Has anyone been threatened for being non religiou?

[captain1klamydia]

Have you guys ever been threatened non religious? if so how? It's never happened to me although i have bewen insulted for being atheist, but my quick and sharp tounge snapped right back at them.I also feel that this should contain the color purple, because purple is awesome

[Napoleon the Clown]

Never been threatened, no. Then again, I don't generally tell people of my beliefs or lack thereof unless I know they won't take issue.

[DeadpanDoubter]

What're you toking, bud? Mind sharing?

I don't let people know that I'm atheist or really anything else personal until I get to know them reeeeally well. I've had too many people blast atheists/non-heteros in my presence.

[Aqualung]

[renaissanceblonde]

What's non religiou?

[captain1klamydia]

i ran out of characters in the title, And i mean there was this one guy who everheard me talking with my friend and he so rudely jumped in. I don't go around telling people that i'm atheis, that would be just plain weird

[DeadpanDoubter]

Apr 10, 2010 1:51:04 GMT -5 captain1klamydia said:

i ran out of characters in the title, And i mean there was this one guy who everheard me talking with my friend and he so rudely jumped in. I don't go around telling people that i'm atheis, that would be just plain weird

You could've said "nonreligious" or just made it "Ever been threatened for being nonreligious?" Just sayin'.

_{Also it's atheist, not atheis...and overheard, not everheard...}

[Napoleon the Clown]

Or irreligious. That would have saved characters, too.


Also, did you run out of characters again when you tried to type "atheist"?

[tolpuddlemartyr]

My grandad belted me around the head a couple of times and twisted my ears because I said "fuck up yer bum" to a Catholic priest when I was seven.

On a more serious note a member of the potters house told me that atheists should be lined up against a wall and shot because I spurned his attempts at "witnessing" with mockery.

[captain1klamydia]

Apr 10, 2010 3:15:20 GMT -5 Napoleon the Clown said:

Or irreligious. That would have saved characters, too.


Also, did you run out of characters again when you tried to type "atheist"?

No, it was late and I wasn't exactly fully coherent. That actually was my bad.

[captainhooker]

nope

i've been told by believers in my family that they are afraid that I'll go to hell

not in a mean way, but in a sincere "I love you and don't want you to suffer" way

personally, I find that a complementary albeit somewhat ignorant statement

[Mlle Antéchrist]

Never to my face, but I've gotten my share of threats while online.

[Undecided]

Well, here are two competing theories to be tested. Is it that:

1. Although widespread negative attitudes towards the nonreligious exist, such persons' lack of belief is left undisclosed (or the existence of such persons in a community is left advertised) to the extent that those disposed to commit hate crimes against nonreligious persons are unable to identify them; or

2. Negative attitudes towards the nonreligious, while ubiquitous, are not strong enough for there to be persons who would commit hate crimes against them?

Or perhaps it is neither. In any case, a sociological study would be interesting.

[safaraz]

Apr 10, 2010 23:45:13 GMT -5 Undecided said:

Well, here are two competing theories to be tested. Is it that:

1. Although widespread negative attitudes towards the nonreligious exist, such persons' lack of belief is left undisclosed (or the existence of such persons in a community is left advertised) to the extent that those disposed to commit hate crimes against nonreligious persons are unable to identify them; or

2. Negative attitudes towards the nonreligious, while ubiquitous, are not strong enough for there to be persons who would commit hate crimes against them?

Or perhaps it is neither. In any case, a sociological study would be interesting.

I would guess more number2. But then I am a hippy pagan and might by projecting my feelings towards the non-religious on other people.

[kristine]

googling it - Has never happened to me but it happens -

www.secularstudents.org/node/2486

During an event held between April 19th - 25th called ‘Rationalist Week 09’ organised by Leeds University Atheist Society and billed as ‘the country’s largest atheist festival’ a member of the society allegedly received a face to face death threat.

It is said the student, who wished to remain anonymous, was threatened while patrolling outside the festival tent at night. The victim in question has decided not to go to the police, but police in Leeds are now investigating vandalism that also occurred during the event.
This is the second death threat received by the society, the last one being made by university’s Muslim society member’s state. They believe that this most recent threat may have also been made by the same people.

The previous death threat was made because the Leeds University Atheist Society wanted to show material in a debate about free speech that was deemed offensive to Islam, in this case the infamous Danish cartoons.

www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Godless-Billboard-Moved-After-Threats/W0iGN9STXUW0m6VF2g2Xeg.cspx

CINCINNATI -- In the wake of multiple, significant threats, the downtown billboard that says “Don’t Believe In God? You are not alone” came down early Thursday morning.

