Author Topic: Atheists Least Trusted  (Read 6297 times)

Offline crowMAW

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1179
Atheists Least Trusted
« on: March 25, 2006, 09:03:39 AM »
A recent study shows that atheists are considered less trustworthy by Americans than Muslims. :huh

Atheists identified as America’s most distrusted minority

While I don't consider myself a true atheist--I don't say there is no god, I say there is no earthly way to know if there is or isn't a god or gods.  I would bet that most thiests would consider that agnostics like me are about the same as atheists...so this survey impacts me.

Here's the question for Fundys...why?  What are you being told about atheists that would lead to that level of distrust?  Seagoon...what are you teaching your "flock" about us?  I understand that by Christian dogma, I'm not going to Heaven...that is my problem, but why does that effect you and why should you care about a choice that only effects me?  Is the mere existence of a person who rejects your teachings that threatening to your own beliefs (in which case I have to question the strength of your convictions)?

The article says that theists think that atheists lack morals.  Bullhockey!  Seems that most criminals have strong beliefs in a god and evidently that didn't have much of an impact on their moral compass.  And the atheists/agnostics I know seem more concerned about the rights of man than most theists I know...particularly we seem to have greater respect for life than theists since we know this is the only life we've got...and there ain't no more.

So what gives??

Offline lazs2

  • Radioactive Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 24886
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2006, 09:07:20 AM »
I am not an athiest or a religious man but...

I don't trust athiests either... they are either incapable of logic or they have an agenda that they will not admit or both.

I feel that most athiests wear it like a badge of, to me, stupidity and liberalism...

There are exceptions of course but that has been my experiance.

Personaly... I feel that there is a god but doubt that any of the current religions on the planet have a hot line to him... I am content to wait and see.

lazs

Offline SOB

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10138
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2006, 09:16:51 AM »
I've known flakes of both varieties.  Never noticed the distinction between trustworthy or not to be based on someone's religious beliefs.  To put this in the perspective of the thread... I'm agnostic or athiest - not exactly sure which.
Three Times One Minus One.  Dayum!

Offline lazs2

  • Radioactive Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 24886
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2006, 09:22:24 AM »
SOB... I was projecting... I have a distrust of lefties and find that they are by and large.... dishonest.  Their credo "the end justifies the means" is how they live...

I have found that most proclaimed and vocal athiests are lefties.   It is pretty hard to seperate em.

I also find the basic premise of atheism to be dishonest... Perhaps that is why it dovetails in so nicely with lefty views.

lazs

Offline SOB

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10138
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2006, 09:32:03 AM »
Maybe you can clear this up for me...  Athiest = There is no god.  Agnostic = As far as I know, there is no god.  Yeah?  Not a trick question, just never been really clear on this one.

I dunno that they're representative of all athiests, but there's a hillariously pathetic show on public access (it's on my local public access channel, but I think it's produced somewhere in the midwest) that's all about Athieism (sp?) and how they get a bad rap and the bad things that thiests do.  The leaps of logic they make are so blatantly stupid that it's pretty funny.  But it may just be me...I've always been a sucker for stupid public access shows.
Three Times One Minus One.  Dayum!

Offline midnight Target

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 15114
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2006, 09:37:01 AM »
LOL lazs...

Atheist - dishonest
Agnostic - wishy washy
Theist - (see atheist)

Offline lazs2

  • Radioactive Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 24886
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2006, 09:45:18 AM »
sob...yep.. that is the way I see it..

MT...no... athiest and thiest both use faith for their belief.... the theist admits this and the athiest denies that is what he is doing... hence... stupid or dishonest but probly both.

One proclaims his faith to the world and admits that it is faith... the other denies all god because faith is not enough yet.... bases his belief on... faith and.... is dumb enough to loudly proclaim that he is doing it...

There are shades of agnostic I would imagine... some may change back and forth... and agnostic may at times feel that there is no god but he is not dishonest of dumb enough to say that he is an athiest.   That may indeed make him wishy washy... much the same as scientists are wishy washy.

I just like people to be up front with... if not me... themselves.

lazs

Offline moot

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 16330
      • http://www.dasmuppets.com
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2006, 09:57:31 AM »
Trusworthiness is a measure of how well you're able to discern someone's motives/personality/etc.

