Big Think

Denys Artasevych on March 11, 2008, 2:03 PM

I was not aware of this being the case, are there statistics on this?

But if it is the case, it is understandable. Many religios people tend to be ignorant. Im not saying being religios makes one ignorant, i have meat many informed and thoughtfull belivers as well. But there are many of those who have blind faith and are very ethnocentric. (of course atheists are not imune to ethnoccentrism either), And because these people hold their religios and moral laws to be the only thing that is good and right, anyone who does not have a distinct moral code they see as inherantly evil.

Denys Artasevych on March 11, 2008, 2:08 PM

Oh and about salvaging the image. The atheist himself can do little more then be accepting of views of others and not shove anything down anyone elses throat, because as i said both belivers and atheists tend to be guilty of this. Trying to explain that a lack of belief in god does not make them “evil” or heartless people, and why is it that they dont belive. And also to just wait for the populace to become more informed.

Graham wright on March 11, 2008, 5:19 PM

Atheists not trusted? In America, perhaps. Not in Britain. No one cares two hoots if you believe in god or not. Tarnished image? I think not. TV and the rest of the media can’t get enough of Dawkins & Hitchins! I bet all the wretched god-botherers are green with envy.

Musycks on March 12, 2008, 2:29 AM

historically it’s early days yet for the atheist… we’ve had hundreds of years of the religious holding sway, and given the superstitious nature of humans, there’s a long way to go before reason takes more than a foothold. I believe people are scared of atheism, and therefore would rather a beautiful lie, than the brutal truth. Atheists are loving kind decent people who experience the full gamut of emotions and find love and beauty and transcendence even in all manner of things, we just don’t need stone age philosophies and child like explanations of our environment to comfort us or numb us from enquiry.
All we can do is live our lives to the fullest with goodwill, but not be afraid to call a ridiculous assertion stupid for fear of giving offence… if the faithful had been challenged earlier and more strongly about their pathetic beliefs, then we’d be further along the road than we are.

‘Do what you will, harm no one’, a great man once said. That’ll do me.

Jonah Brown on March 12, 2008, 6:48 PM

Here%u2019s some evidence, check out this Gallop Poll

http://www.gallup.com/poll/26611/Some-Americans-Reluctant-Vote-Mormon-72YearOld-Presidential-Candidates.aspx

Americans are less likely to vote for an atheist than any of the other physiographic categories listed.

Vermin Vermin on March 12, 2008, 8:03 PM

you have to look at the concept of tarnishing somthing like an image.a person holding public office is caught with a prostitute. he broke the law, thus tarnishing his image as a defender of the law. Atheists have done nothing wromg. it is not our image that is tarnished, it is the perception of the shivering superstitious that is tarnished.skeptic44 said not to shove any thing down anyones “throat” and thats true in that people have the right to believe what they want. this is a sentament i have seen alot of on the big think, but what i don’t see is people saying that you have the right to NOT beileve whatever you want. it is not preaching to tell people not to try anf force there ideology on us. or no i wont sit silently and just watch while you ruin somthing or oppress others for nnothing more than dogma. we needn’t fix anything, only be a voice and our image will be just fine.

Jonah Brown on March 13, 2008, 12:56 AM

It%u2019s important for individuals to establish their own beliefs based upon reason. However, public opinion is rarely shaped by rational debate. It%u2019s shaped by commercials, the press, authority figures that endorse beliefs, and institutions like churches that build communities to reinforce their ideas amongst family and friends. As a former college debater I know that Christian colleges have some of the finer debate teams in the country. These schools put a lot of money into training their kids how to successfully argue for their ideas. A lot of these kids end up going on to law school. I don%u2019t see atheists organizing to defend their image, or lobbying so that their interests are represented by the government. Atheists pay the cost of this in terms of a lack of public trust, less opportunity to participate in public life, and the loss of freedom to express their personal beliefs without harm to their reputation.

Vermin Vermin on March 13, 2008, 1:05 AM

look into the freedom from religion foundation,and there are others.atheists are lobbying, the numbers are growing. a stumbling block is that many non-beilevers are to afraid to express how they feel because of what there family or neighbors think.

Tim Prather on March 13, 2008, 7:56 PM

Because we are a minority, and minorities are always untrusted, and because the various religions blindly label atheists and accuse them of being untrustworthy. I’ll cite Psalms 14:1 as evidence. When the Bible, the definitive answer to everything for most Christians, states that those without God are not to be trusted then people will blindly and ignorantly follow those instructions.This is only a very small part of a larger problem.

