American Christians, do you feel persecuted?

[kjeopardy]

please don't go to the muslim subject again

and yes we are being slowly persecuted by atheists. You don't agree with homosexuality and you get called a homophobe. You don't agree with the theory of evolution and you are called ignorant. Do I need to continue?

I wouldn't call it "persecution form atheists." But yes—people who believe deeply in Christianity are finding more and more that the world is hostile to its teachings.

And fine, we won't raise an Islam debate here

[Duel of Fates]

There's what I was looking for. The immense butthurt of 85%+ of the population being butthurt by less than 2% of it. My god us Atheists must be god damn resplendent if we can change the entire zeitgeist of a country. Granted, I mean we still can't legally hold any offices in several states. We're the most mistrusted minority even though we are out proportionally high level professionals and make up a good 90%+ of our highest science academy. And there's no way in hell you'll see an atheist president within my lifetime. But you know what, we can and will ruin Christmas for you, mwuahahahahahah even though I don't recall any challenges to that idea in itself. And if you think about it, Christmas is still a federally mandated holiday. And as for Islam, what special treatment do they get exactly? Because I live in Garden City, which is about five minutes outside of Dearborn which is the largest community of Muslims in the United States. Gotta say, they're probably more American than most of you. ;P

And I'm pretty sure the Happy Holidays thing has been around for a pretty long time, seeing as several other religions have holidays in the same two week stretch or so.

So you ask the question, creating the topic. People respond in a variety of ways, with honest replies based on personal experiences. And you jump on them with attitude and venom to make you feel better about yourself and your choice not to believe in God, gods, the Great Pumpkin, . . . Etc. Pretty sad kid. Go out and get some fresh air. Clear your thinking. I don't tell hou what to believe, please show the same courtesy.

[Darth Crater]

Yeah, I saw the topic ending this way from the start. Not good form to bait them this way, Mand...

and yes we are being slowly persecuted by atheists. You don't agree with homosexuality and you get called a homophobe. You don't agree with the theory of evolution and you are called ignorant. Do I need to continue?

You're not being persecuted by atheists. You're being persecuted by educated people. Neither of those beliefs is in any way inherent to Christianity.

[WD-40]

Yeah, I saw the topic ending this way from the start. Not good form to bait them this way, Mand...

and yes we are being slowly persecuted by atheists. You don't agree with homosexuality and you get called a homophobe. You don't agree with the theory of evolution and you are called ignorant. Do I need to continue?

You're not being persecuted by atheists. You're being persecuted by educated people. Neither of those beliefs is in any way inherent to Christianity.

Crater is right and wrong. Atheist are simply exercising their Constitutional right to [m'kay] with people's right to practice their love for their Religion. Calling an Atheist 'Educated' is a bit of a stretch. Sure, they know that they can use the Constitution to rip Religion away from allowing God to be a part of every aspect of people's lives, but educated people wouldn't try to rip away the biggest pillar that keeps this Nation strong. I blame our Forefathers for this but I seriously don't believe that they envisioned Atheists becoming this much of an interference. Had they'd seen this coming, I have now doubt that they would have rewritten the Constitution to prevent such self-serving interference of the rights of so many that practice religion of all types, by a group that numbers so little in comparison.
Believe what you want to believe or not believe...but don't [m'kay] with my ability to believe it anywhere I chose. Don't like it...go away!

[Duel of Fates]

Yeah, I saw the topic ending this way from the start. Not good form to bait them this way, Mand...

and yes we are being slowly persecuted by atheists. You don't agree with homosexuality and you get called a homophobe. You don't agree with the theory of evolution and you are called ignorant. Do I need to continue?

You're not being persecuted by atheists. You're being persecuted by educated people. Neither of those beliefs is in any way inherent to Christianity.

How very condescending of you. Christianity is being persecuted by educated people, meaning Christians are uneducated? Unintelligent? Shame on you too. I am done discussing this with ill mannered " intellects" such as you two.

[Darth Crater]

It would be nice if you guys would respond to my posts instead of whatever it is you seem to have read. I did not say that Christianity is being persecuted by educated people. Those two specific beliefs Otto mentioned, which are not necessary or inherent parts of Christianity, are getting "persecuted". In the sense that believing them gets you laughed at. In a great many cases, by other Christians. Nowhere did I correlate atheism and intellect - I'm aware of plenty of people who are atheists for stupid reasons.

Meanwhile WD is expressing dismay that the USA isn't even more of a theocracy than it is now. "Biggest pillar that keeps this nation strong"? Really?

[WD-40]

Yeah! Really! Theocracy??!? WTF are you talking about??!? I'm talking about belief and servitude! And when your sorry ass is standing before God trying to explain your lack of belief in His Son...it's all on you...but if its all true..you've lost your very Soul. Seems 'The Beleivers' have the edge.
Hypothetically Crater...if there IS a God, and he believes in the future of America, that does not bode well for you. If there is no God, as you believe, you've lost nothing. Roll the dice man... Roll the dice.

[Hobo]

There was an atheist group that came by a school not to far from mine and tried to sue because a cheerleaders sign read "God Bless" and other verses. Also my English teacher once told us how the God is a myth, the bible folklore, and how it supposedly is similar to older religions. And I agree, Muslims whine about persecution all the time for the stupidest things, and get away with it.

You make the mistake of believing that all Muslims are a single, homogenous entity. It's simply not true, and Christians in this country are not persecuted in the slightest.

[poo], sorry I wasn't being super specific with my words. Did you really think I mean all Muslims? All I'm saying Is that if you were to open up a newspaper, it would be more likely to see a story about Muslim persecution rather than Christian. And also no such thing as Christian persecution? I literally just wrote down my personal experience..

[Mandalore]

I think what Crater meant by theocracy is the over whelming factor faith plays within the American political arena. Not that we're run by priests or a particular sect.

And Duel, the entire reason I created this topic was to see the ways in which the largest population group in the country feels they are persecuted. It was pretty much a lol cake from the beginning. And venom, not even quite. Venom would be saying that after coming to power I'd slaughter the Christian men and sell the women and children into slavery. I was merely just pointing out that it seems rather silly as an idea. Essentially what the religious right seems like to some of us on the outside is them crying, "We're white christians who aren't content with no longer having 100% of the power. I mean liek, 95% of it clearly isn't enoughzzzzzzz. thnigz are not going entirely our way, wtffffffff!" That being said, I do disagree with students being sent home for whatever religious silliness they're expressing. They do not represent the government in any capacity. I would actually be completely for a mandated religion class provided it cover the major religions of the world and the links between the current religions and the pagan religions of old.

Which isn't to say that there aren't some atheists out there who are truly annoying in their constant silliness. Especially the president of the American Atheists, David Silver something I think. That [m'kay] head clearly doesn't see the best way to grow the movement. Attacking Christians and their organizations generally back fires, seeing as they *are* just such a large population slice. Instead it would be better to play off the good aspects of humanism, atheism, and the accomplishments of the individuals who identify with those movements and ideals. But that's just my personal opinion. Also pointing out past indiscretions and ideals that are no longer even followed by an increasingly secular Christian movement are generally not very productive and I don't see why they are played upon.

And WD, there are an infinite amount of possible deities. So we're playing roughly similar dice as an atheist and a christian. 0/infinity and 1/infinity respectively. Though there are a few religions and ideal systems out there that don't penalize atheism (certain sects of hinduism for example) so we could probably put a few points onto both odds and still be within the realm of reason.

[WD-40]

Well...Politics and Religion...two of the worst subject ers to debate, as both are so polarized as to never be settled or agreed upon. Why do we bother?