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[Orayn]

Your response doesn't have to do with the proposed problem. Humans are social and communal, and from that they need to trust each other. If faith is important to trust for the human species then how do atheists work within that?

I'm sorry, I misinterpreted what you had to say. In my opinion, the ugly, but inevitable solution is for atheists to stand their ground, argue their case, and do their best to erode faith.

 

[Dark Phoenix]

A new study finds that atheists are among society’s most distrusted group, comparable even to rapists in certain circumstances. Psychologists at the University of British Columbia and the University of Oregon say that their study demonstrates that anti-atheist prejudice stems from moral distrust, not dislike, of nonbelievers.

“It’s pretty remarkable,” said Azim Shariff, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Oregon and a co-author of the study, which appears in the current issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study, conducted among 350 Americans adults and 420 Canadian college students, asked participants to decide if a fictional driver damaged a parked car and left the scene, then found a wallet and took the money, was the driver more likely to be a teacher, an atheist teacher, or a rapist teacher? The participants, who were from religious and nonreligious backgrounds, most often chose the atheist teacher.

The study is part of an attempt to understand what needs religion fulfills in people. Among the conclusions is a sense of trust in others "People find atheists very suspect," Shariff said. "They don't fear God so we should distrust them; they do not have the same moral obligations of others. This is a common refrain against atheists. People fear them as a group." Shariff, who studies atheism and religion, said the findings provide a clue to combating anti-atheism prejudice. "If you manage to offer credible counteroffers of these stereotypes, this can do a lot to undermine people's existing prejudice," he said. "If you realize there are all these atheists you've been interacting with all your life and they haven't raped your children that is going to do a lot do dispel these stereotypes."

Source​

That's the saddest thing I've ever heard.

Fearing God, the all "holy loving one."

Faith out of fear is the saddest form of faith. What a sack of shit that "faith" is.

 

[Emitan]

Maybe they're just jealous we don't live in fear of burning in hell forever for masturbating. Oh, and we get free time on Sundays!

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

I saw this and thought, "Ha Ha that's funny." then I went to google and tried it and ... yep.

Even Muslims fare better and Jews get about 50/50. This little exercise actually ended up being pretty depressing.

 

[First Name]

I saw this and thought, "Ha Ha that's funny." then I went to google and tried it and ... yep.

Even Muslims fare better and Jews get about 50/50. This little exercise actually ended up being pretty depressing.

I'm sad now.

 

[Mohonky]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U58wgn-9Y3c

John Safron on Atheism Door Knocking

 

[lunarworks]

Some woman at work said to me that "Atheists can't possibly have morals".

I told her that was absolute nonsense.

She asked me how atheists could have morals if they don't have a religious code to follow.

I told her "COMMON SENSE and COMMON COURTESY".

Then I asked her who the actual good and moral people were: "Those who are good for the sake of being good, or those who are good because they're scared of a god?"

 

[Orayn]

Some woman at work said to me that "Atheists can't possibly have morals".

I told her that was absolute nonsense.

She asked me how atheists could have morals if they don't have a religious code to follow.

I told her "COMMON SENSE and COMMON COURTESY".

Then I asked her who the actual good and moral people were: "Those who are good for the sake of being good, or those who are good because they're scared of a god?"

I find it funny when people believe that morality is based exlcusively on fear. It's like... If you knew there were no police to stop you, would you be out looting and killing? Would most people?

 

[marcurius]

And here we have one of the prime reasons I'd never want to live in USA.

Honestly though, stuff like this is so weird to hear considering I don't know anyone who is religious and not older than 70 years old.

e: I don't mean to judge your country, but I just can't see myself spending any time longer than a vacation in a country where people consider stuff like lack of religion a character flaw. May be that I'm limited in potential countries to live in due to this, but I don't mind my home country thankfully, even if I'd love to live in other countries as well.

 

[BocoDragon]

And here we have one of the prime reasons I'd never want to live in USA.

Honestly though, stuff like this is so weird to hear considering I don't know anyone who is religious and not older than 70 years old.

