h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As a fanatical Atheist Fundamentalist...I have to say that I've never felt oppressed by anyone.

I don't think this entry is about being a victim or having a persecution complex. To be fair, there'll be plenty of atheists who haven't experienced personal insults due to their atheism. However, there are examples of atheophobia in the entry, and plenty more in views exhibited in the media.

You have to be very careful about who you admit to being an atheist to in Texas, especially if you're in business and especially if you're a subcontractor. Christianity is all-pervasive here and they don't much care for atheists. You won't get too many contracts if you're known to be a non-believer. In a slightly different set of circumstances but based on the same principal, someone started a one-man campaign a few years ago against a family planning clinic that was being built here in Austin - an island of sanity and broad-mindedness in a sea of religious bigotry. He made know the names of all the subcontractors who were working on the clinic and convinced several contractors not to use the subcontractors on any building work involving churches, and that's big business in these parts. Needless to say, several subcontractors left the job for fear of going out of business in the future as a result of having no church work. The clinic was eventually completed, but one Christian bigot (and several more who joined his campaign) showed the power of anti-atheism in the Bible Belt.

I was in a bookshop in Florida recently and was astounded at what a great range of different books they had. It's the same everywhere I've been in the USA - the bookshops are so much better than in Europe. But this one had a huge religious section which I wasn't expecting, including aisles and aisles of Christian Fiction.

For some reason the Bible wasn't in that section.

Don't know if this is still the case... Collins have copyright on the Bible, in the UK at least. I used to live with a woman who worked for the Collins liturgical dept.

Wouldn't any copyright be applicable only to a particular translation?

Danged if I know.

Yes copyright is limited to the translation. That's why people keep re-translating it. It's a money maker.
peace
~j~

Or an employment provider. Pay your money, take your pick.

Don't let me derail this discussion though!