In the world today, we are not allowed to incite religious hatred. We are not allowed to hold one person over another on the grounds of skin colour, country of origin, religion, and a whole myriad of other things. So why are atheists not given the same sort of protection that the UK and the US afford the rest of its people?
And its not just the people that are guilty of hatred, discomfort, and general dislike of atheists, the very judicial systems of both the US and the UK both favour those of religions. Many Americans, when polled, said they, on a jury, would convict the defendant based solely on being an atheist, regardless of the facts against him (or her)
In the US, much of this prejudice is well organised by the Christian Church, portraying atheists as people without morals, and having no respect for the rest of society, and everything America stands for.
Another common misconception against atheists is that they are worshippers of Satan, or an evil-figure. The very notion of that is ridiculous, the Bible contradicts itself in saying that Satan can even exist, but I will not go into that now - maybe some other time, needless to say, an atheist believes in no God at all, so why would a devil-like figure, who is bright red, with horns sprouting out of his head, a pitchfork in one hand, and a human skull in the other, be any more believable. Not least because the Devil/Satan was a 12th Century invention created to scare people into church to listen to what the Church had to say. That is not to say that some atheists do not follow LaVeyan Satanism, which is open to those of almost any faith, more accurately described as a philosophy than a religion, as it is more a set of principles that a deity-based religion.
Another assumption is that atheists are responsible for mass murder under communist regimes - such as China and Russia. However, it should be said that religious wars between different religions, and within religions have killed may more people than the combined efforts of China and Russia. No atheist will agree to the slaughter of people any more than most common decent (religious?) people. Which brings me on to my next point;
Atheists DO have morals, in fact, scientific research has said found that humans are "hard-wired" with a sense of what is right and wrong, and contrary to popular belief, has nothing to do with religion.
Whilst it is true that some, possibly many atheists are against religion, it is not true to say that all atheists are against religious freedom, and freedom to worship.
Atheists are some of the most maligned and vilified people in the UK and the US today, in anthoer poll, only 3 in every ten people would vote for an atheist to be president.
The next time you hear atheists being slandered, why not replace the word "atheist" with the word "black" or "Jew," to give you some idea of what atheists face in the US and the UK today. It is high time atheists stood up for their beliefs, just as every other faith and ethnic minority is entitled to.
