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Doug Stanhope on saying you're an atheist in Oklahoma - "That's like screaming jihad at airport security". Brilliant.

[edit] and blimey i just noticed what's number one on Videosift!

Doug Stanhope - The Oklahoma Atheist has been added as a related post - related requested by lucky760.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/Doug-Stanhope-The-Oklahoma-Atheist

Rebecca Vitsmun, The Oklahoma Atheist, Tells Her Story has been added as a related post - related requested by lucky760 on that post.

People love to bash Americans for lack of geography and science knowledge, but this smart British fellow just said "Hurricane" with reference to Oklahoma and nobody bats an eye?

This reminds me of my father and his brothers pastime down on the farm in rural Oklahoma. When the river would flood, they would go out into the river on intertubes, hang onto the top of a TREE sticking up out of the water, and garner a bumpy ride from the current.

Sliding where these kids are???? CHOOSING to go out into a flooded river???????

Their mothers would kill them if they knew....

I have a lot of relatives in Oklahoma and am well versed in how steeped they are in their religion. I am very careful about the way I talk there -- I"m not an atheist, but am pretty dang close to one.

I don't ever say it though. Too afraid of negative consequences on my relationships with family members.

@Lann understood my point, and called me out on my own ignorance of the true diversity in Southern communities. Plenty of atheists there. I always presumed them to be silent atheists -- and here this woman claims it for herself on national TV. Because she is a moral person, and wasn't going to lie.

So @newtboy, you got it right about my original motive, in general. However, you conflated me with shinyblurry.

I never said that morality comes from Jesus. I meant the exact opposite. My point is you don't need religion or Jesus or any god to be a moral person. I'm sick to death of some religious folks claiming only Jesus lovers can be moral.

For me, this short vid is proof of morality outside of religion -- she could have taken the easy way, and just politely nodded. But she didn't -- she didn't want to LIE. That is a moral choice, to me.

And good on her. Glad to know from Lann that there probably won't be any negative consequences to public act.

If Minnesota legalized gay marriage, why did God punish Oklahoma?

"The south" is a pretty big place with many different attitudes. I've known a lot of people in Tennessee that were open about their atheism. Hell, I had a bad religion sticker on my car when I lived there. Yes there are areas where you have to be careful (same for if you are black, homosexual, etc.) but I doubt a place as populated as Oklahoma City would be that bad.

There are plenty of brick houses in Oklahoma. But this was an incredibly powerful tornado. It flattened buildings made of cinder bricks.

Really? You guys don't remember Oklahoma City? Ripped the side of a building to shreds with one truck of fertilizer. This is a factory, so probably dozens, if not hundreds of trucks worth.

@chingalera Way to miss the point there, my friend.

How do you change perceptions? Play on the stereotype to show the falsehood.

Besides, any problems I have with basic Southern stererotypical attitudes are based on actual experience. My dad grew up in rural Oklahoma. I grew up hearing only the n-word. As a teenager, we had to be in the San Francisco area and we were only allowed to drive through. Couldn't stop and spend money because he didn't want any gays getting it. This was 1971.

Is he alone in his prejudices? Absolutely not. And what this dumb show points up is just how the State of Texas is leaving these attitudes behind.

Racism is being driven underground. Homophobia is being driven underground. They'll never go away.

And yes, @jonny got it, too. That Southern politeness is a stereotype, too -- and it too is based on reality.