(Untitled)

[madrigalia]

Survey: US trust lowest for atheists

That's a surprising result.

[R]esearchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, homosexuals and other groups as “sharing their vision of American society.”

Americans are also least willing to let their children marry atheists. “It tells us about how Americans view religion,” said

Comments

[thepersona]

Consider yourself smited by my non-existent god.

[madrigalia]

Well, if he doesn't exist, then neither does his smiting. Hah.

[madrigalia]

"You got to watch out for others too" -- good point.

I think the belief struggle comes when we believe things that are illogical, or that are shunned by our particular niche in society.

Liberals have (rightfully) drilled the value of tolerance into our generation. Tolerance is good. I don't think half the world is going to hell. Quite honestly, I'm scared of hell, and often question the merits of any religion that spreads fear. But the law spreads fear too, and this causes me to think twice about stuff like open liquor or not filing my taxes. That's a good fear, if such a thing is possible.

In this case, people are eschewing tolerance because it's seen as a risk. (I love risk theory. It's my new philosophical darling.) Why are atheists risky to trust? Are people prejudiced against them? I think so, a little, or else the results of the study are bunk. Now the fear of intolerance kicks in.

Some prejudices are natural. Whether they're healthy or not, I don't know. It fascinates me.

[meardaba]

As I so poignantly said at a meeting last week, "They're all my enemies until they're my friend". I really don't believe in anything but the shittiness of people, and the disregard life has for other forms of life. Eat or be eaten, bitches!

But seriously, I'm not that bitter. You need guidelines, sure, but that doesn't mean I have to believe in some god or other. I can be a good person and not believe in a spiritual being.

[madrigalia]

Yeah, and I bet if we asked anyone who knew you, they'd agree on both your goodness of heart AND your self-expressed "eat or be eaten, bitches!" mandate. Paradox!

Something I didn't think about much (and I just had this conversation with a friend over supper; I swear it's taking over my mind), is the whole lack of individual exceptions in risk probability. Bill Gates and Albert Einstein are well-known atheists and good people, and undoubtedly there are others.

But the way the question was posed was "Which group do you trust the least?" so atheists were judged collectively as a risk. And, frankly, I never think of atheists as an organized unit because (uh-oh)...that falls into a "religion" category.

Too bad "Satanists" wasn't the answer. I wonder why that didn't come up.

[polykleitos]

And, frankly, I never think of atheists as an organized unit because (uh-oh)...that falls into a "religion" category.

That's what I was thinking. I suppose I consider myself to be athiest, except... not really. Since I don't have a religion, I guess I just don't think about it much at all. And, it's not as if I feel much affiliation with other athiests. Hmm. I think I'll think about a little bit more; it's interesting. :)