"I don't trust x" says more about the speaker than the subject.
Hello ant
running very fast
I squish you

Offline culero

  • Persona Non Grata
  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2528
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2006, 10:36:26 AM »
SOB, lazs, it seems to me you misunderstand what "agnostic" means. Rather than "Agnostic = As far as I know, there is no god.", its more accurate to say "Agnostic = There is no way to know whether or not there is a god.".

Its a fine distinction but very significant to the conclusion you seem to draw regarding how definite a conclusion an agnostic makes regarding the existence of a deity. I personally feel its the most exactly honest profession that can be made, even though like lazs I do suspect there is more to our existence than we know and am content to wait until I'm able to be more enlightened rather than speculate now.

culero
“Before we're done with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in Hell!” - Adm. William F. "Bull" Halsey

Offline midnight Target

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 15114
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2006, 10:57:34 AM »
Maybe so lazs, but both base their "faith" on a similar amount of evidence.

Offline Chairboy

  • Probation
  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 8221
      • hallert.net
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2006, 11:06:47 AM »
Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian
 
10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.
 
9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.
 
8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.
 
7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!
 
6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.
 
5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.
 
4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering.  And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

 
3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.
 
2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers.  You consider that to be evidence that prayer works.  And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.
 
1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

And ATHEISTS are the ones with the problem?

I live well and do good because I think it's the right thing to do.  My religious friends live well and do good because they have the spectre of eternal damnation over their heads.

Who do you admire more?  The person who volunteers to pick up garbage on the side of the road?  Or the guys in the orange suits with a sheriff standing there with a shotgun?
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis

Offline Jackal1

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 9092
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #11 on: March 25, 2006, 11:11:32 AM »
A lot of   supposedly aetheists, especialy on this board, seem frightened and  threatened by the mere mention of God or Christianity to the point of attacking those that do beleive.
If you don`t truly believe, that would mean that you beleive that God does not exist and is imaginary.
Why would one feel the need to defend themself from something that does not exist? Why would something imaginary scare them so much?
Dishonesty? Yep, most liars I would assume to be dishonest.
Democracy is two wolves deciding on what to eat. Freedom is a well armed sheep protesting the vote.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Offline DREDIOCK

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 17773
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #12 on: March 25, 2006, 11:12:22 AM »
I distrust  athiests, Muslims anyone from the left and anyone from the right

And to a slightly lesser extent anyone else who doesnt view me as the rightful world emporer:cool:
« Last Edit: March 25, 2006, 11:16:41 AM by DREDIOCK »
Death is no easy answer
For those who wish to know
Ask those who have been before you
What fate the future holds
It ain't pretty

Offline Chairboy

  • Probation
  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 8221
      • hallert.net
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #13 on: March 25, 2006, 11:13:56 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Jackal1
A lot of   supposedly aetheists, especialy on this board, seem frightened and  threatened by the mere mention of God or Christianity to the point of attacking those that do beleive.
If you don`t truly believe, that would mean that you beleive that God does not exist and is imaginary.
Why would one feel the need to defend themself from something that does not exist? Why would something imaginary scare them so much?
Dishonesty? Yep, most liars I would assume to be dishonest.
Quack quack quack quack.  If I say nothing when Lazs calls atheists dishonest, then I'm a coward.  If I object when he says that, then I'm defensive?

Cognitive dissonance.  There's your diagnosis, I suggest you actually _read_ plenty of bible to cure it.
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis

Offline Jackal1

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 9092
Atheists Least Trusted
« Reply #14 on: March 25, 2006, 11:39:04 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Chairboy
Quack quack quack quack.  If I say nothing when Lazs calls atheists dishonest, then I'm a coward.  If I object when he says that, then I'm defensive?

Cognitive dissonance.  There's your diagnosis, I suggest you actually _read_ plenty of bible to cure it.


:D  Go back and read what I said Chair.
I didn`t say anything about arguing a point when it is brought up.
What I am speaking of here is , unwarranted, flat out attacks that come from left field for no reason.
Sure, if you believe.............or disbeleive in something strong enough, you are going to argue your point if brought up or you are confronted with it.

An example


 
Quote
Cognitive dissonance.  There's your diagnosis, I suggest you actually _read_ plenty of bible to cure it.


I think that pretty well sums it up. ;)
Democracy is two wolves deciding on what to eat. Freedom is a well armed sheep protesting the vote.
------------------------------------------------------------------