Guess who people MOST OBJECT TO marrying into their family (ethnicity, religion, etc.)?

[bullwinkle428]

ATHEISTS!!!!

Juan Williams brought this up at the end of a piece he did this morning on NPR which looked at the views of African-Americans. I'm sorry I don't have a text link; only an audio link.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122516602&ft=3&f=1930705

There's a lot of debate as to what is the "last acceptable form of bigotry" these days, and this is certainly a load of evidence in favor of non-believers...

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. I have to say, i think this is good news in many ways for our culture.

It could very well mean that we've gone beyond prejudice based on skin color and ethnicity, and are actually at the character of people's souls.

Which is not to say that atheists are people of bad character; but, it's a prejudice based on someone's belief/values system, as opposed to how they look or where they came from.

And I don't think that any of us would be against that - we do it all the time. I wouldn't mind an atheist coming into the family, but I sure as hell would hate to have a freeper or a teabagger come into it, or religious fundamentalist of any type.

Choosing people to associate with based on values is what we all do.

This report might very well indicate that the ethnic and racial prejudices have gone down, which I see as a good thing.

[bullwinkle428]

6. Definitely an interesting perspective, and one that I

hadn't considered when I first heard the finding. It's still just a little disheartening to think there's a significant portion of the population that buy into the idea that an atheist would automatically be operating with an inferior set of morals and values.

[andrewleat]

26. Morals of atheists

Could it be that they're wary of the higher moral standards of us atheists?

[lunatica]

2. I would have guessed it would be gays

And not just because they're gay, but because they can't have children to keep the family dysfunction going for another generation.

:sarcasm:

[leveymg]

3. I'll bet POOR PEOPLE are #1. Class distinctions are the last true bigotry.

Most families of the bride might come to embrace a millionaire atheist. But, a devout pauper - forget it.

[EFerrari]

23. Agreed. n/t

[progressoid]

25. I'm not so sure about that.

At least in my blue collar, religious family. They would look very suspiciously at an atheist millionaire. Since he's an atheist, he obviously has no morals so he probably got his millions in an immoral way. Whereas, a devout pauper might not have money but he must be a good man because he has God on his side.

[leveymg]

29. Calvinist ethic says that men of good fortune are in G-d's good graces.

Your family may be Catholic, at least in their attitude about money. That would be a good thing, in my book.

[madokie]

4. The hatred for atheist is the reason I call myself non-religion

down deep inside there is an atheist lurking. Sorry to the people who I may offend but I have a right to display my non religion as you to your religion.

[HipChick]

7. I think I believe in a higher power,but I'm against and loathe organised religions

if that makes me a atheist so be it..

[DaveinJapan]

11. I'm pretty sure your belief in a god precludes you from atheism, and agnosticism as well.

You believe in "god", you just think religions suck.

That's perfectly fine (I believe there is no God out there, but I totally agree with you that religions suck lol), but you would fall into a different category I think.

Certainly not "atheist" anyway.

Is there even such a thing? A person who believes in God but rejects any and all organized religions?

If not...there should be. There are a lot of Americans out there who feel that way these days! (please don't take my skepticism about god to mean that I don't support you in your disbelief in organized religion, I support if 100%!).

[tavalon]

18. Not to be too nitpicky,

but higher power and God only necessarily equate in AA. Higher power could be one's higher self.

[tavalon]

19. I would call such a person spiritual

And I would be predisposed to liking them.

[CoffeeCat]

17. That's exactly how I feel...

I feel that there is a possibility of a higher power. However, I'm not sure.

I don't feel that we ever CAN know.

However, most organized religion gives me a headache.

I'm not sure what that makes me...but I'm fine with that.

[barbtries]

5. lol

in our family we welcome everyone. as my brother once said, of the 4 of us siblings we had one catholic, one jew, one born again christian and one pagan. (non-churchgoing WASP parents)

that was about 28 years ago and none of the labels have stuck well at all.

what would make my blood run cold is if one of my sons married a FUNDAMENTALIST. don't care what religion. prefer no religion, but as long as it's not a fundamentalist i am pretty sure i can learn to love her. just don't freaking preach, evangelize, proselytize, or be obnoxious enough to think you can tell me about my spirituality or what i "should" believe.

[Javaman]

8. ahhh that good old time tolerent religion...

My grandfather wouldn't let anyone in the house unless they were Yankee fans.

[DaveinJapan]

9. Pretty easy guess...I figured it out before even clicking on the answer.

I can't exactly figure out why, in my head, but it's blatantly obvious to most folks that atheists (that'd be me) are the scum of the Earth.

Frankly, I think they'd rather have a bomb strapping jihaddist in the family than a godless type, for some reason (even though they firmly believe HIS god is wrong and doesn't exist! go figure).

