Why do atheists get singled out like this?

[Ace Otana]

Or is it because we don't believe that in a universe that has 1 billion galaxies with a billion stars in each that your sky daddy (not mummy (typical religious sexism)) picked this one for life.

The universe is estimated to have around 125 billion galaxies, and a galaxy can contain more than 700 sextillion stars (700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), not to mention the number of planets orbiting those stars. Times that huge number by 125 billion and that should give you some idea of just how many planets are out there. Statisticaly speaking, the chance of there being life on other planets are extremely high.

I love science.

[Darwinian]

And that's only the observable universe. Who knows how far it stretches beyond our 13 billion light year window and how many other universes are swimming around in the multiverse.

[5thHorseman]

I got my figures from Dr Brian Cox from his wonders of the universe program, guess going into sextillions maybe a bit much for many laymen.

Funny isnt it that there is more chance of another planet sustaining another life form, then there being a god.

I too love science.

[Ace Otana]

And that's only the observable universe. Who knows how far it stretches beyond our 13 billion light year window and how many other universes are swimming around in the multiverse.

Indeed, we can only see so far. There could in fact be over 500 billion galaxies or more. Over the years as our technology improves, we're finding more and more. It's estimated that this galaxy alone has around 500 million life-capable planets. When you look at the bigger picture. We really are small and insignificant.
We are just a tiny speck amongst billions, Trillions, Sextillions, Decilions of specks. Can't help but wonder, why would god pay any attention to this one tiny little insignificant speck?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U

[Rohobian]

There is such a lot of bollocks being talked on this thread. Atheism is unpopular because a lot of its proponents/ or the vocal minority are aggressive know it alls. It's a negative position and negativism is naturally unpopular.

Was MLK also an aggressive know it all? It's not a negative position. The way I see it, we're all being told to shut up, even though we're right. The way I see it, it's the religious people of the world that are aggressive... they are the ones trying to shun those that actually present evidence and facts to back their claims. Atheists are fighting to no longer be oppressed and shunned. We're fighting to not be discriminated against.

If we are quiet about it, we will always be looked down upon by religious people. We have a movement, just like any other minority had over the last century.

Religion is a silly fairy tale, and for us to point that out, for some reason, is considered aggressive and "know-it-all"? There are millions of people out there that think they're not allowed to not believe in a god. I think it's important for those people to know that it's perfectly ok. They are afraid to be different, yet, 16% of the world's population are of secular beliefs. I'm willing to bet that there are plenty more atheists that just don't want to make it known because they're afraid of how they will be perceived by their peers. The fact that people are afraid to be known as an atheist speaks volumes to how intolerant and aggressive religious people in some places are.

So don't give me this crap about atheists being negative. Pointing out the truth is not negativity. It's REALITY. Atheists are the ultimate realists.

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Or is it because we don't believe that in a universe that has 1 billion galaxies with a billion stars in each that your sky daddy (not mummy (typical religious sexism)) picked this one for life.

The universe is estimated to have around 125 billion galaxies, and a galaxy can contain more than 700 sextillion stars (700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), not to mention the number of planets orbiting those stars. Times that huge number by 125 billion and that should give you some idea of just how many planets are out there. Statisticaly speaking, the chance of there being life on other planets are extremely high.

I love science.

I think that might even be a gross underestimation of how many galaxies there are. A few years ago, there was an experiment using hubble. They picked a very small point in the sky about the size of a pencil tip held at arm's length. This spot was dark. They pointed hubble at that spot for 20 minutes at a time, and repeated this 400 times, every time hubble orbited to the spot that would allow it to do so. They were hoping to find a star or 2. They found 10,000 galaxies. A galaxy contains on average about 150 billion stars. That's 1.5 quadrillion stars in that one tiny point alone. I don't know how much of our observable area that tiny point represents, but I'm willing to bet it's at most, 1/1,000,000,000th of our observable area in the sky. If this is true, that means there's (very conceivably) at least 1.5 septillion (1,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) stars that we can potentially see. With the technology of our telescopes improving all the time, I would not in the least bit be surprised if we found out that even THAT was a gross underestimation.

The math on the number of galaxies btw, would make it about 10 trillion galaxies, if my estimation of "how much of our observable sky is in a pencil tip at arm's length" is roughly correct.

[Gawdzilla]

It's actually just the "uppity" atheists that they hate. If we were to sit quietly at the back of the bus like good "boys and girls", they could just pretend we weren't there.

[Zen Badger]

There is such a lot of bollocks being talked on this thread. Atheism is unpopular because a lot of its proponents/ or the vocal minority are aggressive know it alls.

Completely unlike Ken Ham, Ray Comfort, Pat Robinson, Kent Hovind,William Lane Craig......... Shall I go on.

It's a negative position and negativism is naturally unpopular.

Again unlike the positive christian position of "Believe in Jesus or burn in Hell for eternity"

Quite.....

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U

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I have an app on my Iphone called Solarwalk.
Very similar to this(even the music).
But you can move around in it.

[Strongbad]

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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?

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There is one statistic that this “survey” doesn’t include: the percentage of Americans who actually have an understanding of what atheism is. I’ll wager that statistic is less than one percent. If asked to define what atheism is, almost no one would respond “it’s simply a lack of belief in any god(s)”. The majority would respond with what they have been told (by ignorant idiots): atheists are evil, immoral, un-patriotic, hateful, devil-worshipping wicked Nazi demon sinners to be reviled and avoided like the plague.

I think if everyone actually understood what atheism is, the poll results would be significantly different.

[Ace Otana]

I think if everyone actually understood what atheism is, the poll results would be significantly different.

More to it I reckon. Many refuse to accept what atheism is. They like to redefine it whenever possible. They don't like the fact that it's not a religion.
Also they hate the fact that the burden is not on us. We're in a very comfortable position. No expectations, no requirements, no burden of proof, no need for faith, no religious rules to follow. Pure and simple, lack of belief in the existence or god or gods.

They can't handle the truth.

[frankiej]

Ah, science... Such a marvellous thing...

The universe would instantly become less wonderful and awesome if we found out God created it... As it would all be explained as "Goddidit".

The people who believe in a God... Or don't trust science, are really missing out on how amazing reality is...

A friend of mine (a philosopher...of course) isn't even sure if you can trust logic... He doubts far too much... He misses out on the wonders of the universe as he refuses to believe that most if not all things can be explained mathematically.

He sucked at maths though... And all science subjects.