While America has moved away from race-based discrimination, to continue on the path toward equality and justice we must also oppose discrimination against nontheists.

By Roy Speckhardt, May 22, 2012

If you asked a group of people what they associate with movie theaters, most probably wouldn’t think of discrimination spearheaded by religious groups bent on silencing those who don’t believe in a god. Unfortunately, the Angelika Film Center in Plano, Texas may be remembered for just that.

Recently, a nonreligious group in the North Texas area, the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason, contracted with the theater to run a pre-film advertisement promoting a positive image of local atheist families. At first, it looked like a win-win situation: the coalition was told it could promote its message to local nonreligious families, and the theater would get the profits from the sale of advertising space.

Then local news stations reported on the coalition’s future advertisement and Plano religious groups slammed the theater with phone calls and letters objecting to the ad. Sadly, the theater submitted to the religious groups’ pressure and decided not to run the advertisement, leaving the Coalition of Reason group without a venue to reach out to atheists and other nonreligious Texans.

To read the rest of this Patheos article by American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt, click here.