Many statements seem theological, but actually promote prejudice   Published on December 19, 2012 by David Niose in Our Humanity, Naturally

Discrimination against nonbelievers in America is so overt and widespread that most of us are completely desensitized to it.

If you’re a rational American – religious or nonreligious – you probably roll your eyes when you hear fundamentalist preachers and right-wing politicians rant in the name of God whenever a major tragedy occurs. But do you stop to consider that their comments directly disparage nonbelievers? If these preachers and politicians directly attacked Hindus, Jews, or Muslims the way they attack atheists-humanists, they would be quickly called out for their hateful prejudice. So why should their anti-secular venom be tolerated?

This phenomenon was highly visible this week. Within hours of the Connecticut school massacre, men of God were eager to explain the travesty, and those explanations consistently attributed the violence to American secularity. Former presidential aspirant Mike Huckabee, for example, proclaimed that the shooting rampage was the natural result of our having “systematically removed God from our schools.”

To read the rest of this Psychology Today article from American Humanist Association President David Niose, click here.