Hello fellow piglets!
I’m excited to meet all of you and look forward to blogging on Atheist Pig! Since I generally have an inbox overflowing with ideas for posts and I don’t want to overwhelm people on my blog, this is a great opportunity to work with one of my favorite bloggers and redirect some of my excessive flow of information that I would like to share 
So you know my style of blogging, usually I will be posting either snippets of cartoons/neat things I find on the internets or articles that I have written myself often inspired by news stories I have read. I am based in Seattle so my news items are often USA centric, but I will post world news as well when I find them. Since this is my first post I will do a little dabbling of snippets and articles and talk about why NOW is a great time to be an atheist!
First, we are more socially acceptable now. Not only can you be openly “out of the atheist closet” but you can post it on Facebook without automatically being ostracized or flagged for a lynching and even celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon. Not that long ago being a free thinker would cause you to be shunned by your family and society. There still are changes to be made:
But any politician or judge worth their salt would not uphold those laws as they smack of being unconstitutional. I guess my point is, the time is now and it is good for us. Let us work together to bring that number down to zero states and zero political offices worldwide!
Secondly, atheism and free thought are on the rise! A recent Gallup poll noted that “only 44% of Americans have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in “the church or organized religion” today.” Less than 40 years ago that group was at 68%!
I think quite a deal of this change is due to the younger generations and Millenials specifically, whom I count myself among. Research has been done on this generational divide and church leaders have a reason to worry. Quite a bit of the crisis is from LGBT rights, which seem like they should be a constitutionally protected right for all people. My generation raised on Will and Grace, Queer as Folk, Metrosexuality, and families with 2 moms or 2 dads, doesn’t understand what the big fuss is about maintaining the family unit since few of us had a nuclear family ourselves. “Strong generational divides on same-sex marriage persist in the general population, with two-thirds (67 percent) of Millennials (age 18 to 29) supporting same-sex marriage, compared to about 1-in-3 (32 percent) seniors (age 65 and up).”
As long as churches continue to block LGBT rights and claim such love as “immoral” the churches are essentially shooting themselves in the foot. Once the old parishioners have crossed the great divide, there aren’t going to be young people to fill the collection basket. Some of the faiths which are beginning to mainstream note this themselves and “agree that religious groups are alienating young people by being too judgmental about gay and lesbian issues.” The conclusion for organized religion is this: adapt or die.
For groups that still hold evolution to be a heresy, the future doesn’t look to bright.
Thirdly, (yes, I use “thirdly” and “fouthly” and so on) the other issue so near and dear to my heart is finally being actually rationally considered and supported by the highest office in the nation: Women’s Rights! While Clinton attempted to press the issue of birth control and abortion rights he was quickly lambasted and blocked from support, especially once the Lewinsky thing got out and he became the joke of the week. 10+ years later and we are STILL fighting for our rights to choose and be in control of our bodies. But here is the switch: not only does the president support us, he wants to keep legislation to protect our rights open, but he also has succinctly related the issue to freedom of religion which is often used by conservatives as a fail-safe way to win the argument.
The line has been drawn and someone in power has uttered the truth: your rights to be offended end where my rights to choose begin. How simple! You don’t want it? Don’t use it! No longer can the defense of “it is against my beliefs” be used to block someone else from doing that which they want to do to their body. Maybe we can finally all just be adults and let each other decide for themselves?
In sum, things are looking up and the times they are a-changin’. Let your voice be heard and let your atheist flag fly. We are no longer the minority.
Oink.
