A Look into the Spiritual Side of Bullying

Duncan Campbell B1 Hayes 10/16/13 One day in May of 2000, 8 students formed a grassroots group. They had their first group meeting in August. What was their goal? To protect atheist and agnostic students around the country, and to, as their website states, keep the religion out of science. The Secular Student Alliance, now one of the nations biggest secular organizations, does exactly that. They combat all religious bullying, which may be the last socially acceptable form of bullying in the country. The Secular Safe Zone, one of their projects, is an initiative (that) is designed to create safe, neutral places for students to talk about their doubts without fear of religious bullying. (Hamblin, 2013). Especially in the area known as the Bible Belt secular and other non-Christian conforming students are terrified of revealing the fact that they are atheist to the public. You have probably heard of Westboro Baptist Church, which was officially classified as a hate group by the FBI, banned from entering any UN areas, and has protested at the funerals of dead soldiers with beliefs they disagree with; but there are less well known cases involving young people. Challenging the use of religion in public places can result in the person being alienated by their local community. Damon Fowler was kicked out of his house by his parents for protesting a prayer at his Northern Louisiana high school graduation ceremony. Jessica Ahlquist was called an evil little thing by her state congressman and verbally abused by her community for getting a prayer banner removed from her Cranston, RI school. She needed a police escort to her court case of Ahlquist Vs. Cranston due to the violent reaction of her community. Gage Pulliam sent a photo of the Ten Commandments plaque that was in every classroom of his Oklahoma high school to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. This led to the removal of the plaques and Pulliam feared for his safety for afterwards. Pulliam did not even have a problem with the plaque personally. His issue was that it was completely illegal to openly express religion in school. Why is there such an extreme emotional response to challenges of religion in public places? Perhaps McCarthyism played a role in decreasing tolerance of atheism. McCarthyism is one of the worst witch-hunts ever. It began with Sen. Joseph McCarthy, a man who hated every form of communism, and he wanted it eliminated. He attacked it on every front. Thousands of U.S. citizens were fired or punished due to McCarthy. But the Soviets, in an effort to continue total control over their country, banned religion. Thus, McCarthy promoted religion. The dollar had the new phrase on it In God We Trust. The phrase under god was added to the Pledge of Allegiance during the McCarthy era, and is still being challenged in court today in Massachusetts. McCarthyism was started to battle communism, but there is no need for this religious patriotism now, as the Soviets are gone. McCarthys legacy lives on though. The US Congress recently passed a non-binding resolution reaffirming the use of In God We Trust as the national motto. Well, there goes the secular government. The Secular Coalition for America graded the House of Representatives on how secular they were and they completely flunked this year. People have said time and time again, if you are not Christian then you do not belong here to atheists, but he United States was founded on a secular government. The First Amendment states Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.[1]. The government cannot regulate free speech to express ideas as McCarthy did, and the government should not use Under God because that endorses religions that use God, and not deities like Allah, Buddha, or Thor.

Opposition to atheism appears deep-set in the mind of the community. Atheophobia, the fear, hatred, or general dislike of atheists is widespread enough that until 2012 the majority of Americans would not vote for an atheist solely because they were an atheist, but that is still the least likely to be voted for, even less likely than a LGBT person, a Muslim, or a Mormon. (Gallup, 2012).

I believe that this is a major social issue that needs to be remedied. It is disturbing that while we as a country are making progress on other forms of discrimination, we seem to be unconcerned about the rights of non-religious people. This is not how the founders intended this country to exist. This is not American. Are we really going to sit by and watch people get hurt and verbally abused by their entire community because they are different in their beliefs? Is that freedom from religion? Is that what you call American justice? The SSA Secular Student Safe Zone is a good start, but is not enough. There is wide spread religious bullying in this country, especially in the fundamental Bible Belt. My hometown, Virginia Beach, VA is considered the eastern border of the Bible belt. We need more initiatives to combat antireligious bullying. Maybe, instead of telling the freethinkers that if they do not want to be Christian they can leave, we should tell the Atheophobic bullies that they are un-American and should leave. After all, they are violating the constitution by denying people their right to The Bible Belt (red).

their beliefs. But we, the unbiased people, who do not tell people to leave the country, do not do that. Its just not right. Atheism is just a lack of religion, not a threat to others. Religious citizens expect freedom to practice their religion, shouldnt atheists be able to expect the same?

Jones, Jeffery. Web. 19 Oct 2013. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/155285/atheists muslims-biaspresidential-candidates.asp&xgt;. Hamblin, James. "Bullied for Not Believing in God." The Atlantic. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. <http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/bullied-for-not-believing-ingod/279095/>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Bible Belt." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/bullied-for-not-believing-in-god/279095/