Neural Gourmet Archives | Feed Your Brain
Neural Gourmet Archives | Feed Your BrainThis is kind of scary. A recent University of Minnesota survey has found that atheists, which only number slightly more than 3% of the population, are more distrusted than any other ethnic or religious group.
From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.” Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.
Even though atheists are few in number, not formally organized and relatively hard to publicly identify, they are seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public. “Atheists, who account for about 3 percent of the U.S. population, offer a glaring exception to the rule of increasing social tolerance over the last 30 years,” says Penny Edgell, associate sociology professor and the study’s lead researcher.
Dr. Edgell goes on to note, “It seems most Americans believe that diversity is fine, as long as every one shares a common ‘core’ of values that make them trustworthy—and in America, that ‘core’ has historically been religious.” She interprets the data as representative of a fear of moral decline resulting in social disorder. The study showed that Americans associate atheism immorality of all kinds from rampant materialism to criminal behavior.
Is it just me or does anyone else hear the sound of pitchforks clanking against each other as the villagers brandish them in the air? I know I've been stressing the conspiracism angle lately, but let's face it. We're part of the conspiracist narrative. We're part of the evil secular humanist agenda that is hell bent on undermining the United States. That conspiracist narrative reaches millions of people every day through right wing hate radio and TV. I'm sure there are many on the right that are as appalled by that hate speech as we are, but they use it because it helps keep them in power.
Pharyngula has picked up on this too.
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As you tie me to the stake and pour SUV food all around.
"Evil Satanic Ritual Madness part Deux" is coming.
"Sir, we had a report that your vehicle did not leave the driveway this morning. Would you please tell me which worship service you attended, and can I call your Pastor to confirm that you WERE there? May I see your Bible, too, while I'm at it? Hmm, rather dusty, and say, isn't this a CATHOLIC Bible? You don't have the NIV?"
OK, so it was my Mom's first communion Buy-Bull, 1946, and that's why I still have it.
Round and Round it Goes...
...I discovered that some people hated me for the color of my skin. What a revelation that was. It was like the rug had been pulled out from under me. When I was in my 20's, I found out that some people would fire me for not sharing their belief in God, and it would be very difficult to find someone to object (i.e., an attorney to help me with the EEOC process).
We are on our own, my skeptical brothers and sisters. Few will stand with us, fewer still will take up our cause. We have to work together or we will hang separately.
Maybe we should be building our own social network? Using the internet to construct our own version of the underground railroad where we can help and support each other both online and in real life?
I don't know... There's so many ways to be demonized in America these days. You're a liberal atheist feminist person of color (I don't know what term you prefer to call yourself, please correct me if I'm off base). I'm a fat liberal atheist. Sometimes I think we over react to things like this survey. Other times I want to cower under the covers in bed.
From the press release:
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.
Is education really the key? Is it that simple? Or is it the cultural diversity of the large cities? I rather think the political orientation comes with the territory but then I'm biased that way.
... to get together on something. "Not believing in gods isn't much to have in common," they say. And maybe, in another time and another place, they would be right.
But not here. Not anymore.
Modern American atheists are fast acquiring a shared experience, one of prejudice and intolerance. Take a look at some of the atheist posters on FR sometime (PM me for user names). Read their post logs. You'll find that while we (as liberals) differ on some matters of politics, we share a common concern about the "churching" of America, and the blending of religion with politics.
I often find myself thinking of another despised minority group these days. You would be hard pressed to find a group more diverse than gays and lesbians, people who, to put it in the most basic, most blunt way possible, would appear to have only their sex lives in common. Yet as a group they have come together and forged an identity and a viable political movement. Gays and lesbians have a long road ahead of them, but consider where they have been: just fifty years ago, homosexuality was actually considered a mental disorder. I don't want to paint a rosy picture of "gay politics", but we can and should learn much from their organization and their gains. Additionally, gays and lesbians can be powerful allies; not only are a number of gays and lesbians atheists or agnostics, gay and lesbian theists are well-acquainted with the dangers of mixing religion and politics.
Are the atheists who do not see the problem and are telling us to sit down, be quiet, stop making waves, now's not the time, you're costing us votes. I find that attitude puzzling and disturbing.
I agree with you that we need to figure out how to begin organizing and that we can learn from other demonized groups such as gays.
Actually, there are self-loathers in any group, even white, heterosexual males. What bothers me are the so-called liberal theists who use their concern over BushCo to disguise their prejudices. Give me an honest Bible-banger any day. He'll beat you with a Bible and tell you you're going to hell, but at least he's honest about it, unlike the liberals who'll smother you with a smile and a promise that "someday" you'll get a seat at the table.
Despite Britain's Head of State being the ceremonial leader of a church, Britain is very atheist-friendly, with recent opinion polls showing that 40-45% of Britons regard themselves as atheist/agnostic.
However, there has been a growing evangelical minority which has been flexing its muscles in the UK, and it enjoys American backing from its equivalents in the US, so I'm not taking anything for granted.
As an agnostic socialist-feminist I have a lot of other battles to fight. Patriarchy, labour exploitation, theocracy, racism and reactionary-militarism. It might be difficult for all atheists to bind together under an umbrella movement (as some for example would oppose the overthrow of patriarchy, something very profound to me, and so any large group would lend to disagreement), but alas such a concept is not impossible.
