Muse
27th March 2006, 03:00 PM
Bad news for atheists living in the US at least.
According to a recent telephone poll sampling over 2000 households here (http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find) conducted by the University of Minnesota "Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.”
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.
Furthermore, atheists were found to occupy the position once held by Catholics, Jews and Communists in the past in delineating a symbolic moral boundary to membership of American society. “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,” says Edgell. Many of the study’s respondents associated atheism with an array of moral indiscretions ranging from criminal behaviour to rampant materialism and cultural elitism.
Edgell believes that a fear of moral decline and consequent social disorder lies behind the findings. “Americans believe they share more than rules and procedures with their fellow citizens—they share an understanding of right and wrong,” she said. “Our findings seem to rest on a view of atheists as self-interested individuals who are not concerned with the common good.”
No wonder ID has such a hold if they believe this nonsense. But while belief is one thing reality is another. A study conducted last year see here (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1798944,00.html) suggested that belief in a creator was the root of all evil for the world’s largest democracy not the athiest. Contrary to America’s perception Gregory Paul’s research indicated that a Godless society believing in evolution may well be more moral than one which believes in a creator.
Paul found that "In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies…”The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.”
– Veritably a study to cheer anyone who’s ever seriously questioned the myth of the all-seeing vengeful fairy in the sky.
Paul goes on to comment "There is evidence that within the U.S. strong disparities in religious belief versus acceptance of evolution are correlated with similarly varying rates of societal dysfunction, the strongly theistic, anti-evolution south and mid-west having markedly worse homicide, mortality, STD, youth pregnancy, marital and related problems than the northeast where societal conditions, secularisation, and acceptance of evolution approach European norms."
He concluded that most Western nations would become more religious only if the theory of evolution could be overturned and the existence of God scientifically proven. Likewise, the theory of evolution would not enjoy majority support in the US unless there was a marked decline in religious belief.
“The non-religious, proevolution democracies contradict the dictum that a society cannot enjoy good conditions unless most citizens ardently believe in a moral creator.
“The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted.”
Enough to warm the cockles of an atheist's heart……… :D
According to a recent telephone poll sampling over 2000 households here (http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find) conducted by the University of Minnesota "Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.”
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.
Furthermore, atheists were found to occupy the position once held by Catholics, Jews and Communists in the past in delineating a symbolic moral boundary to membership of American society. “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,” says Edgell. Many of the study’s respondents associated atheism with an array of moral indiscretions ranging from criminal behaviour to rampant materialism and cultural elitism.
Edgell believes that a fear of moral decline and consequent social disorder lies behind the findings. “Americans believe they share more than rules and procedures with their fellow citizens—they share an understanding of right and wrong,” she said. “Our findings seem to rest on a view of atheists as self-interested individuals who are not concerned with the common good.”
No wonder ID has such a hold if they believe this nonsense. But while belief is one thing reality is another. A study conducted last year see here (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1798944,00.html) suggested that belief in a creator was the root of all evil for the world’s largest democracy not the athiest. Contrary to America’s perception Gregory Paul’s research indicated that a Godless society believing in evolution may well be more moral than one which believes in a creator.
Paul found that "In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies…”The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.”
– Veritably a study to cheer anyone who’s ever seriously questioned the myth of the all-seeing vengeful fairy in the sky.
Paul goes on to comment "There is evidence that within the U.S. strong disparities in religious belief versus acceptance of evolution are correlated with similarly varying rates of societal dysfunction, the strongly theistic, anti-evolution south and mid-west having markedly worse homicide, mortality, STD, youth pregnancy, marital and related problems than the northeast where societal conditions, secularisation, and acceptance of evolution approach European norms."
He concluded that most Western nations would become more religious only if the theory of evolution could be overturned and the existence of God scientifically proven. Likewise, the theory of evolution would not enjoy majority support in the US unless there was a marked decline in religious belief.
“The non-religious, proevolution democracies contradict the dictum that a society cannot enjoy good conditions unless most citizens ardently believe in a moral creator.
“The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted.”
Enough to warm the cockles of an atheist's heart……… :D