXreaction]

Atheists seem more vocal than the gay faction though.

I don't think so. I don't have any friends that I know of who are Atheist, none of them say anything so I just don't know(I know a few people who are outwardly christian, but I have not said anything to them about it as of yet). On the other hand I know quite a few gays, and quite a few more lesbians().

I think on the Atheist side there is more of a fear of prosecution than anything, many are closet atheists because they simply don't want to deal with all the crap their friends/relatives will give them. I still remember all the crap I got from my friends and relatives when I stopped following their religion(that was a long time ago).