Anti-Atheism

Posted by Bob Lord

I wanted the title to read "Anti-SemitAtheism," but couldn't get the strikethrough function to work for the title.

This is anecdotal, so take it for what it's worth, but there's quite a parallel here, which I think actually is consistent with a change in our culture. A sideways change, if you will. 

I'm an Atheist. I've never believed in a supreme being. Even as a kid in religious school I'd laugh at the stuff we were supposed to believe. But I was born Jewish and still identify as a Jew to some extent culturally.

Since neither my last name nor my appearance give away my Jewishness (or Atheism), I get to hear the slurs first-hand, sometimes.

And ignorance in America seems to have evolvedchanged. 

A decade or so ago, I was having a conversation with an older guy. He expressed concerns about his daughter-in-law. When I inquired why, his explanation started with, "Well she's Jewish," before he pivoted to her various character flaws. The obvious implication was that those character flaws were tied to her Judaism. 

Fast forward to last week. I had a conversation with a much younger guy, who was telling me about a cousin of his. He started with "Well, she's Atheist," before pivoting to her various character flaws. It was as if you took the older guy, knocked a few decades off him, and replaced "Jewish" with "Atheist." 

Looks like Atheist is the new Jew, or so it seems.