Please keep comments civil
2007-04-01 13:55:43 · 22 answers · asked by koz 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find
sorry its not 45%, but we are the most mistrusted group, and that includes homosexuals and muslims.
2007-04-01 14:07:32 · update #1
It's due to ignorance, extremism and the fact that 45% have probably never met one. Anyway, that's Americans. In Europe, most people ARE functionally atheist.
2007-04-01 13:58:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
I'd questions those numbers if I were you. I doubt that average Americans can say honestly that they distrust someone simply because they are an Atheist.
Perhaps it is some few people that believe that someone who isn't being scared into being honest by the threat of the "wrath of God" can't be trusted. Although its a sad thing when someone is motivated towards honestly only because they are afraid of divine retribution.
I don't pay attention to a person's religion, I pay attention to the person when I decide whether to trust them. After all we all know through very painful example that just because someone calls themselves a Christian doesn't mean that they are in any way trustworthy.
2007-04-01 21:12:57 · answer #2 · answered by jennette h 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Why should anyone be trusted or mistrusted simply because of their beliefs? Trust is earned. If 45% of Americans mistrust atheists (where did you find that statistic?) it's quite possible that this has more to do with conservatism, self-righteousness, narrow-mindedness, and basic distrust of anyone who thinks differently rather than anything that atheists do in particular.
2007-04-01 21:04:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
That means 55% are the gullible ones that were deceived by the religions for many thousand years. and 45% are distrusted by them when it comes to knowing what the spirit knows and yet have successfully presented many inventions and researches that helps the civilization be more intelligent and knowledgeable about human needs than those who blindy follow a faith that has no tangible basis.
2007-04-01 21:05:47 · answer #4 · answered by Rallie Florencio C 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm American, and a Christian, and I don't distrust atheists. I count a lot of them as my friends and colleagues. Most of my religious friends have atheist and agnostic friends. Not sure where those statistics are coming from. Why would anyone distrust someone just because they don't hold religious beliefs?
2007-04-01 20:59:40 · answer #5 · answered by solarius 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You just made that up. I don't believe you. What i heard was SOMETHING like 55% of Americans trust atheists and they are the most trustworthy people in America.
2007-04-01 21:02:53 · answer #6 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only people who distrust athiests are religious believers. They get very nervous when someone questions their fantasies.
2007-04-01 21:37:34 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they come up with ridiculous theories like evolution, to disprove the need for God. Oh, and I almost forgot, the Big Bang.
2007-04-01 21:12:47 · answer #8 · answered by iraqisax 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
though religious myself ( Islam ), i can't paint all atheists with the same brush. its better to treat fellow man with respect, irregardless of their faith. I think I read something very similiar about this in Qur'an.
2007-04-01 21:01:20 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's a stereotype. And Christians who feel threatened by atheists perpetuate it.
2007-04-01 21:00:06 · answer #10 · answered by Becca 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