Offense is taken so easily these days. If you do not agree with people, they become apprehensive about you. They figure that you are so nice that you must be just like them, just like a long-lost twin. The only issues that you can disagree about are the superficial ones… like, I like chocolate, you like vanilla. My favorite color is green, yours is red. They want carbon copy friends.
Public issues are a different matter. Groups are usually made up of individuals who have near duplicate opinions on matters of public interest. If you are new they test you. They inform you. They insist you must look at an issue in the same fashion as they do or you cannot belong. A lot of times the issues have nothing to do with the stated goals of the group. Conform or get lost.
When confronted about this, individuals in these groups insist that it simply isn’t so. You are assured that you are your own person as long as you believe this, this, and this. Somewhat contradictory, if you ask me.
As an example I will take atheist groups. If you ask them what the hell feminism, LBGTQ, and many other issues, has to do with atheism most likely you will find yourself out on the sidewalk wondering what went wrong. They vehemently disagree that this is the case, but then they carry out the sentence.
Atheism is a disbelief or lack of belief in a supreme being, a god. Possibly, the position that there are no gods, no supreme beings, and that the supernatural is simply a fictional creation. This should be the concern of atheist groups. However, some just think it should encompass more. After all, what would such a limited group do?
Before you know it you have humanism. This belief system conforms to the times, like most religions. Do not tell me it is not a belief system. Asking a list of “why” questions can dispel that.
Freethinker's corner 
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