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Atheists: What about us?
Intern Will Stone reports:
Atheists: What about us?
Intern Will Stone reports:
On Monday morning, a modest cluster of nontheists set up camp outside the federal courthouse to protest the first hearings of the rental dispute between the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and the City of Philadelphia. Their battle cry: well, okay, halting the Scout’s taxpayer-subsidized discrimination against gays and lesbians is good and all, but what about us? Quick background: A few years ago, the city told the local Boy Scouts that they had to leave their Center City HQ — where the Scouts had enjoyed free rent — begin paying $200,000 in annual rent, or renounce the national Boy Scouts’ national antigay policies. Instead, the Scouts sued, and here we are.
Of course, the Scouts aren't big fans of atheists, either: hence, this protest. With signs reading “No Deals For Bigots!” and “Time to Pay BSA,” Margaret Downey, president of the secular advocacy group Freethought Society, informed passersby of the city’s alleged disregard for the nontheist community in favor of the safer option — the gays.
“We support the City’s actions against BSA, except for the fact that they forgot to add nonetheists to their charges of discrimination,” says Downey. Since Downey’s own feud with the BSA in 1993 over their refusal to accept her atheist son, she has pushed for the public, including loads of journalists, to acknowledge that not only gays, but also nontheists deserve a seat on the BSA-bigotry-bashing bandwagon.
“Statistically, we are the most mistrusted and disliked minority,” she says. “The BSA’s discrimination goes far deeper than anyone realizes.”
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