The World's Most Persecuted Minority: Christians

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Well that's what the famous saying "There are no atheists in foxholes" is referring to. An atheist will conveniently show his true-colors when the s**t is actually going down, versus when he's not in any danger beforehand joking around about "magic sky fairies" or whatever.

^^^ ... While Christians will conveniently show their true colors (e.g., treating the rest of us with smarmy condescendence from their lofty perch of moral superiority) when things are going good for them, and then cry and wail and beg the ceiling the moment their lives get a little too difficult for them (instead of getting up off their knees and putting forth the effort to effect the changes that they need).

^^^^
Yep they're often posers too which is one reason why I'm an agnostic. But at least christians don't usually act like they're "bad-azz" until there's a major-threat to them of some-sort the way atheists do.

I tend to think of myself as a pacifist. I'm a Catholic and against war 9 times out of 10. I don't think violence is the solution for the majority of the worlds problems.

When it comes to things like ISIS, I'm for war against them, but invading other countries on baseless accusations (like Bush did) or stuff like that, I'm against.

That's a ridiculous assumption on your part. It's that old canard that there are no atheists in foxholes. Gods are invisible supernatural beings. Do you believe that one can just up and choose to believe in invisible beings that can do magic for you... but only if you believe in them?

No it means that most or all atheists probably think in the back-of-their-mind that there's a tiny possibility that a god of some sort may exist, since they obviously don't know for sure either way. Their life being in jeopardy is just a test of that.

I think that may be the case for atheists who have had a religious upbringing or who live in a religious society, but for atheists who never believed and who don't know much about religion, they wouldn't know how to pray or who to pray to.
It may be common for people to fall back to their early beliefs when under stress, but I don't think that being under stress is a good way to find out what someone really believes.

Not always, but it probably is for atheists since I get the distinct-impression that most of them think their beliefs make them sound macho, bad-azz, etc.

I think that only happens in places where atheists are a small minority. It's not really badass if almost everyone you know is an atheist as well. Here only 28% of people are religious, so if you want to stand out you would need to convert to a religion.

Until the last 20 years or so, if you told people at work or neighbors that you weren't a believer you were asking to be shunned. And Im sure that in America atheists are a very disrespected minority...I Googled atheist + poll, and at the top was....

Originally published Saturday, June 21, 2014 at 3:04 PM
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/ ... 22xml.html

By Danny Westneat
Seattle Times staff columnist

Poll finds Americans’ growing tolerance stops at atheists
In culture and politics, atheism may be the last taboo.

For all the pitched cultural battles recently on issues like gay marriage, affirmative action and immigration, the general trend, happily, is that America is becoming an increasingly tolerant place.
In fact, there’s apparently only one type of person left that you just can’t bring home to mother.
Me.
People like me, anyway: doubters who don’t believe in God.
Earlier this month the Pew Research Center released its largest study ever of our political and cultural attitudes — a survey of 10,013 adults done in the first three months of this year. The headlines were all about how liberals and conservatives are retreating into polarized foxholes, suspicious of the other — a finding that couldn’t have surprised anyone.

But the survey also asked people about their personal lives. And one finding leapt out to me as remarkable.
The questions went like this: “How would you react if a family member were to marry a ... (fill in the blank.)” For example, how would you feel if your daughter brought home, say, a Republican — would you be happy, unhappy or doesn’t it matter?
The overwhelming response to this question was: doesn’t matter. Even liberals say they don’t tend to care if a daughter marries a Republican. The same was true for conservatives — they were mostly fine with their daughters marrying a Democrat.
The great news is we are incredibly tolerant of all sorts of others, according to this survey. By overwhelming majorities, people said they were fine accepting into their families people of other races (89 percent said this was OK) and from other countries (93 percent). Pew asked if we’d be OK with a gun owner (81 percent said yes), or someone who didn’t go to college (86 percent were fine with that).
Ninety-one percent were OK if a family member married a born-again Christian.
The one exception to this tide of tolerance: You have to believe in God.
Half of all respondents said they didn’t want an in-law who doesn’t believe in God. That means Americans now are far less accepting of atheists than of people with different skin color.
When I first heard about this, I figured the poll had used the term “atheist,” which had skewed the numbers. Right or wrong, that word conjures up more than a doubter or shrugger. It has an aggressive tinge to it — an implication that you’re hostile to religion.
But Pew didn’t use the word atheist. It asked: “How would you react if an immediate family member were to marry someone who doesn’t believe in God?” Answer: Not well.
Recently a group called Seattle Atheists has been running campaigns designed to soften the image of the godless. To come out of the religious closet, so to speak.
“Whether you realize it or not, you know plenty of atheists,” says the website 1in4wa.org, created by Seattle Atheists. “We help build your bridges, deliver your mail, and heal you when you’re sick. We’d like to be open about who we are.”
I thought this was silly when they first put it up. For one, I seriously doubt one in four Washingtonians are atheists. But also, nonbelief seems like an odd thing to mount a campaign about. My own lack of belief, for instance, stems more from disinterest than any passionate critique of any faith or organized religion.
But maybe they’re on to something. Gay marriage eventually won because gays and lesbians came out and got visible. Once you know a family headed by two moms or dads, it becomes almost impossible not to accept them completely.
Can atheism be the new gay marriage? Right now there’s not a single open atheist in the U.S. Congress. Based on the Pew study results, I bet we’ll get an out gay president before an out atheist one.
....................

And here is the link to the PEW poll >> http://www.pewforum.org/2014/07/16/how- ... us-groups/

I get the distinct impression you're utterly incorrect in your understanding.

The phrase "most persecuted minority" is ambiguous.

If group A has one person- and that person is tortured to death because they are member of group A.
And group B has 100 people. And those 100 people are not allowed to wear religous symbols to work- but otherwise are treated as full citizens.
Then which group is "more persecuted"? The one in which fewer people get it worse? Or the one in which the greater number get it less?

And...

If group C has 100 people, and ten of them are severely persecuted. And group D has a total population of 9 people- but all 9 are severely persecuted-then which group is "more persecuted"?. Then one with the bigger number (10) of persecuted members? Or the one with the greater proportion of members persecuted (100 percent)?

By proportion of members: worldwide- the LBGT community has to the most persecuted.

But if you're talking about absolute numbers of persecuted people- even a small percent of the world's largest religion -being persecuted- would add up to a huge number. So by absolute numbers Christians might well be "the most persecuted minority in the world".

Maybe they should first stop persecuting others with their sanctimonious "Holier Than Thou" attitudes.

The minority that believes they are the most persecuted minority a self fullfilling prophecy of sorts yeah if you are going to go try to impose your beliefs on people they might be offended and tell you to piss off then of course it is easy to dismiss it as 'persecution' then quitting trying to convert people...if Christians even are a minority...figured that would just be in areas that are not dominated by Christians.

A lot of them think it is...lol

"Life in jeopardy" is not a test for anything.