(August 5, 2014 at 2:09 pm)Oldm8 Wrote: In Europe we have no such problem. No one gives a damn what you believe, if anything religious people are viewed with suspicion. The better-off Nordic and Northern European countries including France have most atheists, with the poorer Catholic countries Poland, Portugal, Spain, Ireland etc the least. No one has to "come out" even in these "religious" countries, where the church is gradually losing its grip.
If you want a secular society you must educate people in all disciplines especially science and technology.
Boko Haram (western education is forbidden) in Nigeria realise the threat to religion, in this case Islam, that education can pose and would like to keep people ignorant so they can continue to wield power over them.
Charles Darwin stood up against all the Church and Establishment at great cost to himself (his wife a devout religious woman disowned him) to tell the truth.
Even in USA bible belt it will be easier for a modern day atheist to stand up against bigotry than it was for Darwin.
The truth will prevail and there is no going back.
Oddly enough the Creationists who argue over time and age of the Earth are quite happy to use GPS enabled devices which depend on the time on satellites being constantly adjusted using atomic clocks in accordance with Einsteins theory of relativity. The same technology that runs the atomic clocks has been used to determine the age of the Earth and the universe. It is sound.
Being an atheist in Europe is great, even in one of those poorer catholic countries like you said (you forgot Italy, the only one who still hasn't removed crucifixes from classrooms). There are still some people that won't like your atheism, but even devout Catholics respect the fact there are different belief systems and no one is forced to follow a single philosophy of life to live peacefully in society.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you