Oh good: Another poll confirms that Americans hate atheists
posted at 4:06 pm on September 25, 2007 by Allahpundit
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I’m moving to France, where I’ll be appreciated and les iPhones are cheap and plentiful.
Actually, the money data at the link has to do with souring public perceptions of Islam, which held relatively steady between 2002 and 2005 or so and then started to tilt downwards presumably because of the intractable Sunni/Shiite standoff in Iraq. Here’s the most interesting result. As usual, familiarity breeds acceptance, but if I’m right in my reading of the post-2005 uptick in, ahem, “Islamophobia” then it’s not American Muslims people are worried about.
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Not everyone knows AllahP. And, yes, that was me kissing up.
amerpundit on September 25, 2007 at 4:09 PM
You have small hands and smell like cabbage.
Slublog on September 25, 2007 at 4:11 PM
I hate the intolerant.
StoutRepublican on September 25, 2007 at 4:13 PM
Need a roommate? I’m anxious to date women that won’t be put off by my obvious lack of hygiene.
Enrique on September 25, 2007 at 4:13 PM
At least AP didn’t go see Dragon Wars, so, in that sense he’s better than Bryan :D
lorien1973 on September 25, 2007 at 4:13 PM
Pfft, lefty. :)
Enrique on September 25, 2007 at 4:14 PM
“I’m moving to France, where I’ll be appreciated…”
Sorry to see you go. Do you need a ride to the airport? ;^)
georgej on September 25, 2007 at 4:18 PM
I don’t believe in atheism.
infidel4life on September 25, 2007 at 4:18 PM
Atheists will rule in Heaven. You’ll see.
ronsfi on September 25, 2007 at 4:22 PM
Maybe if atheists start blowing things up, their ratings will equal those of the Muslims.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on September 25, 2007 at 4:23 PM
That’s iphone royale.
Editor on September 25, 2007 at 4:25 PM
Don’t give those heathen crazies any ideas.
Slublog on September 25, 2007 at 4:25 PM
I think a lot of the dislike of atheists stems from how aggressively they push their beliefs on others. I realize this evaluation runs counter to the traditional narrative that theist religious types are pushy and fascistic, but I think it is consistent with most people’s experience with atheists.
After all, atheists are the only religious (broadly speaking) group that feels it is appropriate in social settings to debate and try to convince people to change their faiths.
And Allah, I love you, but can you imagine the kind of blow-back that a, say, Catholic would get if he focused on which religion was more correct as much as you focus on that topic vis-a-vis belief in god?
Nessuno on September 25, 2007 at 4:26 PM
I don’t know about that. I’ve never had an atheist show up at my door with some literature for me to read.
Slublog on September 25, 2007 at 4:27 PM
Notice in the top pole, mainline protestants are not even considered. Seems presbyterians and babtists are gone the way of the shakers, at least in peoples minds.
Nyog_of_the_Bog on September 25, 2007 at 4:27 PM
Heh. I really can’t understand why this would be…
Jaibones on September 25, 2007 at 4:28 PM
Looks like folks would rather hang with American Muslims rather than Mormons or Evangelicals.
Non-American Muslims rate about the same as an Evangelical. Good grief.
Hening on September 25, 2007 at 4:29 PM
As a Conservative Christian the only thing I hate more than an atheist is a homosexual……
bj1126 on September 25, 2007 at 4:30 PM
You won’t have to work such long hours, either.
RushBaby on September 25, 2007 at 4:32 PM
In that case, I have some reading for you.
Slublog on September 25, 2007 at 4:33 PM
Frankly I think MM needs to take Allah to task for turning HotAir into his personal anti-faith pulpit. You’re a bright guy Allah, REALLY bright. We come here for news and politics, not your secular lectures. If you don’t appreciate me preaching to you, stop preaching to us.
edgehead on September 25, 2007 at 4:37 PM
…and you don’t have to buy/use toothpaste, anti-perspirant, and you can pee, day/night, in any park, or at any beach, unencumbered, even if romantic couples, of any persuasion, are making out nearby.
However, there’s one huge benefit – Enrique considers rooming with you and he’s a one witty dude, who apparently smells too :)
Josephine would like both of you, Napoleon not so much. He commissioned lots of savon de Marseille, so she could soak in a tub for hours, ahead of his returns from battles. He’d send pages ahead to get her scrubbed in time.
Additional benefit – wine is cheaper than sodas, and it’s good.
Special note – in the event that you’re fussier than Enrique, I take all this back, never to mention again.
