No matter how well an argument is put forth, how well the evidence is presented, there are those that will not be convinced. I don’t go around evangelizing atheism. In fact, other than these pages, the subject rarely arises among family or friends. When it does, I am the one-against-many in the room in that no matter the social habits of some of the others, being a non-believer is always worse than anything else anyone can imagine. Remember that poll some years back that placed rapists as more trustworthy than atheists?

Every once in a while, I place my atheist hat on and take my own poll of family, colleagues, friends and neighbors to check if the landscape has changed, even the slightest, in the last decade or so. Of course I haven’t been asleep all this time, but since the topic almost never comes up in any venue (except speeches by politicians), I find it interesting discovering what others I know are willing to accept as part of the always redefined New Normal.

Almost every time I turn the television over to one of the ever increasing news stations, I’m not sure if I’m learning or hearing a story that is important to the audience, or should be, but more-so to those broadcasting (propagandizing) to the public. Most of these are of the more ephemeral, diversity and inclusion stories where, depending on the channel, those ideas will either be praised or derided. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground anymore. Not that there need be one, because that ground is the reasonable one where there is room for everyone’s thoughts and opinions. Not so in general.

I look for stories that even mention atheism, but they’re hardly around. What I do find is a regressive attitude toward people of different immutable characteristics that make Jim Crow an insignificant footnote in history. Instead of “Out of many, one”, we’re seeing a rewind by certain groups. What about atheism in all of this?

Atheism, in this atmosphere could become illegal, as it was until very recently in some states and where the law, even though unenforced right now, is still the law. I can’t see any of this happening during my lifetime, but then, Who foresaw the state we’re in currently, just a decade ago?