I'm starting a new thread here, copied wholesale from a reply I gave in an earlier posting, as I'm interested to learn more about the situation in the USA and I feel it warrants a thread in its own right:
I'm often pretty astonished at the hard time atheists have in the States. At first I kind of assumed I was getting the wrong end of the stick and "surely it can't be that bad", but the more I've spoken with American atheists, the more I understand what a marginalised, discriminated against minority you are. I regularly watch the ACA's Atheist Experience shows and I'm often bewildered by how cagey atheists who call in about 'coming out' to their families have to be - to the extent that their families friggin' disown them(!)
.... REALLY?
Is it really that bad over there? I've heard people say they've been sacked after being 'outed' as atheists. In Europe, that kind of malarkey would end in an industrial tribunal and a sacking for the sacker.
So am I seeing an over-exaggerated version of the story, or do you guys really have to watch your backs and even keep quiet about your views for the sake of your families and careers?
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