According to a University of Minnesota study, Atheists are America’s most distrusted minority. If fact, Atheists rank lower on the charts than Muslims, immigrants, homosexuals, and pretty much any other minority group. What’s even more entertaining is that, “Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.” Ouch! I wonder if that goes for Agnostics too?
The people in the survey see Atheists as self-interested individuals hell-bent on materialism and incapable of telling right from wrong. Now I definitely don’t feel the love from our “tolerant” religious neighbors.
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel (no it’s not heaven). The results of the survey seemed to be linked to ones educational background. Basically, uneducated religious freaks from the Midwest (and probably the South) fear Atheists and well-rounded educated people from the East and West Coast are more accepting. Hmmm, I guess the same could be said about the people who voted for Bush and the ones who went for Kerry.
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“Now I definitely don’t feel the love from our “tolerant†religious neighbors.”
There is a difference between tolerance and trust. There is a difference between love and trust.
“Basically, uneducated religious freaks from the Midwest (and probably the South) fear Atheists and well-rounded educated people from the East and West Coast are more accepting.”
You’re entitled to your opinion (this is your blog, after all) but the fact that you think education and religion (as well as proximity to the coastlines) are mutually exclusive diminishes the likelihood that anyone [educated] will take you seriously.
Jonas,
Of course he is entitled to his opinion, however, the statement that those with more education and from either coast are more accepting of atheists was describing the results of the study, not an opinion.
“The researchers also found acceptance or rejection of atheists is related not only to personal religiosity, but also to one’s exposure to diversity, education and political orientation—with more educated, East and West Coast Americans more accepting of atheists than their Midwestern counterparts.”
You are entitled to not like those results, or dispute the study on a methodologic basis, but it is not accurate or fair to imply they are one person’s bias. Your ability to be taken seriously is in question here.
Amen Jonas! Gasmonso should pull his head out of the sand and take a look around before making such a belittling comment that an educated public can only be found within the confines of the East and West coastlines. I was born and raised in New York State, and now reside in the great state of Texas. Therefore, I can attest from experience that some of the most brilliant people can be found in the Midwest and South, while some of the most ignorant and outspoken of Americans such as gasmonso hail from parts of this country they like to brag about (i.e. the east coast).
Frank, like Jonas, didn’t read the post carefully, or the link to the study, or my post. It did not say that persons from any geographic area were more or less intelligent. You both failed to see that. Be more careful before you spout off. What the study said was that those that were the least distrustful of atheists were from the following demographic categories:
• more exposure to diversity
• more education
• certain political orientation (didn’t say which, but one could guess)
• from east and west coast
So don’t get all defensive, now.
What I think is interesting is the fact that so many people distrust people simply because they don’t believe in god. The implication there is, perhaps, the idea that religious types are inherently more trustworthy – a claim that may not be based in fact. Perhaps it is because people often don’t trust people who think like they do?
> There is a difference between tolerance and trust.
> There is a difference between love and trust.
Sure. I tolerate my religious neighbors, and I love them, in the “love thy neighbor” sense. But I don’t trust them. Their religious beliefs in metaphysical things are, in my book, a serious mental health problem. I can “love” people with mental health problems, but I can’t trust them.
I only expect the same from them by the way, i.e. don’t trust my heathen ass if you don’t feel like it, tell me I’ll burn in hell if it makes you feel better, but do leave me the hell alone after that.
One thing I like about the US of A (versus where I grew up) is that I can still say the above without laws about “blasphemy” coming into play.
dmitiris,
I agree. I also don’t care if the religious types trust me or not. However, the overall idea that those who don’t believe in god are bad somehow spills over into what I said before, that those who espouse religion are immediately characterized as good. This becomes a problem, for example, when politicians have to pretend to be religious to get elected. An atheist couldn’t get elected dog-catcher. And if you thump the bible, you are considered to be a good person. I think George Bush is a case in point. He was a boozing, coke-snorting goof-off in his younger years. This sort of behavior in one’s past has been devastating to other political careers. (Think Clinton’s failure to inhale.) Bush wanted to get into politics and (likely Rove) devised a very clever scheme to get him borned again, and “poof” all is forgiven. I personally don’t believe he is religious at all.
You say we don’t have laws against “blasphemy” in the US. I am very thankful that we do have that freedom. However, religion plays heavily into our laws. We make things illegal which are really “sins”: prostitution, gambling, drugs. Certainly these cause social harm, but what about alcohol and cigarettes. Or what about laws and amendments banning same-sex marriage? This harms no one, benefits a bunch a people and is only an issue because the bible says so.
I think that many folks are very naive about atheism. (I find it weird to say “I am an atheist.” I just don’t believe in fairy tales and I don’t need to label myself as “something”, other than perhaps rational.) Religious types often are not exposed to diverse social situations (as the study suggested) and like many perceptions of the “other”, atheists are demonized purely out of ignorance and the rigid thinking that religion fosters.
middle america would hate me if they found out what i really am, i am both gay and an athiest :)
Looks like it’s time to get of there james before they’re on to you for your sins :)
It’s the University of Minnesota – not Minneapolis… sorry, I had to… I go there : )
Indeed you are correct Andrew and I havev changed it accordingly :)
I have to say one thing here. I hate the “undereducated midwest” and “middle america” comments I see on this page. Yes, there are some conservative issues in the midwest, but you are making the same sweeping generalizations about a group of people…the very same mistakes that we get so mad about when religious freaks make them.
I grew up in and continue to live in Kansas, often marked as one of the most conservative and politically religious, but trust me it’s nearly as bad as you might think. Just like other places, our government has been filled with freaks. In reality, our public schools are some of the best and well funded in the nation, with a graduation percentage far higher than the coasts–not to mention strong programs in the arts and sciences, which gave me a great foundation for going on to be both a professional artist and a computer scientist. I’m an open-minded atheist, being gay is fine by me. Visit Lawrence Kansas sometime, there’s plenty of gay folks here, a top university and wonderful music scene.
I wonder what the polls say about agnostics.
It has been shown in many different studies that atheists tend to be much more educated than the average population. This makes sense, religion teaches people not to think (why else would people historically always insert “god” to explain things not yet understood (why the sun comes up, why people get sick (deamons don’t you know), etc.)) The less educated generally are, well, less educated. Stupid if you will. They don’t question things by nature and so yes, they will not understand others. I don’t think religion “causes” this, but it sure doesn’t help.
I get the same thing when I tell people I live in Lancaster, PA. People think I drive a buggy and go to barn raisings, which is absolutely not the case. The city of Lancaster is very cosmopolitan and very politically liberal.
However, it would not be inaccurate to say that on average people from the Midwest are less educated, more religious, and less accepting of diversity. But the thing to remember is that averages eliminate detail.
[...] that works quite well. Research shows, for instance, that atheists are a minority group that is more widely disliked than any of the groups championed by the Left: blacks, immigrants, homosexuals, Muslims. Yet [...]
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