Entelechy on September 25, 2007 at 4:37 PM
Your hate is laudable. That’s what we need more of – hate. /s
Were you quoting Madonna?
jaime on September 25, 2007 at 4:39 PM
Curse you and your personal beliefs!
NeoConNews on September 25, 2007 at 4:39 PM
Atheists do blow things up, as well as torture and murder innocent people in other places of the world, but since they don’t kill Westerners in general and Americans in particular I guess it doesn’t matter.
Personally, I think the explanation for the poll has little to do with who blows shit up. Every religion’s adherents (or lack thereof) either have murdered lots of innocent people (like Christians) or still are murdering lots of innocent people (Commie atheists and muslims are the biggest ones right now). The real reason why atheists are disliked in America is because most celebrity atheists (Maher, Hitchens, Dawkins) are a bunch of assholes who purposefully antagonize religious people (Christians in particular). To add on top of that, a lot of real life atheists (especially in college) act exactly like their famous counterparts.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 4:40 PM
Me neither. Never thought about that until you wrote it…
Entelechy on September 25, 2007 at 4:40 PM
Here’s the sum total of my lecture in this post: “I’m moving to France, where I’ll be appreciated and les iPhones are cheap and plentiful.” Meanwhile, we’ve got a self-proclaimed conservative Christian in the comments here insinuating he hates me for not believing. And you’re mad at *me*.
Allahpundit on September 25, 2007 at 4:40 PM
LOL…you’re joking, right? It is highly toxic to the optic nerve, which is why innocent foreigners end up in bed with total combat walruses…so I’m told.
Ochlan on September 25, 2007 at 4:40 PM
Have we reached the 1000 comment mark yet here at Hot Air? Because I have a good feeling about this one…
Dork B. on September 25, 2007 at 4:42 PM
Yeah, sure they’re cheap, but you forget the pound of flesh that Uncle Francois takes out of that weekly paycheck, and the legal restrictions on work hours. Oh, and of course the annual car torchings and vandalism committed by a broad strata of society.
Bad Candy on September 25, 2007 at 4:43 PM
It’s all about the subtext. France = atheist heaven.
You’re practically trying to convert us. Or de-convert us.
Something like that.
Slublog on September 25, 2007 at 4:43 PM
Yikes…Entelechy, Allahpundit and me all posting simultaneously…I feel violated…like a respawn-death in Quake
Ochlan on September 25, 2007 at 4:43 PM
+1
Bad Candy on September 25, 2007 at 4:44 PM
Oh good Lord. Is that a joke?
SouthernDem on September 25, 2007 at 4:44 PM
Aaargh…again! Unclean!
Ochlan on September 25, 2007 at 4:44 PM
Game. Set. Match.
infidel4life on September 25, 2007 at 4:45 PM
Nah, I’ll call the over/under on this one at 150.
SouthernDem on September 25, 2007 at 4:45 PM
Sheesh Ochlan, I didn’t claim it was good for ya – just that it’s cheap and good, as far as wines go. I don’t even drink much of it, actually very little.
Entelechy on September 25, 2007 at 4:47 PM
Four words: Girls with hairy armpits.
SouthernDem on September 25, 2007 at 4:47 PM
Poor AP…no poll love.
JetBoy on September 25, 2007 at 4:47 PM
I hope so. dKos infiltrator perhaps?
infidel4life on September 25, 2007 at 4:48 PM
But will Bryan make the same mistake twice?
Glory, glory hallelujah! D-War’s gonna get a sequel!!!
rw on September 25, 2007 at 4:48 PM
…I hope so.
Bad Candy on September 25, 2007 at 4:48 PM
Yeah you often see Atheists going door to door, handing out pamphlets, and running comercials on TV. Not to mention Billboards and the 20 channels of slimy cons pimping for “Love Gifts” (sounds unsanitary). Those pushy Atheists.
ronsfi on September 25, 2007 at 4:50 PM
I like pie
Ochlan on September 25, 2007 at 4:52 PM
Nothing a Bic can’t fix.
Bad Candy on September 25, 2007 at 4:53 PM
Really, where? You know, I’m not trying to minimize the atheist component of communism — in fact, I’ve even criticized Hitchens on this site for doing so — but this blithe equation some of you guys make between the two can get annoying. There’s a bit more to Marxism than just the godlessness; there’s an economic theory, and that economic theory is the main reason for brutal, heavy handed state regulation. Without economic incentives to share the wealth the state is forced to make people do it at gunpoint. Atheism makes it easier for them to do that, but you’ll note there aren’t a whole lot of free-market, capitalist, libertarian atheists waging war around the globe. Which maybe suggests that the atheism isn’t the critical component.
