While researching a story about a Tennessee couple that was denied being adoptive parents because they are Jewish, I encountered a label I was not familiar with.
So here we are, hate and intolerance is on the rise in many nations, sadly a lot being fueled by misplaced religious ideologies.
Make no mistake, these people want to turn their nations into theocracies.
from … Theocracy Countries 2023
Democracies are considered to be the opposite of theocracies.
Quote: ”the fact that they are, in part, being funded by the state to care for all children and serve all prospective parents, the agency asserts that such discrimination is part of their religious freedom.”
IF they received NO public funds or signed agreements to service all perspective parents - ie, relied on their OWN monies and specifically serviced their own church 
BUT that is not what is occurring.
Christian Nationalism is real and insidious. Unfortunately many elected politicians of a certain party are behind this type of government.
It goes to the thinking 
“If everyone thought/believed like me, the world would be a better place…” 
I’m on the board of a secular, non profit social services organization. A portion of our revenue is state money.
State agencies, among others, regularly audit the organization and our services delivery, adoption and foster care being two of those. If there were ever evidence of us being out of compliance with their rules, to include showing bias toward or against prospective end users, the state would financially come down on us like a sledge hammer after a quite limited number of warnings. Things appear to work markedly different in Tennessee.
The tactics Governor Lee and his cronies used to get that law passed must have been impressively stomach turning. If not, I’m bemused as to how state Department of Children’s Services leadership didn’t start aggressively pushing back against it first unless they’re legally prevented from doing so.
In a 12-minute video taken by the security firm’s investigator, and reviewed by Global News, Stephens tells the Coutts blockaders that the “Bible likens the state, when it is acting in an ungodly manner, to a beast.
“And that beast is seeking to devour everything,” Stephens said, exhorting them not to give in to the state or rely upon it for welfare, jobs, and education.
“We have all forgotten, as a country, that freedoms are founded upon the supremacy of God, and the rule of law. And not just the rule of any law, but the rule of the law — the word of God,” Stephens says.
Fuck me!
I’m sharing this because this was posted by my brother’s mother-in-law.
I didn’t reply directly in her post so as not to embarrass her BUT I just couldn’t let it slide…
Around 4:48 “Putin is being compelled by God”…
Fuck - these scriptures were used through the Cold War (king of North and South)…Gog of Magog 
blah blah blah
dusts off bible
Anything for Armageddon 
Saw this one on another site I’m on. Ugh… There was a time for awhile I would comment on such posts to politely (Yes, I was actually being polite.) explain why that mindset is wrong. After being ignored and/or blocked after so many times, though, I just finally said, “Fuck it. Let them stay ignorant.”
Wouldn’t matter. Because no matter where you put them, they would never be happy just staying within their own little group. They are forever compelled to wander away to spread their “Good Word” to all parts of everywhere. They can’t help it. It’s ingrained in their DNA or something.
I didn’t lose her.
I think she appreciated that I didn’t reply directly on her “post”. She re-liked some of my other posts.
Some of the religious FB “friends” - yah I’d let it go
I tend to be the type of person that the more I care about you - the more I probably shit on you 
I get passionate and protective of the people I care about.
You’ve got that right. We’ve all had our fair share of arguments with Christians. They’re not the sanest bunch.
YIKES! That was a disturbing conversation. 
That just reminds me of the debates I’ve seen from some of the Theists that pop on here to spread their good word with the Atheist members. It’s fucked up if you ask me. How anyone can believe in that joke of a religion is beyond me.
“Debates” with theists during their spreading activities should be welcomed, IMHO.
It keeps one in good practice for debates wherein the course of disputation will go somewhere useful.
I agree but I still see their views as fucked up. I debated with this one idiot for a long time on Quora when I joined this group called “True Atheism” run by Ade Black.
I will admit. I have gotten frustrated in the past from debating with Theists on here. But I have realized the more I’ve debated with them, the better I’ve gotten at it. So, this Theist on Quora believed in “God Claims”, believed in creationism and the god of the gaps, Believed himself to be a prophet, Believed the Earth was flat, etc; this Theist became a practice dummy for me to try out new methods on as it was pointed out by the group that every court needs a Jester.
You can’t talk a christian out of their religion because no one talked them into it. They grew up in it, and it’s been ingrained in their psyche since early childhood. It’s as much a part of their lives as eating and breathing.
Yes, some people have managed to disentangle themselves from that bullshit, but that’s fairly rare for the reasons I stated above.
BINGO! Give that man a prize. Bulls-eyed that target. It actually took me awhile to realize that after I finally escaped my indoctrination just a few years ago. Given an individual who is fully vested in their faith with no doubts and no-questions-asked, it is HIGHLY improbable their minds could ever be changed. And the lengths they will go to in order to defend and justify their belief can often boggle the mind. About the only ones who ever escape are the ones who already do have doubts and questions. And even they are not always successful, depending on the circumstances of their religious upbringing. I suppose I’m one of those rare lucky ones, but it took me over forty years to finally make my break.
