Amazing! The other Dem candidates will be on CNN with Paula Zahn.

[DemBones DemBones]

Perhaps they heard complaints about only interviewing the "top three" long before the primaries?

[DemBones DemBones]

1. They're on now, and Paula says to Joe Biden "Welcome to the Catholic Hour."

Nice of them to put all the Catholics together, second class to the Protestants.

[More Than A Feeling]

2. Biden was doing ok with me, until he said it was a problem for the

Democratic Party to come off as agnostic.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. It IS a problem for the Democratic Party to come off as agnostic.

We lose a lot of votes because we are not perceived as respecting faith.

[More Than A Feeling]

4. So talk about faith to get votes? Isn't the word for that "pandering?"

[DemBones DemBones]

5. No, it's not "pandering," it's setting the record straight that

Democrats are not all agnostics or atheists.

[More Than A Feeling]

6. That wouldn't be a problem if people weren't prejudiced against atheists

which so many Americans are.

[DemBones DemBones]

7. I haven't seen any studies showing that most Americans are prejudiced

against atheists. In my experience, most people are willing to live and let live and not interfere in other peoples' lives.

I have often seen atheists at DU exhibit prejudice toward people of faith. I've never seen a single post here attacking atheism but there have been countless "fuck faith," "fuck Christians," "fuck Jesus" posts here, and many more lumping all Christians in with the right-wingers, saying we are all bigots, and that anyone who believes in God is stupid. (Jews and Muslims and other faiths seem exempt from attack, though they believe in God, too.)

It seems that many atheists want tolerance for their beliefs but don't want to give tolerance to others' beliefs.

[MonkeyFunk]

8. Here's one

http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find

Atheists identified as America’s most distrusted minority, according to new U of M study

[DemBones DemBones]

11. See my post below about why

atheists may be mistrusted, which I also addressed above.

[MonkeyFunk]

14. LOL

so first you say you are unaware of any studies showing prejudice against atheists. then when shown the evidence (which I find it hard to believe you were unaware of), you switch your argument to "well yeah, they ARE discriminated against, but for good reason!"

How silly.

[More Than A Feeling]

9. Well, let me draw your attention to one.

Atheists identified as America’s most distrusted minority, according to new U of M study
What: U of M study reveals America’s distrust of atheism
Who: Penny Edgell, associate professor of sociology
Contact: Nina Shepherd, sociology media relations, [phone]
Mark Cassutt University News Service, [phone]

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (3/28/2006) -- American’s increasing acceptance of religious diversity doesn’t extend to those who don’t believe in a god, according to a national survey by researchers in the University of Minnesota’s department of sociology.

From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.” Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.

http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find

Here's a page with more numbers, including the "would you vote for them for president question?" that atheists receive the smallest percentage of willing voters: http://www.religioustolerance.org/amer_intol.htm

How about someone fired for being an atheist? May I draw your attention to this thread?: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=214&topic_id=125379

How about someone falsely accused of a crime for being an atheist?: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1598933&mesg_id=1598933

How about this thread in general, where the question of whether atheists are subject to prejudice was thoroughly examined: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=214&topic_id=97059&mesg_id=97059

This is why having the Democratic Party associated with atheism is problematic for the party: many people are prejudiced against atheists, and the Republican Party exploits that. Perhaps if that anti-atheist hatred were fought by fine religious people such as yourself, it wouldn't matter whether the Democratic Party were associated with atheists or not. That might be more helpful than complaining about mere words you think atheists shouldn't be using.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. Nice avoidance of the issues I raised

about the behavior of atheists at DU and elsewhere online.

Maybe there's a reason for the distrust?


I used to be an atheist, for many years, and my two closest friends are atheists. I've got absolutely nothing against atheism per se, the problem is atheists behaving badly. Christians are always being told at DU that we should get right-wing Christians to behave better, somehow magically influencing other Christians we have no contact with. Why don't atheists at DU get the bigoted atheists at DU to lay off Christians?

[MonkeyFunk]

12. awww

It must be so hard to be a Christian in America these days.

[More Than A Feeling]

13. Right back at you.

You asked for evidence that people are prejudiced against atheists. I gave it to you. Now you blame atheists for other people's prejudice. Classy. You've got a problem with the way you perceive atheist's treat believers on DU. I get that. I'm not interested in holding you responsible for Christianist behavior. It's wrong to expect something of someone that is beyond their capabilities. But DU does not reflect the general social conditions that exist concerning the disparate treatment of atheists and believers, as I showed you. This broader perspective has much to recommend it, as it is the more selfless view.