Bahahaha !!!

[Deicide]

A few things:

1.  The atheist suing the military has an experience that is inconsistent with those who have served, including me (a "religious" person) and HH6, who isn't really a "religious" person.  It is unfortunate that some people are given a hard time, but I think that is the exception and not the rule.  It certainly isn't part of any official policy, like you find in China. 

2.  You say "many" state constitutions preclude atheists from holding public office?  Provide me with one reference.  That kind of prohibition would be inconsistent with the First Amendment. 

3.  It is true that a candidate for the House, Senate, or president could likely not be elected if they were an open atheist.  I think part of the reason is many folks don't trust atheists.  They are the least trusted group in American according some polls. 

None of this establishes that the U.S. oppresses and persecutes atheists.  To the contrary, we actually protect them with the First Amendment.     

You ignored the youtube I see...?

[Deicide]

http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/StateConstitutions.htm

Maryland's Declaration of Rights, Article 36
"That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion, or profession, or for his religious practice, unless, under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent, or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain, any place of worship, or any ministry; nor shall any person, otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefore either in this world or in the world to come."

North Carolina's State Constitution, Article 6 Section 8
"Disqualifications of office. The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God."

There you go...

[Dos Equis]

http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/StateConstitutions.htm

There you go...

Interesting.  Thanks.  Regarding each one:

Maryland
A unanimous 1961 decision by US Supreme court in the case of Torcaso v. Watkins found that an attempt to enforce this provision violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. In 1970, this article was amended to include the sentence "Nothing in this article shall constitute an establishment of religion". However the original wording of the article was also left in place, but presumably is symbolic rather than effective.
. . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Constitution

North Carolina
As per the Federal Supremacy Clause, all Federal law and the Constitution of the United States overrule the North Carolina Constitution. There are several provisions in the current North Carolina Constitution that may conflict with federal law and/or the US Constitution.

At least two provisions, carried over from previous versions of the document, are not enforced either because they are known to be void or would almost certainly be struck down in court.

Article 6, section 8 disqualifies from office any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God. However, Article Six of the United States Constitution stipulates that no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. Under current precedent, this provision is binding on the states under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. As a result, this article has never been enforced despite being carried over from the 1868 Constitution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Constitution

[MCWAY]

And you can bet money if Christians in the Middle Ages had access to the modern technology that Stalin did, they would have killed many, many more people.

Based on what? The armed forces of today have FAR more sophisticated weapons and technology than those of the 1800s did. Yet, FAR more people died in the Civil war than have died in the war in Iraq.

Plus, the Crusades lasted FAR longer than Stalin's regime did. It's not a question of technology but of ruthlessness.

But you are right about the other thing; communism is just another religion.

Atheism is simply a lack of belief in a supernatural power; it does not involve worship of any kind.

There is no worship of any supernatural being. Instead the worship gets deferred to a natural being (man), as he deems himself the highest sentient being in existence and (as a result) the final authority.

[Deicide]

Interesting.  Thanks.  Regarding each one:

Maryland
A unanimous 1961 decision by US Supreme court in the case of Torcaso v. Watkins found that an attempt to enforce this provision violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. In 1970, this article was amended to include the sentence "Nothing in this article shall constitute an establishment of religion". However the original wording of the article was also left in place, but presumably is symbolic rather than effective.
. . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Constitution

North Carolina
As per the Federal Supremacy Clause, all Federal law and the Constitution of the United States overrule the North Carolina Constitution. There are several provisions in the current North Carolina Constitution that may conflict with federal law and/or the US Constitution.

At least two provisions, carried over from previous versions of the document, are not enforced either because they are known to be void or would almost certainly be struck down in court.

Article 6, section 8 disqualifies from office any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God. However, Article Six of the United States Constitution stipulates that no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. Under current precedent, this provision is binding on the states under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. As a result, this article has never been enforced despite being carried over from the 1868 Constitution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Constitution

The issue is more about the fact that such clauses are even present in such constitutions. And you still have nothing to say about the youtube...

[Straw Man]

Your original post was funny. All it did was point out the silliness of that website.  But many Christians have a very intense hatred of homosexuality/gay people, so your thread perhaps elicited the reaction it did due to some barely contained anger reserved for that portion of society. Maybe you should have posted it on a board where people can take a joke.

I think you're right about the "barely contained" anger thing.  I did find it odd that Colossus would have such a weird reaction in response a story about the silly unintended consequences of automatic revision of an AP story on a Christian website

Beach Bums "christianized" version of history is a whole other issue.  I keep assuming he's just choosing to be willfully ignorant but perhaps I give him too much credit

[Dos Equis]

Your own example...of the man in the military who is suing the armed forces for persecution; atheists cannot hold public office in many statess according to state constitutions, generally cannot hold office in Washington without at least paying lip service to Christianity; regular folk don't like atheists and are intolerant of them:

   

I finally had 9 consecutive minutes to watch the clip.  If what the girl and her father say is true, the conduct of the student and school officials was outrageous. 

That said, the persecution of one kid in a small town in Oklahoma (if true) hardly proves that the U.S. persecutes and oppresses atheists.  I could give you numerous examples of how Christians are censored and have to constantly use the courts to stop religious discrimination. 

People are free to believe in God or not in this country.  The government doesn't persecute anyone for their religious or non-religious beliefs.  Atheists are actually a very organized group of people in this country.  The government isn't doing a thing to oppress their organizations.  There are TV stations, websites, national organizations, national conventions, etc.