Here in Canada I know tons of religious people................ All of them immigrants from poor countries that white people historically dominated and imposed their religion upon. :/ That fact always makes me uncomfortable. Meanwhile the white people here have generally moved into post-modern irreligosity.

 

[Meus Renaissance]

To be fair 5 of them are directly related to a quote attributed to former President G. W. Bush.

 

[Emitan]

To be fair 5 of them are directly related to a quote attributed to former President G. W. Bush.

Oh, good. I feel better that a former leader of my country thinks I'm not a citizen because I don't believe in his imaginary friend.

 

[Slayer-33]

http://youtu.be/kJGxVeQw3SE

 

[state-of-the-art]

To be fair 5 of them are directly related to a quote attributed to former President G. W. Bush.

I'm afraid that just makes it all the more egregious.

 

[Ydahs]

You atheists need to start your own TV show to highlight that you're no different than any other average American. 'All-American Atheist', it shall be called.

 

[Mortrialus]

As I mentioned in the Atheism vs. Theism thread, this is not necessarily the case.

 

[aronnov reborn]

Psh, it'll collapse in two weeks because it wouldn't be founded on Christian principles. Do you doubt the wisdom of Rick Perry?

it would probably be invaded in a matter of weeks by us god fearing folk. You'd be a threat to my way of life.

 

[Clear]

I can't imagine you'd get anything like the same results in Europe. Definitely be interesting to see what sort of results you'd get from polling people in UK, France, or Germany.

 

[etiolate]

I fail to see how we need faith to trust each other.

I don't need to believe the same things as another person to trust them.

I don't need to think they are running some sort of "I'll be good because I believe in God" game in order to actually be good.

Instead of the idea that a fear of god is what atheists lack and thus they are mistrusted, think of it as a weaker link with faith that causes distrust. Consider the faith as the faith in another person, but that said faith is backed by the ability to have faith in something larger and harder to have immediate, personal belief in(in a God, in a Government.)

You're confusing different meanings of 'faith' here.

- confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
- belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact. <- And religious faith is an unfalsifiable hypothesis, without a justification/precedence. A bit more specific than this.

I don't see how it's a question even. One is having faith in a random truthclaim without having anything to support it, the other is having faith/trust that a person will behave according to expectations within tolerance, which can be supported by empirical evidence, statistics etc.

I am not confusing the two, but combining the two. I think the conclusion of this study might understand the faith as both in one. A confidence and trust in another without proof of the other being worthy of that trust. If we need faith of that kind to work as a social and communal species then the mistrust towards atheists may be coming more from a believed or suspected weakening in that link to such a faith in atheists.

 

[speculawyer]

To be fair 5 of them are directly related to a quote attributed to former President G. W. Bush.

George HW Bush actually. Which is pretty sad because he was definitely one of the better GOP presidents in recent times.

 

[The Technomancer]

Well gee, thanks

 

[Joates]

People are retarded, what do ya know?

 

[Kwixotik]

Isn't atheist teacher a more probable choice than rapist teacher? There are more atheists than rapists...

Didn't read the whole thread, so sorry if it's already been said. I think the question is bad.

 

[dark_chris]

That cartoonist is just a dick, please don't post that guy's cartoons.

Well he's right tho.

Spoiler

I opened a "can of worms" didn't I? lol.

 

[mavs]

I am not confusing the two, but combining the two. I think the conclusion of this study might understand the faith as both in one. A confidence and trust in another without proof of the other being worthy of that trust. If we need faith of that kind to work as a social and communal species then the mistrust towards atheists may be coming more from a believed or suspected weakening in that link to such a faith in atheists.

It shouldn't be the perception of faith, but simply the fact that once another person is known not to have the same thoughts, that person becomes less predictable, which means they are harder to trust.

However the specific religious dogma involved matters a lot more, because it can contain specific programming that will have a much larger effect on behavior than our inherent theory of mind.

