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Thanks for posting that link. There's some others floating about out there on this issue, too. Just because its not a widely publicized law does not mean it doesn't exist. Here for example, you're to pull off the road as a funeral procession goes by, and in some places you're supposed to honk your horn as you drive around a hill/curve.. alot of folks don't know that, even some who were born and raised here. But not knowing about it doesn't make it go away.
I remember awhile back when Troop posted some information about atheists being discriminated against in the military and I have no doubt that's one place where it could happen. There's even discrimination against atheists in the Boy Scouts which seems a little foolish when you stop and think about it but as I recall this has even involved legal actions although I'm not quite sure where it stands today. In normal day to day life I would say there is very little discrimination but it's not accurate to say that atheists aren't discriminated against in certain situations.
I remember awhile back when Troop posted some information about atheists being discriminated against in the military and I have no doubt that's one place where it could happen. There's even discrimination against atheists in the Boy Scouts which seems a little foolish when you stop and think about it but as I recall this has even involved legal actions although I'm not quite sure where it stands today. In normal day to day life I would say there is very little discrimination but it's not accurate to say that atheists aren't discriminated against in certain situations.
Here are some of the discrimination issues on the American Atheist site. I tried to add as many links as I could on the Boy Scouts. The issues on atheist discrimination go on for pages and can be an eye opener for those who don’t see discrimination against atheist.
What all of this is really saying is that there are a large number of religious people who don't consider atheists to be wholesome citizens who deserve the same kind of respect as someone who's religious. I realize it doesn't even begin to approach the kind of discrimination we've seen in our turbulent history of racism but it does exist, it's just more subtle. As I've said on the thread I started this is one of the reasons I try to present atheism as a positive and construction philosophy to people I encounter in my life if the circumstances feel right and in fact people have told me that they had a better understanding of where I was coming from and I could feel that I'd made a good impression regarding my beliefs. I think we need to stand up for ourselves, atheism is nothing to be ashamed of and it doesn't have to be a dark secret that we're afraid to discuss.
There have and are still laws which limit equal rights to an Atheist in the political and legal system in the United States. These are being addressed one by one, but point out the level of discrimination that still exist at the highest levels of our society. Here are a few of many listed on the net from State constitutions. I tried to pick States of some of our more active posters, but there are many more which point to a not so subtle form of discrimination.
1- Arkansas- in their Constitution (article 19, sec 1) "Atheist are disqualified from holding office or testifying as a witness."
2- North Carolina- Constitution (article 6, section 8) Disqualification of office 1971. The following persons shall be disqualified for office:
(a) "Any person who shall deny the being of an almighty god". Overturned in 1979 Supreme Court case.
3- South Carolina- 2006 constitution (article 6, section 2) “Persons denying existence of supreme being not to hold office”
4- Tennessee: Constitution/bill of rights (article 9, section 2): “No person who denies the being of god, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.”
5- Texas Constitution: Bill of rights (article I, Section 4) Amended on 9/13/2003 states that an official may be "excluded from holding office" if she/he does not "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being”.
6- Maryland: Bill of rights (a) Article 36- “That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in s uch manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; herefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion, or profession, or for his religious practice, unless, under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent, or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain, any place of worship, or any ministry; nor shall any person, otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefore either in this world or in the world to come."
(b) Article 37: "That no religious test ought ever to be required as a qualification for any office of profit or trust in this State, other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God; nor shall the Legislature prescribe any other oath of office than the oath prescribed by this Constitution."
cncracer, It's amazing some of those laws are still on the books. I'm sure they would be overturned if the circumstances arose that could take it to a higher court. For example if I as an atheist witnessed the murder of a police officer in the state of Arkansas and was able to identify the murderer it sounds like I would be disqualified from testifying in court. If this situation actually occurred you can be certain that there would be a strong push to get that law overturned and even very conservative people would support it because it's completely unreasonable and was probably written a very long time ago. There are all sorts of strange laws on the books in every state that have been there since the 1800's or earlier involving all kinds of ridiculous situations but no one has ever challenged them in modern times because circumstances never arise in which they would be challenged. For example it's against the law to hunt camels in Arizona.
You make a good point though, these laws demonstrate that throughout American history atheism has been seen as some sort of moral defect and an atheist in my state of Tennessee is apparently deemed as unfit for holding any office in the civil department of the state. That's pretty pathetic.
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