I have a deep fear of rednecks. As a 6 year walking alone to school in smalltown America during the height of the US involvement in Vietnam, I got blamed for the war. I had slanty eyes and looked like the enemy. Thus I was bullied, taunted and teased. That's probably why I feel more at home in cities and amongst educated people. Being in the US after 911 scared the hell out of me. America was gearing up for conflict based on ignorance, propaganda and the exploitation of passion untempered by reason. I could smell the rednecks a coming out of the woodwork and so I got out of that country fast!

I now find myself experiencing this same fear with this new Richard Dawkins/Brights movement. I've got no problem with atheism. What what worries me is that lately, I perceive an atmosphere of of sarcasm and hostility toward others with a different view. Ironically, athiests were always one of the groups whom I used to feel safe with. By and large I used to see atheists as rational, logical and reasonable people. I don't think I would be wrong in stating that by and large atheists tend to come from the more educated and intelligent.

Richard Dawkins is making out that atheists are an oppressed class of people. There is probably some truth in this as Amercia is becoming over- by zealots. But it's an exaggeration and like a virus, this attitude spreads among atheists. It then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. In other words, he is amplifying whatever potential for hostility was there in the first place. I will agree that religious fundamentalism has taken over America in a big way. I think this can be largely blamed on George Bush's government who have spread lies, stereotypes and falshoods. They've created a more dangerous world than was there before 911. There are more terrorists today than there were before 911.