Reply #17: I hope this is read, because I think this is at the heart of a lot of dissonance

[RKP5637]

in this country.

"Hate groups operating in the United States"

(We tolerate so much hatred in the country, and while I certainly appreciate free speech, hatred could become the norm...)

"Many individuals, groups, organizations, institutes, and foundations are currently active in the United States which exist for the sole purpose of destroying the Constitutional laws and rights upon which honest Americans abide. Their motivations are many, consisting of a broad spectrum of destructive and tyrannical religious ideologies. There are no known secular hate groups in operation in the United States."

<snip>

"We continue to observe hatred and bigotry spouted from every fundamentalist Christian pulpit across the country. Bigotry against blacks, women, homosexuals, Mexicans, atheists, and even other brand names of Christianity are all favorite targets for these purveyors of hatred. Using the rhetoric of "Hate the sin, not the sinner," these people manage to convince themselves they can hate with justification. Using the rhetoric of," Jews were created out of mud" and "blacks are the result of Eve copulating with animals," these purveyors of hatred manage to convince themselves they can hate with justification -- all of it fully sanctioned by gods and the Christian mythologies, of course."

Please see for more: http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/hate.htm