I'm an Atheist and I personally have no use for Religion. I don't however begrudge others their right to be religious. At one point I considered myself to be Buddhist and I practiced meditation and listened to Dharma podcasts as my "church", I understand how religion can be an important part of a persons life. However, Your right to religious freedom ends where my nose begins. You do not have the right to apply your religious standards, beliefs or convictions to myself or anyone else. If your a public servant you don't get to not do your job because it conflicts with your beliefs, if that is the case then you need to find another job. You have the right to be religious or not but you don't have the right to force your religion on anyone else.
The Christian Right has made up the myth that we are a Christian nation founded on Christian principles and they use this myth to justify all kinds of blatantly unconstitutional things. Ten commandment monuments on public ground, prayers in school and prayers before city council meetings are just some of the things that Christians do to try and force their religion on private citizens but God forbid if A Muslim teacher were to have their students pray to Mecca or if a Satanist wants to put up a monument on public ground, next to the ten commandments. The pure hypocrisy is what really gets my blood boiling. They will fight tooth and nail to have their religion thrust into the public square but once it's a Muslim or other non-Christian religion they suddenly come to their senses and once again find a use for the separation of Church and State.
Follow me below the fold for more atheistic bitterness...
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation, imprisonment, internment, fear, or pain are all factors that may establish persecution. Even so, not all suffering will necessarily establish persecution. The suffering experienced by the victim must be sufficiently severe.
Have you heard a Christian in the United States claim that they are being or have been persecuted lately ? If not you've been living under a rock, they are all being persecuted... That is if you count them having to live in a society that doesn't wholeheartedly endorse their religion persecution. Did you know every time two loving, committed gay people get married, A Christian gets it's daily amount of persecution ? There are religions that could claim some form of persecution in the United States, Muslims after 9/11 went through some persecution, they were targeted for violence by ignorant people looking for someone to blame for the tragedy that befell our nation. Christians on the other hand have it good. In the south we teach their nonsense Creationism right next to the real science of evolution, if evolution is taught at all. They get tax exemptions and then endorse political candidates anyways and never lose their tax exempt status.
Christians are not being persecuted, Atheists aren't being persecuted either. I personally don't care what religion you are, I just want all religions to be equal in the eyes of the law. I want you to keep your religion inside your churches, your homes or your private schools. If you don't want Satanist monuments going up on public property or school children being led in prayer by a Muslim cleric in a public school than you have to view your religion in the exact same light as you view every other religion.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I know many of you disagree but I believe you should practice your religion like you are ashamed of it. You should do it in private because the public spaces are for all of us, not just for people who believe in a sky daddy.