Barney Frank, Chris Kluwe Campaign To End Discrimination Against Atheists

[stromboli]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/22/chris-kluwe-barney-frank-atheists_n_5863086.html

Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe have signed on to a new campaign to end discrimination against atheists, agnostics and the nonreligious.

Openly Secular, a coalition of more than two dozen secular organizations, seeks to debunk misconceptions about secular people by encouraging nontheists to come forward and raise awareness for the 29 percent of Americans who identify as nonreligious.

In an Openly Secular campaign video posted Friday, Kluwe, who described himself as "cheerfully agnostic and openly secular," urged nonbelievers to advocate for their rights.

"It's important for secularists to be vocal about who they are ... in a truly functional society, in a stable society, everyone is afforded the same freedom to be who they are no matter what that is as long as it doesn't infringe upon the rights of other people to be who they are," Kluwe said. "If you want to enjoy your own beliefs, then you have to fight for everyone else's beliefs just as hard, because if you don't, someday you might be on the other side of that line and you're not going to be very happy when that day comes."

Kluwe, a gay rights activist who hasn't shied from defending marginalized groups in the NFL, described the league as a non-hostile environment for secular players.

"I don't think atheists feel alienated within the NFL ... we're all part of the team," Kluwe said.

In another Openly Secular video posted Friday, Frank, who revealed his nontheism in an interview with Bill Maher last year, aimed to battle the common perception that nonbelievers are intrinsically amoral.

"There are plenty of people who are very good people without a religious influence ... not believing in a supreme being ... is absolutely neutral as to what kind of a person you are," Frank said in the video. "[T]here is no empirical evidence nor is there any logical argument that says you can't be a good person without that."

According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, 53 percent of Americans think belief in a higher power is necessary to be a moral person.

In an interview with Religion News Service earlier this year, Frank revealed that he'd been a nonbeliever long before admitting it publicly, but he'd refrained from publicizing it out of fear that disavowing "any religiosity could get distorted into an effort to distance myself from being Jewish."

"During my service [in Congress], I never pretended to be a theist," Frank explained in June. "It just never became relevant that I wasn't, and I guess I was not as conscious of the discrimination nontheists felt."

Only 54 percent of voters said they would back atheist candidates, making them the most unelectable in the country. Seven states even maintain unenforceable mandates requiring public officeholders to believe in a supreme being.

The Openly Secular website here:
http://www.openlysecular.org/

[Solitary]

Seven states even maintain unenforceable mandates requiring public officeholders to believe in a supreme being.

Who are the people that made this law? What are they afraid of? The truth about superstitious nonsense? Or their loss of power to control people's lives and minds? Solitary

[Munch]

Who are the people that made this law? What are they afraid of? The truth about superstitious nonsense? Or their loss of power to control people's lives and minds? Solitary

Apparently its okay to fight against totalitarianism in other countries, but then to ignore it happening in there own country.

"My grand papy fought against dem germans in the war, dam fascists!"
"A black gay athiest wants to come work for us"
"Get mah shotgun!"

[stromboli]

You can also go to the website and submit videos of personal experiences and stuff.

http://www.openlysecular.org/

And get on their email list. If you want.

[PickelledEggs]

I was actually thinking about this organization just now. Before I posted a new post I looked and saw this thread.

I think Openly Secular is a great idea. It's a great way to positively raise awareness of who us nonbelievers are and that we aren't evil people.... in fact, I was actually thinking of submitting a video myself.

...I'm lucky enough to live in an area that it's safe for me to be open about being secular, but unfortunately that's not the case for many other people... and I wouldn't be aware of how dangerous it can be for people to be open about being a nonbeliever unless I joined this forum.... not even from a 3rd party perspective, but from personal experience.

From the time I joined this forum, I made a lot of friends here. We may not always get along, but I feel like we're all like a big family and I can say I would call any one of you my friend. That's part of the reason I feel so compelled to do something to raise awareness. It hurts knowing my friends are caged up, keeping parts of themselves secret from the outside world.

So yeah. I think I will make a video and share it. I think the Openly Secular organization is one of the best ways to raise awareness and slow down discrimination for nonbelievers, and if it's as easy as making a video about how I am openly secular and I want to encourage others to do the same if they can. It's a no brainer to do it.

[Green Bottle]

I clicked the link and all i got was a blank page, also tried it in Google homepage and got the same, mibbe Gawd is blocking access...........

[Solitary]

This is what the uptight prudes hate about people that have different values than they do: http://youtu.be/fi5lZjPp7Ac

[Savior2006]

Who are the people that made this law? What are they afraid of? The truth about superstitious nonsense? Or their loss of power to control people's lives and minds? Solitary

I looked up some of those laws and I believe many of them are quite old. They aren't enforced and that's all that matters, not which dumbass put it there.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

News flash.. It's going absolutely nowhere.. rubes took the senate..