Not *everyone* obviously, but even in philosophy class I've met people (Christians) who think that atheists are more likely to commit all manner of evils because they don't have to worry about the afterlife. What they always forget is that because their life is all they have, they have to be careful not to have it cut short by angry mobs or spending it in jail. One guy was even like "If they don't believe in God or the afterlife what's to stop them from killing their family, raping and stealing and murdering right now?" It's clear what he thinks of atheists, and he had to learn it from somewhere.
It's fitting then that I feel the same way about them <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/wink.gif"></A>
you know, most mainline religious people wouldnt even think about that. if a candidate has everything they want in a politician, except their atheist, i guarantee you the majority of reasonable religious people (which is a considerable amount, honestly) wouldnt give it a second thought. it's the loud crazy nutball shitheads that cause such a ruckus about it.
Has there ever been an outed atheist elected to high office in the US?!? (in the modern era that is: as in many other areas the US has regressed a great deal since independence). If that ever became an issue I'm 99% sure the candidate would be dead in the water. Interesting stat' about the US - from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism - when asked if they believe in god/religion +14% of Americans will admit to being atheist, when when asked "are you an Atheist?" (i.e. they put that label on the question) only 0.5% will say so, LOL. point: LOTS of closet atheists in the US (~15% of the population it would seem!!!!). Talk about persecuted minority!!!!
your abuse of punctuation is worse than #$%#ing mclaren's. frankly it's probably not nearly as bad as you make it out to be (typical). a lot of so-called "closet atheists" i know seem to still identify, to some degree, with whatever religion they were raised in. like, they'll openly admit they dont really believe in god, let alone follow their religion, but still identify with it. a lot of politicians are like that too, im sure.
They "identify" with something they don't believe in because it's socially (not to mention politically) un-acceptable to be true to themselves.
Then why will nobody admit it? 0.5% of the population outa' the ~15% who apparently are?!?! (and, again, that's just those who will admit on a survey they don't believe). And, again, if it's not unacceptable, why are they effectively barred from politics?
i think you put a little too much into that stat <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/wink.gif"></A>
LOL, this is the first thing that turned up while I was Googling for other surveys <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/smile.gif"></A> ------ Atheists identified as America?s most distrusted minority, according to new U of M study 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. Even though atheists are few in number, not formally organized and relatively hard to publicly identify, they are seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public. "Atheists, who account for about 3 percent of the U.S. population, offer a glaring exception to the rule of increasing social tolerance over the last 30 years," says Penny Edgell, associate sociology professor and the study's lead researcher. Edgell also argues that today's atheists play the role that Catholics, Jews and communists have played in the past—they offer a symbolic moral boundary to membership in American society. "It seems most Americans believe that diversity is fine, as long as every one shares a common 'core' of values that make them trustworthy—and in America, that 'core' has historically been religious," says Edgell. Many of the study's respondents associated atheism with an array of moral indiscretions ranging from criminal behavior to rampant materialism and cultural elitism. Edgell believes a fear of moral decline and resulting social disorder is behind the findings. "Americans believe they share more than rules and procedures with their fellow citizens—they share an understanding of right and wrong," she said. "Our findings seem to rest on a view of atheists as self-interested individuals who are not concerned with the common good." The researchers also found acceptance or rejection of atheists is related not only to personal religiosity, but also to one's exposure to diversity, education and political orientation—with more educated, East and West Coast Americans more accepting of atheists than their Midwestern counterparts. The study is co-authored by assistant professor Joseph Gerteis and associate professor Doug Hartmann. It's the first in a series of national studies conducted the American Mosaic Project, a three-year project funded by the Minneapolis-based David Edelstein Family Foundation that looks at race, religion and cultural diversity in the contemporary United States. The study will appear in the April issue of the American Sociological Review.
I think the US could do w/ a strong shot of realism right about now <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/wink.gif"></A> (faith and 'truthiness' haven't panned out as planned <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/wink.gif"></A>)
...am I the only one who thinks she looks damn' good for her age, and was well hot back in the day? Sad her daughter is so wretchedly ugly.
She used to have longer hair which looked really bad on her: she looks much better now w/ short hair.