Father Loses Custody of His Kids for Being Agnostic

[Ultima22689]

The USA is slowly mutating into this horrible offshoot called Jesusland, I need to get the hell out of here. I love this country but this shit is depressing, I wish I could speak french, I hear France is an awesome place to live but then again I could probably settle for Canada, won't be quite as much of a culture shock.

I disagree.  The major metrics indicate an erosion of belief and a relaxation of laws based on religion.  The extremism that we do see is caused by nervous fundies who understand that they are on the wrong side of history, I think.

Hmm, perhaps you're right. I hope so anyway, it feels good to say i'm an American.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I hope I am, too.  

The % of atheists has risen from 2% to almost 10% in the last twenty years, even as population has risen from 270 mil to 305 mil: not just an absolute gain explained by growth, but a proportional and absolute gain.  We are making inroads.

Also, look at related issues: DADT is going out the door, medical marijuana use is more acceptable, gay marriage is legal in four states (as opposed to none 20 years ago.)  While these are not purely atheist issues, they are all certainly freethinker issues, and all of these trends bespeak the erosion of monotheism.

Good riddance.

[Prometheus]

I still think a considerable chunk of the christian population is"wrongheaded" and intollerant(I base this on my personal observations and experiences not just bias).  Most of the noise is still being made by a small percantage of people and these people seem to be the "extremists" of the group. I'd say that more than half of the christians i know would agree that what happened here is wrong. But still an alarmingly large percentage would completely support this persecutution. I see this as a flaw in humanity, not christianity. There are many atheist extremists who i believe would just as readily deprive christians of their rights if possible, at times i myself am one of them. We are obsessed with our "them and us" mentaility and the sense of purpose, belonging, and righteousness/selfimportance it gives us and i don't see that changing anytime soon. its weird sometimes how identical certain people can seem regardless of which ism they belong to. For example the muslim suicide bombers compared to the christioan pro life killers. The bottom line i think is that we are a selfish, self obsessed, and delusional species bent on attaching some meaning to our meaningless existence. Unfortunately this often seems to lead to violence and injustice for some reason. All we can do is struggle against each other knowing that it will never end.

Man im getting cynical rofl.

[Ultima22689]

I still think a considerable chunk of the christian population is"wrongheaded" and intollerant(I base this on my personal observations and experiences not just bias).  Most of the noise is still being made by a small percantage of people and these people seem to be the "extremists" of the group. I'd say that more than half of the christians i know would agree that what happened here is wrong. But still an alarmingly large percentage would completely support this persecutution. I see this as a flaw in humanity, not christianity. There are many atheist extremists who i believe would just as readily deprive christians of their rights if possible, at times i myself am one of them. We are obsessed with our "them and us" mentaility and the sense of purpose, belonging, and righteousness/selfimportance it gives us and i don't see that changing anytime soon. its weird sometimes how identical certain people can seem regardless of which ism they belong to. For example the muslim suicide bombers compared to the christioan pro life killers. The bottom line i think is that we are a selfish, self obsessed, and delusional species bent on attaching some meaning to our meaningless existence. Unfortunately this often seems to lead to violence and injustice for some reason. All we can do is struggle against each other knowing that it will never end.

Man im getting cynical rofl.

You're just being cynical and jaded, it isn't that bad. With the population around 7 billion it's a given we'll have a spectrum ranging from the worst degenerates to have ever lived to the most benevolent and awesome folks to have lived. The human race is getting better.