Sorry for taking this long to get back to you, been crazy busy
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Originally Posted by Saya
Atheist organizations can register as non-profits. And so can atheist religions like Raelians.
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Nonprofit /= Tax-exempt and while nonprofits can BECOME tax-exempt, the process is long and arduous. Churches are automatically tax exempt and can register much more easily.
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When has this happened recently? It was in the sixties it was deemed unconstitutional. Laws aren't really taken off the books when they've lost their teeth, there's still technically places with sundown laws but they can't enforce them, if I recall Jon Stewart was talking about a place where they still technically ban black people from voting, they recently wanted to take it off the books but due to some filing deadline they couldn't.
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Yes
it has happened recently. The only reason it's not more common is that again, it's virtually impossible for atheists to be elected.
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That's true for a lot of faiths. How many Wiccans are in office? Voodooists? And actually its true for some forms of Christianity too, remember the shit Jeremiah Wright got Obama in. Black Christianity is pretty damn hated by white supremacists. Last year was the first year there was a single Buddhist in the Senate and the first Hindu in Congress. Both were from Hawaii where both religions have a big presence.
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The presence of oppression by other people of faith does not invalidate the oppression targeted against those who lack faith. I've brought this up before but atheists are
the most hated minority in the united states by a wide margin granted I'd say the oppression they are targeted with is not as severe, but again this is because atheism is invisible.
In the rural community Ashley and I grew up in, our lives would have been in danger if we'd been outspoken atheists then. I was an outspoken Buddhist my senior year and I remember being confronted numerous times for it - one such conversation ended with the aggressor saying: "Well so long as you believe in SOMETHING I guess we're cool"