Ddrak wrote:Even if I were to renounce my faith (which I'm not), I wouldn't bother making any bigger deal out of it than I try to out of actually having a faith. I figure it's my own business and if people are interested I'll talk about it, but why shove it on the world?
Dd
That's weak. People make the same argument about the GLBT community "i don't care if you are queer, just don't advertise it. To see the flaw in that argument you just have to turn it 180 degrees. Your Christianity is your own business. Why are you shoving it out on the world. Why do you wear a crucifix, have an ichthus on your car and say bless you when I sneeze. Is it necessary for your entire family to say grace in a public restaurant where people are trying to enjoy a quiet meal.
In gender roles you could say the same. I don't care if you are straight, but why shove it out on the world? Look at that woman. She is flaunting her heterosexuality in those high heals and little black dress. "Hey Hetero! No one what's to look at your boobs." And Jesus Christ every time I go to a movie there are straight people kissing and saying they love each other. Half the time they show them fucking each other. At least in R rated movies they have the decency to hide their grinding under a sheet or only show them from the waist up. An X rated movie would make me want to throw up.
Look at those white people. Do they have to all dress like that? Blue jeans, blue jeans, blue jeans. And the suburban way they talk. Ivoryonics? that's not even real English. I hate getting stuck in traffic near one of their cars. You can hear their pop music blasting out of their windows. Even worse if it's that rock shit. How can anyone listen to that?
As an atheist I get Christianity shoved in my face all the time. And I have to hide my atheism at work just like Gay people have to act straight and black people have to act white, for fear of being seen as an outsider. And sure. No one will outwardly discriminate against us in hiring, wage reviews and promotion decisions. But if they don't feel that we am like them they won't value us as much. Would you be "out of the closet" as a democrat if most of the people in your company were republicans? If they talked shit about Hillary Clinton would you argue with them or just keep your mouth shut? Would you be an out and proud republican if you worked at a company bursting at the seams with liberal democrats cracking jokes about George Bush all the time.
Every minority walks around a world saturated in the symbols and rituals of the majority. It's shoved in their faces 24/7. When they publicly show their symbols and practice their cultural rituals, the majority people get annoyed at the intrusion. They make minorities feel ashamed of their differences. Gay pride parades started in the 70's and straight people were disgusted. in the 60's James Brown sang "Say it loud. I'm black and I'm proud". White people were horrified. As the years went by white people bot more and more used to blacks and black culture and now it doesn't bother as many of them. They can stand in a room of with and black people and think of everyone there as "us". But there are still people in that room who see "us and them".
I hope some day you get so used to us that you can think of us as normal rather then different. Until you can see us as part of your community and culture. Not everyone is a baseball fan. But a fan can have a knickknack with their team's logo on their desk without fear that he will be shut out of social and economic opportunities at work.
Back to my original rebuttal of your post. Take anything you say about atheists and substitute the word "Jews" Would you feel comfortable saying that to your coworkers?
"A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not." - Ronald Reagan 1987
