Ready To Be Persecuted?

You’ve probably heard that the “nones” (people who answer “none” when asked which religion they follow) are the fastest-growing worldview demographic in the US. But, of the 30% of the population who say that, only 5% are atheists, and another 6% are agnostics, leaving 19% who may in fact have some degree of religious, spiritual, or superstitious beliefs, just not affiliated with a particular church, mosque, synagog, etc.

This is a consequence of one of the most brilliant ideas ever introduced to human self-rule: governmental neutrality in religious matters, invented right here in the US of A and codified in the 1st Amendment’s dual guarantee that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...”, thereby erecting what Thomas Jefferson famously described as a “wall of separation between church and state”.

But saying so officially doesn’t in and of itself change people’s minds. Here are 2023 percentages on favorable, unfavorable, or neutral attitudes of Americans about various worldview groups:
Jews: 35 / 6 / 65
Mainline Protestants: 30 / 10 / 60
Catholics: 34 / 18 / 47
Evangelical Christians: 28 / 27 / 44
Muslims: 17 / 22 / 59
Mormons: 15 / 25 / 59
Agnostics: 20 / 24 / 56
Atheists: 17 / 25 / 55

However, up until recently, it hasn’t much mattered whether any given group was irritated at or annoyed by any other, because we all agreed that it was better to co-exist in peace and harmony than to revert to the bad old days of inquisitions, crusades, schisms, holy wars, witch hunts, purges, forced conversions, state religions, ecclesiastical taxes, etc.

Yeah, that was then, this is now. The regime currently calling the shots in DC, regardless of the sincerity or opportunistic cynicism of the people at the top, is totally pandering to the nationalist Christians (or nat-Cs for short), with their ridiculous claims that the US was founded as a Christian nation and needs to have a moral re-awakening based on Biblical principles. Anyone who’s not 100% on board with that agenda is referred to as “the enemy”, “agents of evil”, and “Satanic”. This “take our country back” attitude is aimed specifically at that intersection of the right-wing Venn diagram that encompasses both evangelicals and gun-rights activists.

And this would be utterly laffable if it were just a segment on Saturday Night Live, but they really mean it, and it’s really happening right now, because these people now control the levers of power in the federal government and are busily implementing all the provisions of their master plan outlined in the book-sized Project 2025 agenda.

Will they be stopped, or even slowed down by the US Subprime Court? Not likely. This is the same court which ruled that:
• religious parents could pull their kids out of classes that had books describing LGBTQ+ individuals (Mahmoud v. Taylor).
• Maine could not withhold tuition assistance from religious schools which failed to comply with the state’s mandate to serve handicapped children (Carson v. Makin).
• a football coach could lead post-game prayers in his official capacity (Kennedy v. Bremerton School District).
• a purely charitable organization could not be required to pay unemployment taxes required of secular employers because it had the word “Catholic” in its title (Catholic Charities v. Wisconsin LIRC).
• a large corporation could be assumed to hold religious opinions that required it not to provide its employees with insurance coverage for contraception (Burwell v. Hobby Lobby).
• big crosses on public property are OK (American Legion v. American Humanist Association).
• opening town meetings with prayers (practically guaranteed to be Christian because of who got to invite the preachers) is OK (Town of Greece v. Galloway).
• regardless of state anti-discrimination laws, bakers could refuse to provide wedding cakes for same-sex couples (Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission).
• states can prohibit abortions because fetuses have souls (Dobbs v. Jackson).
• the President of the United States has a “get out of jail free” card for any law he breaks or crime he commits as long as it could be described as an “official act” (the aptly named Trump v. United States).

So we know three things at this point:
(1) Sometime in the near future, they’re going to run out of illegal immigrants to deport.
(2) In order to keep the hate machine burning, they’re going to need a new disfavored minority (“The Other”) to persecute.
(3) Their evangelical supporters are already suspicious and distrustful of atheists, so guess who’s next in line.

SO, fellow atheists, are you ready to be persecuted? Why or why not? What will you do when they come for you? Discuss.

This will be a virtual meeting conducted via Zoom. A link will be sent out at 6 PM on the day of the event to people who’ve RSVPed.