RE: Why do religious people desperately want to class Atheism as a religion?
November 23, 2015 at 2:09 pm
(This post was last modified: November 23, 2015 at 2:10 pm by Brian37.)
(November 23, 2015 at 2:03 pm)robvalue Wrote: I believe atheist/irreligious is becoming a "protected" class, just as much as any religion. Is that right? Has it happened already? (In the US, I mean.)
In word yes, in practice no. The First Amendment and oath of office should be enough by themselves to protect atheists. But even then, if you have no recording or documentation of discrimination, say about housing or a job, especially in "right to work states" they can fire you for anything and it would be hard to prove.
Say for example, you come out as gay, or come out as atheist, your landlord can lie and say it was about breach of contract, or if they are a real estate agent, they can simply say "this house is not for you". Or if you are on the job, and you come in with your uniform slightly out of place, but fixable on the spot, they could use that to fire you and you would never be able to prove the real reason was your label.
We are protected in the context that we are legal be it born or naturalized and especially with no criminal record. But humans lie about everything and their are very easy ways to avoid getting caught when you are a bigot. But that isn't just about atheists, that is about any minority label.
