Religious discrimination
There is a new kind of discriminating double standard on the scene, and this time it has nothing to do with your age, sex or racial background.
It has always been fairly apparent to me that most people view Christians in a negative light. As most can easily guess, the obvious reasoning behind this is the generally accepted fact that most Christians are going to try to covert, condemn or consult you—you know, the “you’re going to hell!” or “Jesus loves you!” typical stuff. Most people have had an experience like this.
Even if you think you don’t have any negative associations to Christians, consider this: If someone brings up Jesus, or any other subject mentioned in the bible, do you suddenly find yourself even a tad bit uncomfortable? If so - have you stopped to find out why? Chances are you formed these negative associations based on a couple religious walnuts you had the pleasure of running into.
In a world where people talk openly about everything from sex and drugs to that weird fungus growing between their toes, why is it that even the lightest mention of any Christian concept or figure causes the room temperature to plummet and automatically guarantees a “FREAK” stamp across your forehead?
There is really no need to sugarcoat it: Believing in the God of the bible has just never1 been cool.
But what about this new kind of double standard?
I understand that some Christians have been pushy and downright annoying with their beliefs. What I don’t understand, however, is the growing number of atheists on the scene who are just as pushy and annoying with their beliefs (or lack thereof), claiming to avoid Christians for those very reasons.
Hypocritical much?
For the most part, it’s just very much socially accepted to proclaim just how “atheistic” you are. A Christian doing the very same thing would most likely result a hostile response. Nobody wants to hear about how a praying mother and a supportive church community helped you turn your life around, but everyone loves to read about how stupid Christians are, how flawed their faith and logic is and how much you hate God and can’t understand him.
You know, it’s interesting; quite often the people who claim to be the most “open minded” really end up really being the most “selective minded”. I’ve met just as many (if not more) people who refuse to have anything to do with Christian things because they “can’t stand those judgmental, closed-minded hypocrites” than Christians who refuse to hear about about things contrary to what they believe - like evolutionary theories or pro-choice side of abortion debates, for example.
This just goes to show that you shouldn’t ever generalize people. Consider the following statements: “You’re a Muslim, so you must be violent and possibly connected to a terrorist!” or “You’re a Christian, so you must be trying to convert me!” They may sound like ridiculous claims, but I’d be lying if I told you no one thinks that way. There are people out there—and more than you think—who have very limiting preconceived ideas about world religions and their believers.
Don’t be mistaken; I’m not hating on non-believers. I respect people regardless of their beliefs, as long as they have reasonable logic to back them up. It just saddens me to see a society where people can’t (or feel they can’t) express ideas, beliefs and concepts freely because of political correctness and/or social outcasting caused by the rest of the world’s less intelligent population.
1 - [Christianity has never been cool] within modern times. As Jack kindly pointed out, there was a time in history where being anything but Christian was grounds for burning.
