(Okay, I put that title in to weed out the flakes and morons who care nothing about what actually goes on in society)
What if I told you that there was a segment of the population that was being discriminated against in society or looked down upon, and that this group comprised ~ 15% of the country ...
... and ...
... has been largely because of their religious beliefs?
Shocking, isn't it?
I would speculate if it were some Judeo-Christian group like Mormons of some other group like Scientologists there's be outrage, riots in the streets, a special on the Today Show or Entertainment Tonight. Or even better, some politician or entertainer or lobbyist would take to the press by storm decrying the treatment and bloviating on and on about freedom of religion.
Or if were Islam, some right-wing or neoconservative diatribe would launch into a tirade about how irrelevant that would be because it's all about fighting terrorism (as if those sorts of things aren't conducted by red-blooded Americans, no).
But not this group. No - not this group ...
More Americans say they have no religion
Study finds percentage of Christians in the nation has declined
Some interesting snippets -
- "Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey."
- " ... study found that the numbers of Americans with no religion rose in every state. No other religious bloc has kept such a pace in every state," the study's authors said."
- "The current survey, being released Monday, found traditional organized religion playing less of a role in many lives. Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral."
(Yes I'm having fun with bolding.)
Apart from this news entry, there was scant little else or follow-up in the media. It was reported then quietly swept away and ignored. Why?
Why is it apparently bad to not subscribe to any religion or a belief in deity?
Some have suggested that all agnostics, atheists and the sort should just band together and form their own church. The thing is, in this country, we're talking about a right that is supposed to apply to individuals, as much as groups. If I as such a person, need to gather a bunch of people in order to exercise a right collectively, the individual right ceases to exist.
Why would people object to atheists? Evidently many in the US do. I would think that as not subscribing to any religion, someone who's an atheist can would make for an effective politician, as such a person could objectively enforce that freedom and ensure a strong separation of church and state.
Perhaps that's the issue?
I have this theory that many in this country see this right differently. That is, they see it as a freedom of their religion, and no one else's.