The billboard had gone up Tuesday afternoon at Reading Road and 12th Street, one block south of Liberty Street and it is being moved to a new site Thursday at the Sixth Street Viaduct.

The group that funded the billboard, the United Coalition of Reason, was contacted by Lamar Advertising of Cincinnati. Lamar reported that the landowner of the site had been threatened over the billboard's message and wanted it taken down.

"We weren't given the landowner's identity or precise details," reported Fred Edwords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason. "Nor did we pursue them. It was sufficient to learn that multiple, significant threats had been received and that Lamar would act quickly to alleviate the problem. Lamar was most apologetic to us regarding the situation. It was a development they hadn't expected. Nor had we. Nothing like this has ever happened to us before."

www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/downey_24_4.htm

Caro, Michigan: In December 2001, Anonka—an open atheist who maintains a museum of Christian religious atrocities—appeared before the Tuscola County Board of Commissioners to challenge a nativity scene placed on public land. Commissioners responded angrily, saying she had no right to be present and proceeding to ridicule her. Anonka and her family suffered repeated harassment including annoyance calls, threatening calls and letters, and vandalism. In February 2004, the county settled in U.S. District Court, agreeing to pay an undisclosed sum and to issue a “public expression of regret.”
Pocopson, Pennsylvania: My own atheism came to prominence when I became involved in a legal challenge to a Ten Commandments plaque on the wall of the Chester County, Pennsylvania, courthouse. Neighbors organized a shunning campaign, some area merchants refused to do business with me, and I received hundreds of threatening letters and phone calls. (The depth of public animus against me became a subject of local news and magazine coverage.) I was forced to close my interior decorating business because of death threats that compelled me to stop visiting the homes of persons unknown to me.

Calgary, Alberta: An eleven-year-old boy (name withheld) experienced daily physical attacks and threats against his life by schoolmates—notably the sons of three local pastors—after protesting intercom readings of the Lord’s Prayer in a public school. He was repeatedly body-checked into hallway walls and attacked in the rest rooms. One pastor’s son stalked him with a butcher knife in an empty portable classroom. Despite the seriousness of this incident, no action was taken. The boy’s parents transferred him to another school for his own safety.

Gray, Tennessee: Carletta Sims joined a financial firm in June 2001. Shortly afterward, two Baptist coworkers took offense upon learning that Sims was an atheist. Management granted the coworkers’ request to be assigned workspaces further from Sims. When Sims complained about a picture of Jesus left on her computer, management discharged her. Sims filed suit, seeking $250,000; U.S. District Judge Thomas Hull ruled that “religious discrimination (or preferential treatment of Christians) can be inferred.” In January 2004, the major bank that had since acquired the firm settled with Sims for an undisclosed amount.

Ada, Oklahoma: A Baptist student told a local newspaper she wouldn’t take professor William Zellner’s classes because he was an atheist, triggering a flurry of abuse. Zellner received harassing notes and telephone calls, some threatening. His car was vandalized, for a time on a daily basis. A local church sold “I am praying for Dr. Zellner” buttons. His children experienced shunning and beatings from religious children.

Minneapolis, Minnesota: First-grader Michael Bristor, an atheist, was denied an honor roll certificate when he refused to participate in an unconstitutional “prayer time” at a public school. For three years, administrators ignored the family’s complaints until a lawsuit was filed.

www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/us/26atheist.html

Specialist Hall said he did not advertise his atheism. But his views became apparent during his second deployment in 2006. At a Thanksgiving meal, someone at his table asked everyone to pray. Specialist Hall did not join in, explaining to a sergeant that he did not believe in God. The sergeant got angry, he said, and told him to go to another table.
After his run-in with Major Welborn, Specialist Hall did not file a complaint with the Army’s Equal Opportunity Office because, he said, he was mistrustful of his superior officers. Instead, he told leaders of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, who put him in touch with Mr. Weinstein. In November 2007, Specialist Hall was sent home early from Iraq after being repeatedly threatened by other soldiers. “I caution you that although your ‘legal’ issues are yours and yours alone, I have heard many people disagree with you, and this may be a cause for some of the perceived threats,” wrote Sgt. Maj. Kevin Nolan in Specialist Hall’s counseling for his departure.

Though with a different unit now at Fort Riley, Specialist Hall said the backlash had continued. He has a no-contact order with a sergeant who, without provocation, threatened to “bust him in the mouth.” Another sergeant allegedly told Specialist Hall that as an atheist, he was not entitled to religious freedom because he had no religion.