 

[Ventilaator]

This has to be one of the most stupid anythings I've seen in a while. Considering the choices that were given for the question, I figure a good number of people saw the options and went "atheist on the same level as rapist lol" and chose that.

I'll just go ahead and poll people about their thoughts about gay marriage. I'll give them 3 options: For, against, and Batman

Look forward to my study "People are Batman about gay marriage?"

 

[Pristine_Condition]

The study, conducted among 350 Americans adults and 420 Canadian college students, asked participants to decide if a fictional driver damaged a parked car and left the scene, then found a wallet and took the money, was the driver more likely to be a teacher, an atheist teacher, or a rapist teacher? The participants, who were from religious and nonreligious backgrounds, most often chose the atheist teacher.

Considering the driver that smashed the car and the wallet thief didn't leave behind a note telling everybody that if they didn't think the way they do they're automatically stupid...I'd have to assume it WASN'T an atheist.

 

[weepy]

Well he's right tho.

Spoiler

I opened a "can of worms" didn't I? lol.

In what ways?

 

[kswiston]

Why do some religious people make it seem like the only thing holding them back from being evil bastards is their fear of god? You shouldn't need to fear god's wrath to avoid killing, raping, and stealing from people. It's not morality if you are only behaving a certain way out of a fear of being punished.

Edit: Referring to the type of people who would print that billboard.

 

[travisbickle]

"rapist teacher"! Give me a break, that is the most loaded question I've ever seen.

 

[Scrow]

i've met some amicable rapists. just don't talk to them about religion.

 

[FStop7]

Dude please, I've done research papers on this. He made certain public comments (at least early in his career) supporting Christianity to an extent, but privately, he HATED Christianity.

EDIT: I should say that Hitler, at times, showed that he believed Jesus was a prophet that fought against Judaism, but had his message corrupted by Paul and the other apostles, which created modern Christianity.

It's disputed. I'm not going to drag this any further off topic but this is a subject that I do have a bit of knowledge. Hitler frequently contradicted himself. He figuratively spoke out of both sides of his mouth over the years, his views often changed to fit a given situation - particularly when the favorable outcome of a situation meant political gain. He was a master of coercion, a liar, and a sociopath. I don't think we'll ever truly know what he thought about a lot of things. In fact, I'm not even sure Hitler knew what he thought about a lot of things, in that he was just as good at rationalizing his own views to himself as he was with his followers.

Back on topic. I guess I'm an evil atheist and I should lose my citizenship. Come at me, bro.

 

[Socreges]

That cartoonist is just a dick, please don't post that guy's cartoons.

Holy fuck that's stupid

In what ways?

Was also tempted to reply, but I doubt he'd be open to persuasion.

 

[ckohler]

http://youtu.be/kJGxVeQw3SE

Thanks for posting this video. I pretty much agree entirely with Penn's view.

 

[computers putin']

Don't know his name, his site is atheistcartoons.com.He represents what's wrong with smug internet atheists(they tend to come off as assholes.)
Another of his "pearls":

You'll find of lot of his shit on this page:http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3410801&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=390

If I was an atheist I wouldn't want a dickhead like this guy ever speaking on behalf of atheists .

Was also tempted to reply, but I doubt he'd be open to persuasion.

yeah, Imma go on ahead and ignore him too.

 

[nib95]

Firstly, the results are appalling. Truly shocking.

Secondly, a word of advice to Atheists (and in no way excusing the study findings), try to be less antagonistic, hypocritical and more appreciable of other people's opinions or beliefs. It doesn't help that the vast majority of atheists are often as vehemently arrogant or as challenging of opposition about their beliefs as the extreme religious. If the internet space is anything to go by (which I appreciate on the whole it isn't), Atheists are not shy to mock, degrade, humiliate and insult religious folk and religion en masse, and that certainly doesn't help their cause.

I believe this is actually is counter productive to their principles at times, because it just breeds further divides, animosity, defensive antagonism (from both extremes) and a lack of compassion or understanding as a result.

