Well I wouldn't want to say something without knowing that what I was saying is true.

I took the time and read from the link you provided GW


Study: Atheists Most Discriminated Minority

University of Minnesota study of 2006: (Would you want your daughter to marry an Atheist?)
University of Minnesota researchers conducted a telephone survey of over 2,000 households in early 2006. 7 They found that:

"...Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in 'sharing their vision of American society.' Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry."
So in Minnesoda they contacted people by phone...asking questions......fair enough I guess its the only way you will know that atheits are seen in that state as minority like the rest of the non christians

It seemed rather arrogant coming from those that classed ALL of these people as a minority

and I noticed christians are not seen here as the minority, so im guessing it was christians that stated who is and who isnt.........well all I can add is...thats sad they feel that way and obviously dont understand what Jesus meant by - love thy neighbor!!

But it doesnt show how atheists are persecuted...to persecute anyone, is to harras them treat them cruely ect..............not state you see them as the minority just calling it how I read from the link you provided

neither do I...thats why I looked at the site GW presented..and still couldnt see how they were being persecuted..classed as a minority yes...but not persecuted

The Largest Atheist / Agnostic Populations (2005)


Atheist Discrimination & Persecution (Video Pt. 1 of 2)

Part 2 of 2
There are over 3 million Atheists in the U.S.


Discrimination Against Atheists
The Facts

Atheist Discrimination


How does one identify an Atheist!?
My question in response, is why would it be necessary to do so!?

You may find Atheists attending a church service. My lover and our family have, because we're teaching our children about christian faiths and practice. We attend with our friends that are any number of christian denomination.

You may find Atheists in pagan circles. Our family has attended a number of pagan gatherings over the years. One of the most popular and populace, is that that is sponsored by Circle Sanctuary.

You may find Atheists on the road, you'll know them by bumper stickers perhaps. Or perhaps not. You may even meet some that wear the Atheist symbol as a medallion around their neck. Much like one can presume someone is a christian, by the little gold or silver cross suspended about their necks from a chain.

But no doubt one has met an Atheist in their lives, they just don't know it. For we, much like our wiccan friends say, are everywhere. We even hold public office. Much to the consternation of the believers we walk the halls with.

To imagine an Atheist has physical characteristics is absurd. TO imagine that is necessary to identify one and that is the only means by which one may be discriminated against, in that sense of the word, is equally absurd. One would know physical characteristics do not identify one's religious or non-religious associations, if they knew anything at all. For at one time, in this country Irish were discriminated against and persecuted. There were signs on public facilities that boldly proclaimed "NO IRISH!" And that was just as ignorant and just as legal as the other signs that stated, "NO CHINESE" and "WHITES ONLY".

Hate is born of fear, fear is often born of ignorance. For some it seems necessary that everyone believe in something. That's why you may encounter people that think, to the objections of the Atheists they've spoken to, that everything is a faith system and as such everything held in belief or faith is a religion. I find it amusing, and yet it is analogous to the paradox that exists between the world of believers and the world of non-believers. And it is a paradox. Because it seems that those that do not believe in god are seen as outsiders, as wrong, as someone worthy of discrimination and persecution, because there are some in this world that actually think we as a species must believe in something that put us here. We must worship, we must recognize, a higher power.

No! That is not true.

But look around you. Even the currency we use affirms a covenant between the user and a deity. "In God We Trust".

Says who?!

"I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the United States of America. And to this Republic for which it stands, one nation, under god....."

Which one?

For many, the answer is simple. For others the answer is absolute.
No god.

And because that is a minority affirmation, and a bold statement in a Nation , in a World, inhabited predominantly by believers in some deific notion, we are different. We simply do not accept others truth. That something outside of this world, gives a care about our destiny.


I'll tell you, I've lived through a great deal. And contrary to the slogans, there are Atheists in fox holes. And when the shells fall, the explosions ring your fillings, and your buddies turn into quivering mounds of meat beside you, those screams for "Oh God!" and "Jesus, save me!" and "Sweet Mother of God!" Are drowned out. When the gunfire and the sulfur and the ozone burn your nostrils, and your eyes, squeezed shut to black out the carnage for just a minute and take you somewhere else, even in that blink of an eye, your awareness wakes up!

And you realize,

nothing answered those prayers!