Allahpundit on September 25, 2007 at 4:53 PM
You want to set French women on fire?
YOU ARE A MONSTER.
Slublog on September 25, 2007 at 4:53 PM
I like turtles.
Bad Candy on September 25, 2007 at 4:53 PM
Hmm interesting choice of screen name…bj? Methinks you protesteth to much. How’s your stance?
ronsfi on September 25, 2007 at 4:54 PM
People still play Quake?
SouthernDem on September 25, 2007 at 4:54 PM
So let me get this straight, atheists have half again the unfavorable rating as muslims.
So does that mean that half again as many Americans would rather have their heads cut off than “argued off”?
Be careful what you wish for.
MB4 on September 25, 2007 at 4:54 PM
Come up to Toronto, Canada and take a few classes in our progressive colleges and universities. I don’t need atheists coming to my doors to listen to atheist preaching (along with Trutherism and bushisumlolzism) for the low fee of 1.5k+ per semester.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 4:55 PM
LOL!!! Now that is rich!. Everywhere the eye can see is evidence of a Christian majority. It’s on the cars, on the billboards, in my mailbox, stuck on my windshield, on the radio and knocking on my door. There is a Christian majority in virtually every institution in America – government, business, the military, etc. and you think athiests are agressively pushing their beliefs?
Whats with all this Christian persecution? With all this “whoa is me whining” you would think the Christians have been sneaking too many peeks at the Muslim playbooks. Tsk Tsk.
frreal on September 25, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Yeah, because most US muslims want to chop my head off.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 4:57 PM
There aren’t really a lot of free-market, capitalist, libertarian atheists around the globe either. (just scratching out the waging war part).
For the most part, when you consider atheists (besides a very few) you’ll find them to be very left wing – anarchists or communists usually. And that bleeds into the whole group.
lorien1973 on September 25, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Damn you Slubbo! Set myself up for that.
Bad Candy on September 25, 2007 at 4:58 PM
Uhhh.. I’ll take Red Hot Poker for $900 Alex.
If only Christians were so easy to avoid.
ronsfi on September 25, 2007 at 4:58 PM
Who said anything about PERSECUTION? If there’s anybody with a persecution complex it’s you. The fact remains that Christians are the majority so we get to decide whose propaganda and condescending remarks bother us more, and since we’re not gonna pick our own religion, we’re gonna pick you because you’re far, far more annoying and aggresive than the average american muslim.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 4:58 PM
If atheists didn’t show such disdain for people of faith, particularly Christians (which America still consists mostly of), then there would not be so much frustration and distrust of atheists.
It also does not help atheism that many conservatives equate atheism with Communists; this will stand out as much, if not more than, radical Islam.
CR UVa on September 25, 2007 at 4:59 PM
France is beautiful, and you can from time to time get to know people, but I think you’d find it a little social isolating to move here alone. I’ve only got to talk to French people during my current vacation because my friends have already made friends with French people. Try some other country.
ps I realize all the conversation is tongue in check, but sometimes it is good to get the reality check.
thuja on September 25, 2007 at 5:00 PM
It’s ok, AP.
The good thing about conservatives we don’t let opinion polls rule our lives.
terryannonline on September 25, 2007 at 5:00 PM
But isn’t the Christian belief that unbelievers will go to Hell a form of disdain as well?
SouthernDem on September 25, 2007 at 5:01 PM
I have a crucifix in a jar of urine if anyone’s interested…
Ochlan on September 25, 2007 at 5:01 PM
LOL Wasn’t there a Seinfeld episode about villas in Tuscany…?
Ochlan on September 25, 2007 at 5:03 PM
I don’t hate atheists. I just despise the ones that want to secularize every aspect of reality.
jediwebdude on September 25, 2007 at 5:04 PM
Once, I did a really smelly poo, so I prayed to God for it to stop stinking, but it still stank, so I stopped believing in God
My faith always was a tad on the weak side…
Ochlan on September 25, 2007 at 5:06 PM
haha, that made-a me laugh…
JetBoy on September 25, 2007 at 5:08 PM
A sight that could test the faith of the faithful and bring the non believers running into the flock…is at drudge right now. Scroll down a bit in the center column.
