Reply To: So, I am atheist.

@DrBob – I think it has something to do with the misconception that atheists are amoral or “just want to sin.” After all, I work in a helping profession that is often compared to “angels of mercy” and so forth. But, I don’t think I would be fired for those reasons, at least not ostensibly. I should hope they are conscious enough of the EEOC to avoid that. However, I do believe the theists whom I work among would use it against me. Hospitals are a very political work environment, and I am in a management position. My current shift mates know my thoughts on the subject of religion and don’t care, but I have worked among others who were very vocal about their beliefs and were quick to judge patients and other nurses on that foundation. They even argued among themselves about who was the better Christian. *gag* The displays of ignorance when a patient came in wearing a hijab were painful to witness as was the bragging that one coworker’s son was in a Christian school and wouldn’t be exposed to evolution. He plans to pursue a science career in college… One of the ER doctors does a lot of missionary work and has a clinic in a nearby city wherein he provides care only to those who are willing to sit through a sermon first. I suppose he has a right to do so based on the fact that he doesn’t charge them for medical treatment, but I don’t think that is a particularly moral way to behave. I also find his bragging about all the “good” he does to be offensive. If he knew I was an atheist, I would have to either deal with his proselytizing or would run the risk of his finding fault with everything I said or did if I rebuffed his efforts to “save” me. Neither option is particularly appealing, so I content myself with throwing his newsletters away. (His newsletters are advertisements of how much happier the subjects of his missionary work are after “finding Jesus” – I’m sure the food, clean water, and healthcare have absolutely nothing to do with it. He also points out in them that he is responsible for spreading all of this “good news.”) I believe that my lack of belief is more moral than the provisional care offered by this doctor’s missionary work or the religious intolerance practiced behind the Muslim patients’ backs.