American dhimmis

I've long been struck by how atheists are second-class citizens in this country, and paradoxically at a time when its popular culture is highly secularized (not to mention wallowing in the sewer in a lot of ways, frankly).

I  don't have time to comment now–I am packing miserably at the last minute for a move–but this article on the injustices faced by atheists in American society deserves to be reflected on carefully and considered widely.

 Tikkun Daily Blog » Blog Archive » Atheists are Beautiful: A Religious Person Defends Atheism

Being an atheist in America means being less than human. I know from personal experience, not from being an atheist but from being raised Christian in a conservative Christian town and holding negative biases about atheists. Like many others I thought that a belief in God was the foundation of morality, that Christians were superior to others and that atheists were a threat to believers. I didn’t, however, reach this conclusion consciously after weighing the facts and examining the issue independently. But rather it was something so ingrained within the culture that it permeated the social conscience. And of course atheists were just one group among many targeted by some Christians. But for several years now there have been movements both religious and secular that have championed the rights of other marginalized groups such as gays, people of color and women. Now it’s time for religious and spiritual people to take a stand for non-believers of all varieties. [MORE]

P.S. My title refers to the fact that America already has a form of  the "dhimmitude" Islamophobes scream bloody murder about, but it's being enforced by Christians against atheists.