The perils of being an atheist
April 26, 2008 by Abhishek
From a CNN news story:
Like hundreds of young men joining the Army in recent years, Jeremy Hall professes a desire to serve his country while it fights terrorism.
But the short and soft-spoken specialist is at the center of a legal controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging he’s been harassed and his constitutional rights have been violated because he doesn’t believe in God. The suit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
“I’m not in it for cash,” Hall said. “I want no one else to go what I went through.”
Known as “the atheist guy,” Hall has been called immoral, a devil worshipper and — just as severe to some soldiers — gay, none of which, he says, is true.
Link.
As an atheist, I am delighted to see that more and more evangelicals (of the asshole variety) are signing up to get shot. For all I’m concerned, we should be promoting this trend.
I am so proud of this guy. It’s so interesting how the theme of “coming-out as an atheist” keeps reappearing. I know that I’ve only “come-out” to a few people, and that atheists, generally, find it to be impolite to “come-out” to everyone, especially older grandparents, coworkers, or acquaintances.
Richard Dawkins and friends feel like we need to stop being polite and start demanding the respect that Christians enjoy in formal and informal relationships.
I have asked this question somewhere else and do so again. Is it that big a deal to call yourself an atheist in the US? I have been going around as one here in India for the part six years and no one gives a damn.
Its no big deal in big cities, in universities, or in places where there is a diverse ethnic composition. However the heartland of the US is highly religious, and you may risk social disapproval if you are openly atheistic. I guess the situation in closely knit communities like the military is the worst.
Having been an atheist in India and here, I’d agree with you that it is definitely less of a deal in India. The US is more religious than many other countries (definitely more than urban India). Those who are religious in the US also often tend to be pretty vocal/evangelical about it. On the other hand the chances of you being physically harassed because of your beliefs (or absence thereof) is probably higher in India because of the relative lack of free speech there.