Secondly atheists can do nothing to remove the tarnish from their collective image, it has been too ingrained in the minds of those who practice their faith. What can be done will be a gradual process. Atheists must work together to show the world we’re not evil or to be mistrusted. We must be honest and open and always maintain our belief in logic and science. The break-down of ignorant thought began long ago, eventually science and understanding will bring atheism a new identity. What we cannot do is try to force others to de-convert, nor can we become belligerent. Always teach your fellow man the err of his beliefs, such as the concept of a flat earth or a “young earth”. These are proven scientific facts, but arguing with a Christian or Muslim about the existence of their god is a cyclical argument.

Denys Artasevych on March 14, 2008, 10:49 PM

Vermin thanks for seeing the importance of not shoving beliefs down peoples throats. Fisrst i want to clarify that i am not a beliver and actually identify more with atheism then any other religion. Also i think atheism is also a belief, a belief that god does not exist. So i think if people say you can belive whatever you like atheism is generally included.

I do think atheists are disadvantaged in america. Being from the Ukraine i was stuned by the amount of religios people in the states. But yet again being from a post soviet nation i can tell you opression goes both ways. The soviets blew up alot of beautifull orthodox cathedrals, and even though im not religious i still apreciate the historical and architectural value and find this to be a great ofence. Again no one is imune from being ethnocentric and closeminded, atheists and belivers alike.

Paul Hindle on March 14, 2008, 11:40 PM

Convincing an person to question their faith is a daunting task. I suppose it’s a little like giving up smoking or drugs. The trick is to not get hooked.

The very well funded anti-smoking and anti-drug campaigns work well at preventing young people from getting hooked and I believe that a similar campaign is necessary to gradually wean society from religion.

How can atheists improve their image? I think that issue is a lost cause and rightly so. Atheism is more identified with rejecting ideas rather then being open to truth and understanding.

What I need is a bumper sticker that say’s “Free thought not religious thought”

Jeff Delano on March 15, 2008, 3:34 PM

I’m begining to see 2 sides from Aetheists in the United States. On one side they are intellectual and believe they are revolutionaries, on the other they are bitter for being oppressed by the Christians surrounding them. Now weren’t Jesus’ disciples and apostles intellectual and revolutionary, and weren’t they bitter for being oppressed by the Jews and Romans? What will happen next is some aetheist preachers will lock themselves in a room with either the President of the United States or the Pope and change the whole worlds opinion on aetheism. Kind of like how the early Christian preachers locked themselves in a room with Constantine which eventually converted the Roman Emperor and made him declare Christianity as the official religion of the Empire.

Everything is cyclical as time goes by. There is no change, just more awareness/consciousness of the situations you are going through because they have happened before.

David Glover on March 16, 2008, 1:03 AM

Trusted by whom? I have to say that dodgy polls like this aren’t worth responding to. Where are the precise questions? Who was asked? This is not legitimate polling – and the Gallup name doesn’t make it so.

What if the poll had asked: “Would you vote for a man that used the US military to pursue his own personal ends?” “Would you vote for a man that presented faked up evidence to Congress and the United Nations in order to get their support for his plans?”

Because they have, of course. Twice.

Musycks on March 18, 2008, 1:53 AM

Atheists are not just rejecting ideas, they are mostly open to rational argument and make their judgements based on facts and information, not blind adherance to cult texts. Because we are not fraid to call nonsense, nonsense when we see it, we are categorised as a kind of ‘faith’ by those challenged by our non-conformity to a supernatural world view…. there’s irony.

If someone else wants to swallow that nonsense and it harms no-one else, then I don’t see a problem… people have all kinds of foibles when left alone… but when those stupidities affect me or my child in the shape of public policy, etc, then I can’t stay silent.
I want my daughter to grow up and make up her own mind.. if she chooses faith, c’est la vie, but she’ll at least be aware of counter arguments, something I found lacking when I went to a Catholic school.
Gee atheists?… human after all.

Darcy Scholts on July 16, 2008, 1:21 PM

It’s the guilt tripping, not the faith, in most religions that I find so horribly damaging. Keeping people in line that way is my chief complaint — you can have morals without the religious overlay. Yet I can accept science without discarding belief in Divine as having set it up. Can I prove it, no, but I also believe in my own intuition. I ignore that at my peril. But I agree religion can be like a drug.

Nick S on October 21, 2008, 3:06 AM

It really is sad. Atheists have no street cred because they claim no God. and yet at the same time a man can molest 12 year old girls and force them into marriage as long as they claim God. Most religions believe and support spousal abuse, child abuse and neglect. cruelty to animals, and rediculous pratices such as snake handling and baptisms and exorcisms. and yet my lack of brainless servitude renders me untrustworty. I would trust Michael Jackson to babysit my kids before I would a Mormon Preacher.