DanG

Sure. But right now they are not. - Dan G

Okay, true. But right now theists are in charge, and it's rare to hear one speak out about religion in government. That is some amazingly twisted logic. - Dan G

You put that on yourself. Project much? There is some hypocrisy from "militant" atheists. Most atheists, myself included, just want to be left alone. That includes getting rid of Christian based laws. I don't care what you believe, but don't force your beliefs on others. Atheists aren't forcing their beliefs on Christians, as much as you want that to be true. We are just asking you to follow the Constitution, and keep religion out of government. - Dan G

Sure, but what does that have to do with the stigma attached to atheism? I don't follow you. Again, I don't understand how the current race is related to the dominance of Christianity. Perhaps you mean that political polarization runs deep, even though it often doesn't make sense. I agree. I also agree that religious polarization often runs deep, and it never makes sense (IMO). I don't think there is a concerted effort to remove religion from society. I think religion is slowly dying a natural death. As people get more educated, and learn more about other cultures, it becomes harder and harder to hate the "other". Strip down religion and it is the same a hyper-partisan politics: tribalism. Tribalism will eventually die out, but not in our lifetimes. I think there are often short term negatives when old social constructs are torn down, but eventually the positives rise to the surface. We are slowly starting to rise to the surface after the civil rights movement. Freedom of religion (real freedom, not the current kind where you're only allowed to believe in a narrow band of Christian sects) will take much longer than civil rights. - Dan G

No, it is about education. There would be many more atheists around if there weren't a very negative stigma still applied to atheism. Ask yourself this: how many avowed atheists have ever been elected to national office in the US (house, senate, presidency)? If there were such a negative sigma associated with being a Christian, why do you think it is virtually required of a politician to express a deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ? - Dan G

If you think the "stigma based on faith" is bad, you should try the stigma based on lack of faith. - Dan G

Apparently. - Dan G

We need an auto-thread-lock feature. If the last ten posts are made by the same two people, it assumes a childish dick measuring contest and locks the thread. Just a suggestion, certainly no relation to the scintillating dialogue you two are currently engaged in. - Dan G

Primaries are elections run by private corporations. They are not government activities. Those private corporations can make you do anything they want to vote in their private election. The fact that most people don't understand that, and the fact that taxpayers end up paying for these private events, shows how legally and culturally ingrained the two party system has become. - Dan G

How did BHO pass a NC law? - Dan G

They probably saw the Ben Afleck movie and tried so hard to forget it that they forgot the real thing too. - Dan G

You just gotta work your favorite talking point in somehow, don't you? - Dan G

Are you going to send that e-mail? - Dan G

Right, which John Oliver himself said, in the second part of his segment. Like I said, it's as if you watched a different segment that the rest of us. - Dan G

You must have watched a different episode than I did. He "defended" Hillary by pointing out that she has an overwhelming number of regular delegates. That's not "defending", that's stating facts. Bernie wouldn't win even if all the superdelegates were dismissed. - Dan G

If you think there are people at your dropzone who want to rape your girlfriend, you need to find another dropzone. That's ridiculous. - Dan G

HUP is a Microsoft promotion where employees of participating companies can get cheap or free copies of Microsoft products for use at home. If that's not you, you won't be able to use that link. - Dan G

Good plan. Work camps for debtors would also be pretty effective. We could segregate the sexes so no new progeny would result. They would do productive work to benefit society. The State would, of course, have to feed, clothe, and house them, but they could work off that additional debt over the course of a few short years. While they are there we could provide them with education. If they have already finished school, we could call in something else. Maybe re-education. - Dan G

FYI, the "American College of Pediatricians" is not the group you think it is. The organization of pediatricians in the United States is called the American Academy of Pediatricians. Who could this other group be? Hmmm... - Dan G

It was a fucking joke. Grow a sense of humor. - Dan G

He came to Walter Reed while I was there to lead a drum circle with all the arm amputees. It was the worst drum circle ever. Not because everyone only had one arm, but because I think he was the only guy in the room with any sense of rhythm. It sounded like the proverbial infinite monkeys had given up their typewriters for bongos. He eventually gave up trying to get everyone drumming together and just talked about drumming in general. It was a weird scene. - Dan G

If you see a little bit of his left hand in the picture you should contact the band immediately. He lost his left arm in a car crash over thirty years ago. - Dan G

I was reading school reviews of a county we're thinking of moving to last night. One of the students at the local high school actually typed out a conversational "like" in their review. They actually thought it needed to be in the sentence. They weren't using it to mean said, the sentence was approximately, "... and the teachers are like super cool." - Dan G

Why did someone photoshop the drummer's arm out? So weird. - Dan G

Well I didn't get to keep my doctor. He retired! What good is the criminal ACA passed by Emir Obama and Queen Pelosi if they can't even force my doctor to keep working? - Dan G