RushBaby on September 25, 2007 at 5:10 PM
frreal on September 25, 2007 at 5:10 PM
You both completely fail at sarcasm.
bj1126 on September 25, 2007 at 5:11 PM
Eh, these national polls don’t really mean anything. At this stage, it’s really a state by state issue. j/k
Spirit of 1776 on September 25, 2007 at 5:12 PM
Bastard
Ochlan on September 25, 2007 at 5:12 PM
HA HA Got one!!!!
RushBaby on September 25, 2007 at 5:13 PM
Good point. Also, how many free-market, capitalist,libertarian muslims do you see waging war around the globe? Political structures breed violence more than any religion (or lack thereof) IMO
crr6 on September 25, 2007 at 5:14 PM
Yeah, because most US muslims want to chop my head off.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 4:57 PM
All it takes is one to actually do it.
MB4 on September 25, 2007 at 5:16 PM
Idiots are idiots, whether they’re believers or non-beleivers. You on the other hand, are a very gifted thinker and writer (otherwise you wouldn’t be here). Our friend doesn’t expess himself as well as you. I doubt he “hates” you. And I’m not mad. But I too get irritated by the Evangelical Secularists who are so intolerant of the 80-90% of us who beleive. Live and let live, dude! I love your insight into political matters Allah, but when you attack a person’s religion, you must be prepared for an emotional reaction.
edgehead on September 25, 2007 at 5:16 PM
LOL!
inviolet on September 25, 2007 at 5:17 PM
I wouldn’t make this equation if you guys wouldn’t equate the average american muslim with Osama bin Laden (you haven’t done that but other people in the comments have).
If you guys can bring the acts of barbarians from another continent into the equation then so can I.
As someone pointed out, there aren’t a lot of free-market capitalist libertarian atheits, period. Minorities with even a couple of neurons don’t usually start fights they can never win (Palestinians excluded). I’m glad you brought up Hitchens earlier, he’s a perfect example of why you guys score less than muslims: he’s someone who would love to slit my throat, except he’s not hiding in some cave in Pakistan, he’s a “respected” member of my society.
http://www.radaronline.com/features/2007/04/christopher_hitchens_god_is_not_great_1.php
“Just as, for example, I say this about people who are frightened by the Christian Right, which a lot of people in this country are, that the last time they won a victory was in the 1920s. They had two victories then: they banned the sale of alcohol, and they won the argument over the teaching of evolution—at least in Tennessee. Well, their victory was completely discredited, and they never got over the ridicule they suffered from winning.
If they won, if they elected a president or member of Congress to ban abortion, impose school prayer as mandatory, or instill the teaching of Creationism, that would be the end of it. They would regret their victory forever because it would lead to colossal failure and discredit them. It wouldn’t last very long and would, I hope, lead to civil war, which they will lose, but for which it would be a great pleasure to take part. But they’re so stupid, they don’t think about these things. Likewise, any society conquered by the jihadist will destroy itself.”
Want to get those numbers up? Stop plugging what amounts to an atheist versons of the Taliban. You guys have these tools as your unofficial spokespersons and wonder why religious people don’t like you. I don’t care what Hitchens’ stance on radical islam is, he’s still an insane liberal who just happens to be for the war in Iraq and he’s no ally of mine. He’s no ally of yours either, I can assure you he’d have no problem bulldozing straight through you trying to get to me.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 5:17 PM
For the most part, when you consider atheists (besides a very few) you’ll find them to be very left wing – anarchists or communists usually. And that bleeds into the whole group.
lorien1973 on September 25, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world. The doctor sees all the weakness of mankind; the lawyer all the wickedness, the theologian all the stupidity.
- Schopenhauer
MB4 on September 25, 2007 at 5:21 PM
That goes for atheists or any extremist of any religion (including my own). All it takes is one Hitchens to decide he doesn’t want to wait for a civil war before he starts hacking. Of course they’d all fail because I sleep with the shortsword my uncle gave me before he moved down there with you guys. =)
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 5:22 PM
Gee, why might atheists find themselves unpopular? Look at comment #1 on our latest Vent over at YouTube:
The poster’s name — TheAtheistPaladin.
How much of an idiot do you have to be to not see the differences between Bush and Ahmadinejad? A major idiot, and one that certainly doesn’t speak for all atheists but evidently thinks it’s a good idea to use the term while exposing his or her utter moral stupidity.