[tavalon]

22. Scum of the earth?

Why? I don't get why your disbelief in a sky daddy means diddly to me. Now, tell me I can't worship whatever way I see fit and I'm likely to get a bit testy, but I doubt you would do that any more than I would tell you that you have to worship ___________(fill in the blank).

[WT Fuheck]

10. Atheists are the most discriminated against group in America.

[canoeist52]

12. Marrying someone with Republican tendancies would be

a far more painful blow in our family of atheists.

[HopeHoops]

13. I would have answered "Republicans"

[The River]

14. My Son-in-Law

is an atheist and I wouldn't want it
any other way.

[surrealAmerican]

15. I don't think you can count on an honest answer to that question.

Most people will respond with whatever they think will make them look the least like bigots.

All this tells us is that prejudice against atheists is still considered acceptable in this country. That's been pretty obvious for a long time now.

[tavalon]

16. One of my husbands is atheist

The other a pagan (I almost wrote "deeply spiritual" but my atheist husband is highly spiritual too). I guess if I weren't an orphan, my folks would be shitting bricks. Of course, I think they would have a few other problems with my life choices, so an atheist husband wouldn't really hit the top of the pile, methinks.

[old mark]

20. I experienced quite a bit of prejudice at my former place of work

after I told a person I worked with I was agnostic, which I define as believing we humans don't have the capability of understanding many of the things we love to think we understand.

mark

[Bluenorthwest]

21. I do not agree with your premise at all.

My dear fellow alum of Whatsamatta U, the fact that atheists are legally free to do as they wish, while gay people are prevented from so much as being able to marry into a family, seems to take a tad of impact away from this objection. I mean, to claim that your legal equality is worse than actual legal inequality is a bit offensive.
In the majority of States, gay people can be fired for being gay. Discriminated against in housing, openly and legally.
Show me how this atheist 'objection' actually prevents any atheist from any form of rights. It is illegal to fire you for being an atheist. First Amendment. My people are fired each and every day of the week for breathing.
So whatever. Poor, poor, legally equal atheists having to hear Aunt Tilly complain that you do not attend services. How awful for you!
Wanna trade status? I know you would not.
Are you, by the way, a married person today? Or did they refuse you a license? Are there tax laws that define atheist families as strangers and singles?
Dull boring, whining. Aunt Tilly wants you to go to church, and this is to you the same as not having any legal protections at all. Must be nice to live like that. I'd love to suffer the sort of 'bigotry' you face. Because it is toothless and illegal.
edited for spelling, but that does not mean the spelling is all good!

[bullwinkle428]

24. No - this was not my own personal observation/conclusion at all!

I was just rather shocked to hear it myself this morning on NPR, and wanted to pass it along to share with the rest of DU.

DU has had a number of discussions on which groups of people deal with the most discrimination/prejudice/bigotry every day, and DU being the "big tent" that it is, we've heard atheists, the GLBT community, fat people, women, the poor, city folks, rural folks, Southerners, etc....the list is a long one.

In legal terms, I don't think there can be any objection to the idea that GLBTers deal with the most shit in terms of institutionalized discrimination! It's fucking disgraceful that legislators continue to use the GLBT community as a wedge issue as a way to get bigot neanderthals to the polls for their vote...

[dmallind]

27. Google "Fred Whitehead". Oh and "Larry Hooper" too.

There are worse things than marriage inequality, unacceptable though it is. But to say atheists cannot be fired for being atheists is uninformed. One question to ask too is why Matthew Shepard is so famous, and Larry Hooper so unknown. I know the answer of course, but it's a question worth asking.

The questions of who faces more legal inequality and who faces more immediate distrust, lack of acceptance and so on from the general population are two entirely separate ones. Atheists always come last in the latter - Pew electability studies, trustworthiness scales, and the linked one above. But hey they can get married so everything is OK!

[JoeyT]

28. Actually in some states

you can be fired for being an atheist.
I'm not sure how it'd hold up if it ever got to the Supreme Court, probably not well, but it's there.
There's also violence directed at atheists that live in the "wrong" areas. Of course, pretty much anywhere is the "wrong" area if you're gay. Most despised minority in the country also usually belongs to us. Probably because, as a whole, we're willing to automatically defend all the other despised minorities thus passing their prejudices against them to us by some kind of stupidity osmosis. It's a bit worse than hearing Aunt Tilly complain you don't attend services. Stick "atheist" in the religion field on a job application and see what happens. The bigotry we deal with is more of the "Don't want their kind in our neighborhoods" sort.

That said, I agree with your premise. The most discriminated against minority in the United States are gay people. The right wing/fundamentalists may hate atheists more, but the law can't back them up on it, so they have to work within the law. On the other hand, we had to fight an uphill battle to get a law passed that made it a Hate Crime to beat a gay person to death. It isn't even a contest.