If you truly think you've never met an Atheist, except on these forums, read any one of those links. Or watch both parts of the news Video at You Tube.
Chances are you have. But in this world, chances are it was better left unsaid. Because in a world of faith, having none save in one's self, doesn't seem to be the thing to do, without consequences that follow.

If there is a god, one would think it would inspire the personal sense of self respect, to hold to that faith while allowing others, not to. Because you see, "your" faith, isn't effected one iota, by me not sharing it with you.

If people in Minnesota said that, imagine what the evangelical rednecks would say down in the southern states.

I quite imagine, it is a small matter, what they think.

Cheers for the links and I did reconize the video on you tube before...i think someone posted it in a thread that was about a girl and the schoolprayer...her parents were under attack from christians...blah blah and so forth

I opened another link...all it showed me was the amount of atheists that live in the states

I opened another and another...read a lot on how a biggot see's atheisim...

I read another more or less same thing

all of which points on how they are seen as a minority...........this GW I do agree with, but you said they were persecuted..........that family were YES...but not all do ...

You say --> If there is a god, one would think it would inspire the personal sense of self respect, to hold to that faith while allowing others, not to. Because you see, "your" faith, isn't effected one iota, by me not sharing it with you.............. I agree with you that if one believes in a God..it SHOULD inspire a sense of RESPECT........why else do I repeat myself, when I say ---> those that show ignorance towards others for not following them, obviously dont understand what Jesus meant when he said - LOVE THY NEIGHBOR <--they sure dont understand a single word of it

I am happy I am the way I chose to be.........I made my faith MY OWN...I CHOSE to accept everyone..........I CHOSE to believe that God is REALLY all loving and not nly towards a selected bunch of people..ALL LOVING MEANS ALL....I chose to believe in my heart, that ALLL go to heaven..............including all non believers...(yes GW this means you too lol)...........I chose to believe that God is NOT against homosexuals

Faith is all down to your OWN mind........your OWN morals...........your OWN nature..........how you are as a person........if you are a natural biggot, then thats all you will be. If you are naturally a good person that believes in everyone having rights.........then IMO you are a good person...its all to do with your OWN SELF CONTROL...your OWN mind...weak or strong..only YOU can controll it

But because of a number of biggots in your country GW.........I don't think it should cloud your OWN judgement on how all christians are as a whole..........not saying you do as such no...just making a comment in general

The reason why i asked you...how does one tell if one is atheist? <---cuz i wondered seriously how unless they say who they are....and thought...hold up..what if there is another way of knowing??? so you chose to think it was snidey!!!!! but wasnt








.

Goodness knows!!!

I now wonder how come my own country dont show many atheists....but then again in Northern Ireland for many many many years..we never really saw a black person walk down the street either..our lil country was white....now its beginning to get mixed...but only NOW

So if I warn you to convert before I, an atheist, beats you up... It's perfectly fine if I start beating on you after I warn you... Then I won't be an extremist?

It doesn't matter if you enjoy it or not at all... It's the matter of the belief that others that simply disagree with you are going to be punished or more.

lol..... sorry..its just funny how you worded that

But in suggesting that you consider Jesus as an option, I am not beating you up, nor am I desiring that you feel pain. Extremists on the other hand, expect and desire pain to be inflicted upon those whose beliefs differ. If you cannot see the difference here then I think there's nothing more that can be gained from our conversation. All the best,

~ PA

It's not always the case that the believer doesn't desire the painful outcome though is it? I've seen that glint in the eye of some when the words are spoken which indicate the non-believer's fate. There are Christians who seriously gloat at the idea that non-believers will find out all too late. In fact, there have been posts on this forum to that effect. "You'll see, when it's too late"... "yeah, well, when I'm in heaven we'll see who's laughing". People post those sorts of things here. There is a desire to be right, for the non-believer to be wrong and to pay the price. They may as well bop us over the head with a bible until we bleed... it's still a desire to see pain inflicted.

This I've witnessed aswell.

It seems to me as much as believers say that they want to save a non-believer from what ever planet cleansing the coming messiah brings forth.......the fact of the matter remains that they want more than anything in the world for the Biblical prophecies to come true......they need it, they pray for it......why?.....to be proven right?......or to reside in the land of milk and honey beside their God?

As far as I see it: to pray for, or to call for.....the return of this messiah, armageddon, rapture, cleansing of the Earth......is in fact wishing harm to people that do not agree with your beliefs.

They do it to inject fear into you....thinking it would work so you would join the minority of born agains...thats the whole idea of it