subject: sociological stigmata, religion
style: foot-down
source: Terry Pratchett
source: Terry Pratchett
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."
I have witnessed a few societal attitudes and behaviour which I think are misguided and need to be addressed.
1) The first is the mindset toward atheism, the unrecognized minority.
All other minorities (racial/ethnic groups, women, even LGBTQ nowadays) are being given recognition and accepted for who they are and what they choose to believe. Atheists are shunned. There has somehow arisen an idea that all atheists are hostile and speak out violently and should be silenced in our society, when in reality they have virtually no voice.
| United States religiosity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percent | |||
| Christianity | 78.4% | |||
| No religion | 16.1% | |||
| Judaism | 1.7% | |||
| Buddhism | 0.7% | |||
| Islam | 0.6% | |||
| Hinduism | 0.4% | |||
| Other | 1.2% | |||
From this chart (source: WP, '07 survey), it is plain to see that christians are the only ones who have any real degree of voice in politics. But that's not all. Atheists are literally being silenced constantly in the media. Even on YouTube, users such as TheAmazingAtheist have been denied the privileges of Most Viewed, Most Discussed, et cetera, without any valid reasoning.
The most ironic part is that all the more minor affiliations (judaism, buddhism, islaism, hinduism) are respected for their beliefs and for their cultures. Respected, because at least they have beliefs, even if they are different.
And as for violence ... when you count up most wars caused and most deaths brought about, christianity has the worst track record of them all. It is a simple fact of history.
Finally, consider the following: How would your student body react if an atheist club were formed, and its members stood handing out fliers to everyone who walked by, and preaching the benefits of science and logic ? They certainly wouldn't be welcomed as the four Christian Clubs on campus. I foresee spite and disdain.
More information ? Listen to this fine young gentleman.
2) The second is the mindset that children and teenagers, simply because of their young age, cannot possibly have credibility or reason. The worst part is that people have convinced them to believe it. I read a comment on YouTube today, a part of which read "I'm only 14, so I probably shouldn't be talking."
Guess what ? This is wrong. It can be scientifically proven (though I don't have time to do it, but I'm sure someone has) that pre-teens and teenagers are the most credible and the most reasonable of any age group. Why ? They haven't been brainwashed yet.
People have an annoying tendency to become more closed-minded as they grow older. The younger generations should be listened to, because they still have an ounce of sense in their brains, compared to those who have lived for years and years under the influence of drugs like jesusphetamine and hallelucinogens.
Young people's minds still have the potential to be formed and melded. We can show them the way through logic and facts, or through pathos and hypnopaedia. Which, I ask, is more likely to breed healthy, curious, sensible adults ?
On this note, I assure you that I will not hate anyone based solely on their religious affiliation. I think I have said this before. It does subconsciously skew my view of your awesomeness ... but I recognize the power of hypnopaedia (even while awake) and I will not degrade you because of the corruption someone else injected into your mind. In most cases, you can't help it, and for this I feel sympathy for you. More on the origins of a person's faith in a future essay.
2 comments:
"no religion" is different than "atheism." i don't think people tend to grasp this distinction. Athesists DO have a belief; the belief that there is no god. Whereas the non-religious simply do not believe in any religions. and i'm not sure atheists can be categorized as a minority. the only religions which are categorized as minorities are also races, such as Judaism. You wouldn't consider Buddhists a minority and therefore i don't think it is a fair claim to call atheists a minority.
I would consider Buddhists a minority, actually. 0.7% seems pretty minor to me. People tend to think that "minority" means what societal stigmata want us to think it means, some crazy corrupted connotation. All it really is ... is a group that is smaller than some other group.
You're right, they're different (atheism is a subset), but I didn't feel like getting into that. And besides, that just proves my point even more, because if 16.1% is a minority (which it is, compared to 78.4%, a number ridiculously difficult to contend with), then less certainly is as well. :]
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