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ORIGINAL: HeatherMcLeather

I want to point out that the survey does NOT say anything about what "Christians" feel, only "religious" people, without reference to what religion. I think the results are based on two factors.

1. An atheist, by his mere existence challenges the religious persons beliefs, and more than challenge them the way a follower of a different religion would, they reject them. Simply saying that one is an atheist is a complete denial and rejection of a religious person's deepest and most cherished beliefs. But as those beliefs cannot be substantiated and must, by definition, be upheld purely on faith, the existence of a person happily rejecting them with no obvious consequences calls into question, to at least some degree, those beliefs in the believers mind. Many religious people also find their beliefs to be self-evident, that god exists, in whatever form, is so deeply ingrained in their psyches that if a person is denying it, they must have some sort of ulterior motive, since what they are denying is so patently obvious to the believer. this makes the atheist seem to be a threat, just look at how some religious types on these boards throw "atheist" out as if it were a pejorative term.

2. Atheism is based on rationality, while religion is based on emotion, so it also follows that atheists would not consider religious beliefs to be a valid measure of a person's trustworthiness, since there is no rational basis for doing so. The religious person, being less conditioned to rely on reason and more conditioned to rely on emotion, is more likely to fall prey to an Us & Them mentality, its an instinctual tribal reaction among humans to do so, to identify with the similar and to distrust the different. It requires reason and conscious thought/effort to override such instinctual urges, which makes such overriding less likely among believers in this specific context, as it deals with an area <religious belief> where the believer has already discarded reason and rationality as a basis for making judgments.

Just my thoughts on it at the moment.

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“The sociofunctional approach to prejudice, combined with a cultural evolutionary theory of religion's effects on cooperation, suggest that anti-atheist prejudice is particularly motivated by distrust.”

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It would be better for atheists to understand what they're up against than to flatter themselves with the conceit that Christians are afraid of atheism because its rationality threatens their beliefs. Aggressive in-your-face atheism only confirms for them that there really is an Enemy at work, and strengthens their resolve to defeat his plans.

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I wonder to what extent atheism is seen as amorality ie that lack of religious belief equates to lack of any moral or ethical standards at all. To some extent, this may be a hangover from the days when "atheistic Godless Communism" was public enemy #1.

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Also I wonder about the media coverage of atheism/atheists there.

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Would a hardcore Democrat hire a Republican underling (assuming the manager could ask and expect an answer....LEGALLY)? Or would they hire another fellow Democrat?

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Gervais and his colleagues conducted a series of six studies on a group of 350 American adults and a group 420 UBC students.