Thing is, you cannot approach a religious person and expect him/her to listen to anything you might tell them about their god/faith. You might as well go shoot spitballs at a tank. As for those who come on here asking questions, most (the ones who AREN’T trolls) are here with the intent of “putting us atheists in our place”. They have no doubts about their faith, and they are not here to really learn. They just want to prove how much “better” they are than us. Then they get their feelings hurt when we blast them with reality, and they scurry away back to the protection of their flock where they brag about how they stood up to us godless heathens. Comical, in a way.
Just like MrDawn, though, I too once had trouble dealing with those folks in debates. I had a bad tendency to let them annoy me and piss me off. I simply could not understand how a person could be so totally oblivious to rational thinking and reasonable logic. Blew my damn mind, and completely grated my nerves. Took me many debates over a couple of years or so before I finally realized for myself why/how people could be like that. And knowing those reasons now, it is incredibly rare that I will get annoyed/angered by anything most of these theists might say. If anything, I typically feel a mixture of sorrow and amusement toward them. Getting angry with them only serves to reinforce their misguided presumptions about atheism/atheists in general. “Kill 'em with kindness (or sarcasm, or kind sarcasm),” is my philosophy.
Murder their arrogance with facts is my preferred method.
I phrase my debates to the “lurkers” on every forum. They would not be there if they were not interested/wanting to learn/had doubts.
I like the fact that every time I enter this forum when a theist is in full dementia I learn so much from the rest of the atheists in this puddle.
Ah, yes! Another excellent point. The lurkers. How could I forget about them? If I may expand a bit, good sir, for those “newbies” here who may not have considered those who watch but don’t participate. A bit of background about myself first, however, in order to help better illustrate my upcoming point.
As I have said before, my first few months here on the AR were… ummm… well, let’s just say they were quite turbulent. To put it mildly, I was quite “angry” for awhile after shedding the shackles of my Christian indoctrination. As such, many of my “debates” on here with some of the hardcore theists at that time would often result in me going off on viciously seething rants and no-holds-barred attacks. Even got me in hot water with the mods more than a couple of times. (And I’m lucky and thankful they had mercy on me. Otherwise, I might not be here now.) Anyway, after a few stinging and well-deserved smacks on the hand, I finally got the point, and I was able to put my anger behind me and focus on what really mattered. And here is what I discovered…
All that anger was simply pent up frustration and disappointment at having been duped all those years by people I loved and trusted. But it was MOSTLY at myself for allowing it to happen for so long.
I could not stay angry at those who brainwashed me, for they never did it with malicious intent. They did it because that is the only thing they ever knew, and in their minds they were doing it because they sincerely and wholeheartedly loved me and cared about me.
(Important one here.) I ESCAPED! I am now FREE of all the delusions. I am FREE of all that indecision and self-doubt that plagued me for most of my life. I am FREE of that debilitating fear and anxiety that was once ever-present in my subconscious. I think more clearly now and make decisions with more confidence than I ever did before. I treat people better now without all the worry and doubt of whether or not I should associate with those of various lifestyles. I… Am… Free. And (in my humble opinion) to get angry with those still stuck in their theistic beliefs would be about the same as escaping a “re-education” camp and being pissed at those prisoners still stuck in it.
So, with all that in mind, here’s my personal take on the “lurkers”. Like Old Man said, those who lurk most likely have their doubts and questions, but they do not actively participate in the discussions. Maybe they are shy. Maybe they are afraid they will be discovered by those who know them if they post. Maybe they are just curious about the things we discuss. Any number of reasons. Regardless of those reasons, though, whatever they read on here (good or bad) will directly affect their perceptions of atheists in general. Personally, I prefer to project a positive image whenever possible. I am truly happy and truly satisfied with my life, and that is what I want others to see. Sure, we all have bad moments here and there. Life is life. But even those rough periods can serve to demonstrate a positive view based on how we handle them. We have some fantastic folks on here who have more than once helped me get through some rough patches along the way. And those are the things the lurkers need to be seeing. Because we may never know who we might be influencing out there, but I would like to think in some form or fashion that I might be helping make “the switch click” to clear the mind of somebody who is currently in the same position of doubt that once muddled my mind.
The United States was always intended to be secular . . . and I see this Christian Nationalism as a grave threat that may turn us into a Christian Iran or a Christian Saudi Arabia.
I now live in a rather conservative, overwhelmingly Christian part of North-Central Florida, which is on the fringe on the Bible Belt . . . and it’s an interesting contrast to the values that were instilled in me by virtue of growing up in New York City.
I was rather surprised to see a subtle, Christian agenda being pushed in my nursing school curriculum . . . but–if I’m to be fair–the young, wide-eyed students are much more worldly than the young people of my youth, which is probably a resut of the Internet.
They often giggle amongst themselves, roll their eyes, and quietly ridicule the subtle homophobia and racism that seems to pervade the course, which I find to be in stark contrast to the school kids of my youth, who swallowed this garbage hook, line, and sinker.
It’s refreshing, and makes me believe that there may yet be hope for the future.
