Why do atheists get singled out like this?
September 13, 2011 at 6:54 pm
(This post was last modified: September 13, 2011 at 6:54 pm by Fred.)
Stumbled upon this article http://bit.ly/9d9zvw The snippage below is the parts I want to get your take on. Why do you guys think things are like this?
University of Minnesota Study on American Attitudes Towards Atheists & Atheism
Research Finds that Atheists are Most Despised, Most Distrusted Minority
The most recent data shows that atheists are more distrusted and despised than any other minority also that atheists seem to represent everything about modernity which Americans dislike or fear. . . . atheists ranked lower than "Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in 'sharing their vision of American society.'
Lead researcher Penny Edgell said that she was surprised by this . . . Nevertheless, the numbers are so extreme that she was led to conclude that they are "a glaring exception to the rule of increasing tolerance over the last 30 years. . . Our analysis shows that attitudes about atheists have not followed the same historical pattern as that for previously marginalized religious groups. . . ."
Some respondents associated atheism with "immoral people who threaten respectable community from the lower end of the social hierarchy." Others saw atheists as "rampant materialists and cultural elitists" who "threaten common values from above -- the ostentatiously wealthy who make a lifestyle out of consumption or the cultural elites who think they know better than everyone else."
Furthermore, dislike of atheists doesn’t correlate very highly with dislike of gays, immigrants, or Muslims. This means that dislike of atheists isn't simply part of a larger dislike of people who are "different." Why are atheists being singled out for special hatred and distrust?
University of Minnesota Study on American Attitudes Towards Atheists & Atheism
Research Finds that Atheists are Most Despised, Most Distrusted Minority
The most recent data shows that atheists are more distrusted and despised than any other minority also that atheists seem to represent everything about modernity which Americans dislike or fear. . . . atheists ranked lower than "Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in 'sharing their vision of American society.'
Lead researcher Penny Edgell said that she was surprised by this . . . Nevertheless, the numbers are so extreme that she was led to conclude that they are "a glaring exception to the rule of increasing tolerance over the last 30 years. . . Our analysis shows that attitudes about atheists have not followed the same historical pattern as that for previously marginalized religious groups. . . ."
Some respondents associated atheism with "immoral people who threaten respectable community from the lower end of the social hierarchy." Others saw atheists as "rampant materialists and cultural elitists" who "threaten common values from above -- the ostentatiously wealthy who make a lifestyle out of consumption or the cultural elites who think they know better than everyone else."
Furthermore, dislike of atheists doesn’t correlate very highly with dislike of gays, immigrants, or Muslims. This means that dislike of atheists isn't simply part of a larger dislike of people who are "different." Why are atheists being singled out for special hatred and distrust?
