According to a telephone survey conducted by university researchers of sociology, Atheists are the least trusted group in the United States. The survey, which included in-depth interviews with over 140 people in over 2,000 households, found that Americans place less trust in Atheists than in Muslims, homosexuals, immigrants, and of course, Christians, among others. Atheists are also the minority group that Americans feel least comfortable allowing their child to marry.
Why it is that Atheists find themselves loathed by American society is debatable. The purpose of religion is to give people morals to live by, so it can be assumed that most Americans think, "No religion, no morals." This statement could not be further from the truth. In the history of the world, it is religion, not lack of religion, that has caused various battles and slaughters. The Crusades, the Salem Witch Trials, 9/11, and the Jonestown Massacre are all examples of incidents where religion revealed its dark side.
The study's lead researcher, Penny Edgell, argues that Atheists play the role that Catholics, Jews and Communists have played in the past. This role, of course, is that of a scapegoat. Today, Atheists offer American society a new idea to discriminate and rally against. American society blames Atheists, as well as other groups, for the decay of traditional "family values".
Unfortunately for Atheists and other groups who use science as a way to explain life, the United States has a long way to go. The U.S. is a country that still doesn't recognize the union of homosexuals as "marriage" and despite all of the research providing evidence for the positive aspects of different drugs, still carries on with the failed Nancy Reagan campaign, "Just Say No". It has become clear that American society has not yet reached the Age of Reason, and it is taking an agonizingly long time to get there.
Comments
Can you provide a link to the study?
We are just like any other people, aside from the fact that we don't believe in an omnipotent being in the sky. If parents continue to teach their kids to blindly follow religion and the "word of god" we'll never break free of these religious bonds.
Nobody "blindly" follows you moron, we all have a choice. Religion will not stop being taught, everyone is obligated to learn the truth. You're a prime example of why we reject atheists, all you do is talk stupidity like that.
So parents are teaching kids to "blindly" follow religion? Are the parents also "blindly" following? I don't think so
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
The study makes perfect sense. Atheists are the least trusted group because their religion is madness. It is because of theism that we have laws and morals to teach our children. Atheism is evil since it rejects God.
The Bible advocates sex slavery (Exodus 21:1-11), human sacrifice (Judges 11:29-40), raping virgins of an enemy nation (Numbers 31:7-18), regular slavery (Leviticus 25:44-46), and a whole lot of other stuff that we in modern times reject as heinous.
You reject these teachings by your holy book because you know that they are immoral. If you make that claim, that means you don't get your morals from the Bible. You simply pick and choose the nice verses and reject the nasty. What criterion are you using to decide what parts of the Bible you accept and which you reject?
I'll tell you what: all humans have a natural moral compass that guide their moral intuitions. And by all humans, that includes atheists. this huge mistruct of them is outragious and illogical. Quite simply, it is nothing more than bigotry.
P.S. Atheism is NOT a religion, it is the absence of one. To call atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.
Truth is, that you don't know what to expect of someone with no beliefs
Truth is, it is difficult to trust in ppl who claim that one should have no faith
Most atheists behave, but is inevitable to see some creepy atheists havin a machist discussion of pornography or comunism or anarquism, and our sociable brains inmediatly labels atheism with a "danger!" tag.
I just can't believe what is written here in the comments. I'm from Europe (sso I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors in my comment) and nearly every young person here lives after the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (some knowingly some not). Never heard of enlightment and "Have courage to use your own understanding!" and this is the motto of most of atheists.
It amazes me that the only intelligent post here by Anonymous is the only post that is criticized and it especially annoys me that the posts made in criticism of Anonymous, especially The Sinner666, are some of the stupidest things I have ever heard and just proves that atheists are so badly thought of in America that anything that they say is automatically criticized no matter how intelligent it is.
Follow God and Jesus, they love you all. God bless and Jesus be with you all. ;)
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