 

[cutmeamango]

I don't trust that study. Bet they were a bunch of rapists. Or worst, atheists of the ignorant breed.

 

[Phantast2k]

Can't wait for the first pogroms on Atheists in the US...

 

[Fusebox]

The "vast majority" hey nib? And you make this claim based on what?

 

[nib95]

The "vast majority" hey nib? And you make this claim based on what?

Obviously it was a bit of an exaggeration and generalisation, but I meant with respect to my own personal experiences both on the internet space and some of it in real life. More so online because people have the guise of anonymity and lack of accountability. Even take NeoGAF as an example, how many religious folk mock, attack, insult, insist on etc the beliefs of Atheists? Then reverse that. It's unfathomably bias in favour of one party being more antagonistic than the other.

 

[Drkirby]

I think the biggest problem is that a the vocal "extreme" atheists have given the idea a bad name, similar in how vocal "extreme" supporters of religion have.

I'm sure people going out of their way to disprove <insert religion here> annoy people who don't want to be bothered with it as much as I am when people constantly use the names of their holy figures in every justification for an opinion, or that Evolution is "Just a Theory".

 

[Fusebox]

Obviously it was a bit of an exaggeration and generalisation, but I meant with respect to my own personal experiences both on the internet space and some of it in real life. More so online because people have the guise of anonymity and lack of accountability.

Kind of ironic that you'd make such an antagonistic and divisive exaggeration in a post primarily about how antagonistic and divisive you think atheists are.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

I don't know about anyone else, but if God didn't tell me it wasn't cool to not rape babies, I'd be raping one right now.

 

[nib95]

Kind of ironic that you'd make such an antagonistic and divisive exaggeration in a post primarily about how antagonistic and divisive you think atheists are.

I apologise if I've offended you in any way, I genuinely am. But I make a honest and again, genuine plea to you to just try and look at my posts above objectively. Stop. Think. Analyse what you read on these forums on an every day basis, and ask yourself if there's any merit or weight to my claims.

It's not a belief that I alone have, so many people have caught on to it because it's just a horrible feeling of being constantly under attack for your beliefs by SO many people (on an almost daily, sometimes hourly or minutely basis), when you've never done a thing to attack their beliefs.

Also remember, my posts were not attacking the beliefs of anyone, just how people go about propagating those beliefs, or rather, dealing with beliefs opposing to their own.

 

[Fusebox]

If you want to cry religious persecution in a thread about how much atheists are distrusted, featuring anti-atheist billboards then that's your prerogative.

 

[nib95]

If you want to cry religious persecution in a thread about how much atheists are distrusted, featuring anti-atheist billboards then that's your prerogative.

Fair comment. Perhaps on reflection maybe not the best idea. I guess I just thought it a good moment if any to try and reason with Atheists on how they could help to change their outlook and image. Though I equally appreciate a large chunk of the religious extreme (or Right) likely wouldn't change their views either way, as they are fuelled more by ignorance, hate or fear than actual sense or reason. But that does go both ways.

I'd actually also love to see a study on how much Atheists trust religious folk.

 

[REV 09]

"The study, conducted among 350 Americans adults and 420 Canadian college students, asked participants to decide if a fictional driver damaged a parked car and left the scene, then found a wallet and took the money, was the driver more likely to be a teacher, an atheist teacher, or a rapist teacher? The participants, who were from religious and nonreligious backgrounds, most often chose the atheist teacher."

What a ridiculous question. LMAO at the choices.

There are a lot more atheist teachers than rapist teachers out there. So yes, they would in fact be more likely be an atheist teacher. Hell, I would pick the atheist teacher over the rapist teacher too.

The correct answer is "Teacher" though, since the atheist and rapist are also teachers. The individual would have a 100% chance of being a teacher. The question asks for the highest probability.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

 

[Unhandled Exception]

This is the worst fucking survey. Distrust whoever you want to distrust, just know that it's highly likely you were indoctrinated into doing so.

 

[Snake]

The real question: Are atheists distrusted as much as men's magazines?