"Religious People Distrust Atheists as Much as Rapists"

[Jeremiahcp]

So 'they' distrust them even more than they distrust Muslms? Since I thought Muslims were religious people, just who are these 'religious' people the survey refers to? Something's amiss.

The study is in the link and it details who they surveyed, also this is not the only study to support these findings. Google is your friend.

 

[Enoch07]

If that's true (for those polled) then why the focus on atheists over other groups? This isn't a 1 to 1.

I don't distrust a stranger with a cross more than one with a turban.

I immediately distrust both, until they give me reason to trust them. That all depends on how they treat me.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Its an older study, the site is 2011 and the study is 2007 but if you read the study its about Morals and distrust. Religious people believe morals come from god, without god they can't understand how an Atheist could be moral. There is a link in the article to the study, its a boring read but the information as to why is there.

A more recent one is behind a pay wall, I posted this one because people can actually read it, but the conclusions are still about the same.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I immediately distrust both, until they give me reason to trust them. That all depends on how they treat me.

That might work for you, but it doesn't explain the poll. You asked why it would be surprising, it's because atheists are disproportionately trusted less, not equally.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

The reason it would seem makes a certain amount of sense when you understand that the general trust members of a large society extend to strangers is due to a shared fiction that makes it possible to know generally what to expect from someone when you don't know them personally. "Oh he's a Christian, so we share a certain value system, and he will likely be bound by the same principles I hold, even though I don't know them personally." These shared fictions, these narrative structures serve as a means to extend trust beyond the few you actually have the opportunity to develop a direct relationship with. It's the same thing with money. That is a shared fiction with inherent value built right into it that allows strangers to relate to each other on a common ground.

So, when those who participate within a given shared fiction encounter someone they perceive as directly rejecting that shared fiction, what bridge is there with other strangers, is missing with this stranger. It's different that the normal suspicion with those from other cultures as well, since it is recognized they have their own shared fictions, belief systems, that bind and hold them together in generally moral and respectful ways. With the atheist, that is someone of their own culture who denies validity to their shared fiction, alienating themselves from their cultural brothers and sisters, like say "I'm not like you and don't value what you do". Of course logically, we can see we do have common values with the atheists of our culture, but that level of thinking is a bit more sophisticated than simply operating within the fiction, letting it define truth and reality and society for you. It's a gut level response because the system is thrown out of balance for them. Only a rational level which requires a greater level of sophistication can counter it, in other words. Rationality operates at a much higher energy level, which most people don't use if the shortcuts work for them.

People always have their "reasons" for prejudice, but it is still prejudice.

 

[Enoch07]

That might work for you, but it doesn't explain the poll. You asked why it would be surprising, it's because atheists are disproportionately trusted less, not equally.

Eh, I've seen too much s**t. My opinion is the whole world is less trustful in general. So it's not a surprise to me.

 

[Father Heathen]

You sound surprised? Do you trust theist?

I don't care what label anyone is. Trust is earned, and I'd bet most people feel this way.

Of course trust is earned, and you would have a point if the default level of distrust was equal across the board, but the OP is about presuming group A is more trustworthy than group B.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Eh, I've seen too much s**t. My opinion is the whole world is less trustful in general. So it's not a surprise to me.

How can I trust you on that?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Obama just signed a law protecting atheists from religious persecution

Thanks to President Obama.

One thing that really impressed during Obama's first inaugural speech, and the only part of it I remember, was when he acknowledged non-believers as a group who are a part of this nation along with those of the specific religions he gave examples of.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

You sound surprised? Do you trust theist?

I don't care what label anyone is. Trust is earned, and I'd bet most people feel this way.

Since prejudice generally forms from limited exposure to a group, and there are a lot more theist around, just a hunch, but I won't assume this level of distrust is an equivalent two way lane. Some back and forth, for sure, but not on level playing fields.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

I know that, personally, I am not scared of being raped by a theist. I am scared of being raped by a rapist.

 

[shunyadragon]

You sound surprised? Do you trust theist?

Polls clearly show atheist/agnostic believers do not base their trust on religious belief, nonetheless they do not trust those (mostly fundamentalist Christians) that do not believe in science. This I believe is justified, and I do not trust them either, because their rejection of science is clearly dishonest.

I don't care what label anyone is. Trust is earned, and I'd bet most people feel this way.

This is unreasonably idealistic. The history of the USA is a witness that trust is more based on race, religious belief and ethnicity, with the polls and reality demonstrating that atheists are most distrust in a dominantly Christian Theist country.

 

[Scott C.]

An atheist thinks to himself...
"There is no God".
"I am moral".
"Therefore God is not needed for morality".

Atheists believe they exist in a world where there is no God.
I believe we exist in a world where there is a God.
I believe that God informs all of our morality, our consciences, whether we believe God exists or not.
Therefore atheists are moral. (A conscious rejection of the notion of God does not necessarily imply a conscious or unconsious rejection of the morality instilled in the soul, as a son or daughter of God).
Since atheists believe they live in a world where there is no God, they don't see God as necessary to their moral compass.
We will never know what morality would look like in a world without God, since there is no such world. Note that I did not say a "world in which nobody believes in God".

 

[Enoch07]

This is unreasonably idealistic.

Perhaps, but I am ok with it.

 

[Quintessence]

I don't distrust atheists. The UK is full of them anyway.

Nonsense. You're religious people. That means you distrust atheists as much as you distrust rapists. True fact, man!

(I expected better of The Atlantic than to make such a rubbish, inaccurate, click-bait title)

 

[bobhikes]

Polls clearly show atheist/agnostic believers do not base their trust on religious belief, nonetheless they do not trust those (mostly fundamentalist Christians) that do not believe in science. This I believe is justified, and I do not trust them either, because their rejection of science is clearly dishonest.



This is unreasonably idealistic. The history of the USA is a witness that trust is more based on race, religious belief and ethnicity, with the polls and reality demonstrating that atheists are most distrust in a dominantly Christian Theist country.

I reading your comment it occurs to me that the distrust of Atheists is a moot point. There is no way to determine if a person is an Atheist or not without asking. It may cause problems for people in the media but the average person will have no problem with it. In this day of Trump refuse to answer the question and you could still get elected.

2 examples
I worked in cub scouts for 2 years and when I left the guy I left the Troop to confided in me he was Atheist and worried. I told him not to that there was another member that is known to some as an atheist and it is never brought up. I trusted him long before I knew he was atheist and atheism did not change that trust.

I myself consider myself christen not catholic but go to a catholic church, help with church activities and have even been a reader working closely with the priests and have never been asked what I believe, it is just assumed.

So although religious people distrust Atheists, its only people that promote there atheism to the general public, which is really not that many.

 

[blü 2]

Study of the Day: Religious People Distrust Atheists as Much as Rapists

That survey says it's from 2011 Dec.

I wonder what's changed in the intervening six years?

The inference is available from other more recent surveys that atheism's community standing is steadily rising in the US.

 

[Nakosis]

We will never know what morality would look like in a world without God, since there is no such world. Note that I did not say a "world in which nobody believes in God".

Unless there actually is no God, in which case it would look exactly like this one.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

We will never know what morality would look like in a world without God,

Pretty much like it does now, I would think.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Eh, I've seen too much s**t. My opinion is the whole world is less trustful in general. So it's not a surprise to me.

If the whole world were less trustful in general, then we wouldn't be seeing one group trusted disproportionately less, that was the point.