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I'm glad Religious people believe in God, because apparently its the only thing stopping them from going around and raping babies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...washingtonpost
Study: Atheists distrusted as much as rapists
By Kimberly Winston | Religion News Service, Published: December 9 | Updated: Saturday, December 10, 1:50 PM
A new study finds that atheists are among society’s most distrusted group, comparable even to rapists in certain cir stances.
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.”
I'm glad Religious people believe in God, because apparently its the only thing stopping them from going around and raping babies.
Eh... the le should be "less trusted" sorry.
scott is the lest a good speller than a 2nd grader tonight.
Religious people being re ed. Nothing to see here.
So that's why Kobe consistently beats Manu in jersey sales.
Speaking as an atheist, the feeling is mutual... How can you trust someone who only does good because they fear the precieved consiquences of their faith... Nevermind that if they do something bad, they can just pray it away without any moral obligations.
Why not just do good for the sake of doing something good?
as far as my previous post, I guess it sounds a little short sighted and just as close minded as those who have faith.
Dont get me wrong, many of my friends and family still have a faith based belief and I would trust many of them with my life. I just find it funny and somewhat interesting, with as rampant as priests raping children in their parish is, that people would still distrust a completely honest person who just happens to not believe in a higher power.
That, to me, sounds like cultish brainwashing.
I worked with a Jehova's Witness who stepped in front of a gun to save someone's live at work. Said he had an obligation to save the person's life, following the biblical tenant of treating others as you would want to be treated. He afterward declined to be interviewed by the local news, following the biblical tenant of modesty.
I'd bet 9/10 times the religous person has more balls than the athiest in those kinds of situations. If it we my life, in that situation, i'd trust a religious person more.
Many people lack the capacity for empathy and probably would do evil if they didn't think they'd be punished. Since people who lack empathy literally lack the capability of understanding it (physical brain defect), they conclude that no atheist could be virtuous or compassionate.
So you picked atheist teacher?
How many bullets were in the gun
Hey, whatever works for you, man. Judge by the fruits. If it works, it's probably better people have that than nothing. Fear of an angry, paternalistic sky god.
What stops people from raping babies, btw?
What caused King David to cut the strings of his harp and throw it away?
Last edited by Winehole23; 12-11-2011 at 05:23 AM.
Seeing that Christianity and the other exclusionary religions explicitly dictate distrust of non-believers, this is hardly surprising.
"Christians" demonize everybody who is (not their flavor of) Christian.
I know "Christian" Protestants (not even a PC term anymore, since it means protesting against the Catholic Church, and Protestants think they are the privileged, superior, only legitimate "Christians") who absolutely detest Christian Catholicism.
This is exactly like Repugs demonizing non-Repugs, denying non-Repugs any legitimacy to govern (Repugs blocking absolutely everything proposed by the Dems), wanting to eliminate non-Repugs from power completely and permanently.
I don't know if I follow the conclusion.
Isn't it possible that participants were simply acknowledging the high improbability that the wallet thief was also a rapist?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.
You can make the case that people were unfairly presuming the thief was an atheist, but I don't see how they're equating atheism with rape.
Even if you disregard the rapist option, the fact atheists are so distrusted by the rest of society is telling, especially in light of the fact that in the real world they are less prone to commit crimes, have higher educational achievement and greater socioeconomic standing. The statistics would indicate that atheists are, in fact, the most TRUST WORTHY religious demographic, but yet a segment of the population bases their trust on a shared faith in a deity and not the real world around us.
I'm not feigning surprise here, I'm merely outwardly expressing the illogical conclusions that religious-types jump to even beyond their religious beliefs.
I wonder if the irresistable urge atheists seem to have to to be a towards non atheists might have something to do with the lack of trust.
I find it funny when believers get pissed off when non-believers explain why they don't believe. Apparently atheists aren't supposed to have reasons for their lack of belief.
Even Jon Stewart couldn't help but notice the ishness
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/th...und-zero-cross
The "Christians" gave themselves the right to claim WTC rubble and site as "theirs".
Total exclusiveness (of non-Christians), total Christian-supremacist/culture-warring ishness, which merited the atheists' push-back.
I'd posit the same % of Atheists who are " s" is about the same as the % of the Religious who are s. I certainly don't base my opinions of Christians on the Westboro Baptist Church or Pat Robertson or Fats Hagy, nor do I base my opinions of Muslims on Osama Bin Laden.
Someone might come and say "no, all the atheists I know are s!" but you'd probably be surprised to find out how many people around you are atheists and you didn't know about it. That's because atheists (myself included) generally don't talk about religion at all (outside of internet message boards).
With that said, I agree that the most publicly outspoken atheists are generally s, or are perceived to be s - probably because the people who feel slighted by ishness are having their belief system challenged.
In response to why you felt I was being a , this statement:
How is that any less ish than insinuating, as Religious types often do, that atheists are incapable of living by an ethical/moral standard without God?
Atheists commit less crimes than rapists.
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