How anti-atheist stigma affects the mental health of American nontheists
Chris Stedman | Jul 14, 2014
How does anti-atheist bias impact the mental health of atheists?
This question is explored in a new collection of more than two dozen stories from American atheists, aptly titled Atheists in America. Its editor, Melanie Brewster, is Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College and cofounder of the Sexuality, Women, & Gender Project.
Below, Brewster tells me what inspired this collection, discusses her research on minority stress theory, and explains why she “wanted to be certain that this book was not another tale of the ‘upper middle class straight white man’ leaving his faith.”
Chris Stedman: What inspired this book? What do you hope it will accomplish?
http://chrisstedman.religionnews.com/2014/07/14/anti-atheist-stigma-affects-mental-health-american-nontheists/
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For a sense of community.
Unfortunately, because they're into gaining wisdom from many faith traditions around the world, and social justice, they're only found in the big cities which are more liberal than the rural areas.
The only church I feel comfortable in is the UU church. I found them in 1979. I had to get the self-esteem to walk out on all other churches which were Christian and telling me I was a worthless filthy sinner just for breathing. I told a group of ministers after services in a regular Protestant church once that their sermons made me want to just curl up in a hole and die, or just go kill myself because of what they preached. They ignored my complaints, of course. It makes money for them.
St. Augustine came up with original sin, and it's not in the bible.
I don't know why people let themselves be subjected to such verbal abuse, except through fear and conformity. I realized it's a way to get money from the congregation and control people and make them feel guilty for normal thoughts. Most people never question their beliefs, and never think that they could think another way about their meaning in life and their spirituality.
I'm certainly not perfect. We all hurt other people. We all have enough problems to figure out and do the right thing without being told we're hopelessly sinful before we're old enough to have any idea of right or wrong. That's like a crooked prosecutor charging you and convicting you for a crime you did not commit. History is the story of mankind figuring out what good values and bad values are, and attempting to progress or regress.
Another atheist's perspective:
