Fakedit: That's cool. The Bible's (literalist) stance on homosexuality is... At least a little unclear, and I can't get into it right now (if I even wanted to). I'm honestly glad your faith doesn't make you hate yourself.
I do agree that there are many atheist homophobes (I was one, to an extent), and they do vote. But it's not the same. Pastors here in NC were directing their flock to vote against Proposition 8. Republicans, and even Democrats promise to defend "Christian values" by denying us rights. It's not just Christians, but Christians in America are far more likely to be taken in by such things. Because instead of just "Ew gross", they can rationalize it as "I love the gay, but what they're doing is
against my beliefs wrong". Instead of hating, they think they're being kind and just.
Also it's easier to believe that being gay is a choice, when you think that God doesn't want us to be gay. Regardless of the facts...
Rolan, I hope this isn't a personal question, but why do you care about public symbols of Christianity?
They only really bother me when they're tied to the government. The government is supposed to be secular and represent people of all religions. I mean, imagine if the situation was different:
Money saying "Allahu Akbar" (Simply "God is great", but would Christians accept that?)
Pledge of allegiance saying "One nation, there is no god" (This isn't even atheist, it's anti-theist, but "we dunno if there are gods" sounds silly)
Courtroom having a statue of Satan outside next to the 10 commandmentsI wouldn't be at all comfortable with the first two, even the second one, and the last one is only okay because it demonstrated that all religions are equal under US law... Theoretically. It'd still be weird, but work as a monument for religious liberty.
(As an aside, a Christian reacted to said statue by pretending to be Satanist and smashing the 10 commandments "In Satan's name". Which was silly because... These were the type of satanists who don't actually believe in Satan, just rejecting tyranny. And a quick investigation confirmed that the guy was a church-going Christian. And the actual Satanists responded by
refusing to put up their statue until the 10 commandments were restored)
But yeah I don't like the government openly supporting Christianity to the exclusion of other faiths, or non-faith. Heck, the 10 commandments is 3/10 "Believe in Yahweh and no other", and for a long time people thought this was an okay thing to have in courts of US law. I won't deny things have gotten better...