Bryan on September 25, 2007 at 5:24 PM
Things have changed. As the so called Evangelicals have garnered increased exposure a reactionary atheism has also emerged where I cannot remember there being one before and so we get the Anti-Reverends Hitchen, Dawkins etc. Its because the MSM noticed them in 2004 and now they are perceived as a political threat. But I perceive their significance as a percent of all protestants, is being exagerated while as I said before, the old school mainline churches are being ignored.
There is also a problem with semantics. That is, what are we talking about when we talk about Evangelism? Bill Sammon has written a book called the Evangelical President but thats not my take on the Methodists who in my experience, while more exuberant than Presbyterians are certainly tamer than Babtists. That is if you leave of the break away churches which have gone “charismatic” as they say.
As for Mr. Pundit here, he strikes me as being some what afflicted with irony.
Nyog_of_the_Bog on September 25, 2007 at 5:24 PM
But isn’t the Christian belief that unbelievers will go to Hell a form of disdain as well?
SouthernDem on September 25, 2007 at 5:01 PM
Wanting someone to burn in hell for eternity probably goes a bit beyond disdain.
MB4 on September 25, 2007 at 5:24 PM
No.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 5:24 PM
Did you hear about the atheist with dyslexia?
He didn’t belive there was a dog.
peacenprosperity on September 25, 2007 at 5:25 PM
As a ultra-conservative Christian I will absolutely agree with you on that AP. In fact, I will always make the case that atheism was and always will be a mortal enemy of communism. Once you have a bunch of people who are brainwashed into thinking there is no God (as a state sanctioned religion) you’re going to have a bunch of anarchists on your hands.
Editor on September 25, 2007 at 5:27 PM
That’s an excellent point, especially since I hate it when literature-bearers show up at my door. That’s why it’s important to have a porch that’s high enough to be satisfying when you kick people off of it, just in case they aren’t smart enough to take no for an answer.
ReubenJCogburn on September 25, 2007 at 5:27 PM
All it takes is one Hitchens to decide he doesn’t want to wait for a civil war before he starts hacking.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 5:22 PM
So now you think that Hitchens is about to go on a murder spree? What about AllahPundit, should we be watching out our windows for him too?
MB4 on September 25, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Im a Christian going to Seminary. I love Allahpundit, even if he did make me dry heave like a drunken college freshman.
GoodBoy on September 25, 2007 at 5:33 PM
How would we know it was him if he showed up?
RushBaby on September 25, 2007 at 5:35 PM
No. Read the last reply I made to Allahpundit for some context to my remark.
Darth Executor on September 25, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Bryan,
How much of an idiot do you have to be to not see the differences between Bush and Ahmadinejad? A major idiot, and one that certainly doesn’t speak for all atheists but evidently thinks it’s a good idea to use the term while exposing his or her utter moral stupidity.
I don’t think these things are the sole domain of Atheists. As a matter of fact, I know they aren’t.
I have to point out that the only thing Atheists have in common is a lack of a belief in a higher being. After that, all bets are off.
Krydor on September 25, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Just more of our victim-hood culture. Atheists are ‘persecuted’ by Christians; Christians by atheists. Everyone partial down the part of psychotic path of ‘people coming out of the walls to get me’. Or maybe it’s just LSD.
Spirit of 1776 on September 25, 2007 at 5:41 PM
Sheesh, these religion posts get Thick, don’t they?
I don’t hate atheists. I hate polls.
I am also a Christian who gets really tired of people running around the planet claiming to be christian, but are so intolerant and nasty that they can’t possibly sleep well at night.
The atheists that I know don’t sleep. They party all night.
lol, just kidding.
bridgetown on September 25, 2007 at 5:42 PM
The Raiders were victimized by Mike Shanahan, and the circle of abuse continued when the Browns were victimized in much the same way, only AWESOMER!
Krydor on September 25, 2007 at 5:42 PM
Krydor on September 25, 2007 at 5:42 PM
lol
Spirit of 1776 on September 25, 2007 at 5:43 PM
How would we know it was him if he showed up?
RushBaby on September 25, 2007 at 5:35 PM
If anyone asks you if you have an iPod, shoot first and ask questions later?
MB4 on September 25, 2007 at 5:44 PM
Bryan on September 25, 2007 at 5:24 PM
the atheists on YouTube are something else, complete nutters by far and away the most offensive people there. Luckily they are completely different to most atheists i have ever met or known of.
zane on September 25, 2007 at 5:45 PM
Whew. I’m just glad you weren’t serious. Next time, throw us a “/” or something.
Slublog on September 25, 2007 at 5:46 PM
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