Atheists

[TheDarkestOfAngels]

I love that. It took her less than a second to resort to Christmas present bribery. What a bitch.

I'm an atheist & really do enjoy the giving & receiving of gifts during the holidays & all the family stuff that goes along with it.

I'm just glad I never had to deal with that experience myself. Some members of my family were less than thrilled, but I've yet to deal with anyone who has attempted to bribe, threaten, or anything like that at me, but stories like the one I showcased here doesn't seem to be all that rare amongst atheists.

It reminds me too much of all the stories of gay sons and daughters coming out to their parents and illiciting a similar reaction, especially from the more religious parents or familiy.

Personally, though, what irks me is when anyone is surprised when a group of individuals who has to 'come out' to his parents with some truth about himself so carefully because of the fear of the reaction it will invoke because of all the stories of the things that can happen to gay people, atheists, and other people who are frequently persecuted for some reason or another.
For example, being a registered sex offender anywhere regardless of whether you'll ever commit a crime again or carrying an incurable disease regardless of how transmittable it actually is. People like those are treated like they are human plagues on this earth. Atheists are treated little different in many communities around America.

Ignorance of any of those issues will frequently illicit a negative reaction and living with this issue for many, many years of dealing with the ignorance and irrational hatred of those around you can make those of us react quite negatively and demean those who may not deserve it as much as those that would.

Lampooning us for reacting a little too strongly to something we have to deal with all too frequently is just wrong. I'm not saying that excuses people who resort to name-calling or child-like tactics in what's supposed to be a civilized debate - that's always rude and nothing excuses that, but it at least makes the reaction understandable.