http://tinyurl.com/p6npl

Atheists make up only 3% of the American population. This is also a michigan/minnisota study. Not sure about Minnisota, but here in Michigan, the smallest towns have 2-3 churchs. I live in this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_City human waste hole that has a population of less than 5,000 and even it has 4 churches less than 3 miles apart

quote:What:U of M study reveals America’s distrust of atheism

Who: Penny Edgell, associate professor of sociology

Contact: Nina Shepherd, sociology media relations, (612) 599-1148

Mark Cassutt University News Service, (612) 624-8038

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.

And to end this post, heres my favorite G. Dubya Quote: "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."



[This message has been edited by gmail (edited 02-28-2007).]

Old and depressing.

quote:Originally posted by Hare_Geist:

Old and depressing.

I know it's old http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif) but I just saw it yesterday for the first time.I'm sure this is still news to some

[This message has been edited by gmail (edited 02-28-2007).]

quote:Originally posted by gmail:

heres my favorite G. Dubya Quote: "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."



preety sure that was his daddy actually

fuck that. atheists and agnostics control the internet and that's all i need or care about. plus, its fun converting kids at my school to agnosticism/atheism.

quote:Originally posted by blacksh33p18:

preety sure that was his daddy actually



I realized my typo after I posted it. I'm just too lazy to fix the urls again. I already edited this damn post like 4 times

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.

This "large portion of the American public" was ascertained by a telephone sampling of 2,000 random households.

If only 3% of Americans were atheist, that would still account for over 10 million atheists in the U.S. alone. And that number is widely underestimated, because there are alot of people who would hasten to express their views due to social ostracizing and religious bigotry. The researchers themselves maintain that they are "hard to identify". You'd be suprised at how many *closet* atheists are out there. Secularism is growing in leaps and bounds.

Interesting fact:

Go and research the American Mosaic Project. Read some of their survey results on race, culture and religious "diversity". See a trend as to their results?

Then go and research the David Edelstein Family Foundation, who underwrites and funds these projects, and see where the bulk of their dollars are dispersed to. Don't just focus on research dollars, either. Find out who these philanthropists favor.

“Our findings seem to rest on a view of atheists as self-interested individuals who are not concerned with the common good.”

Secular discrimination? Is there such a thing? Can you imagine what the implications would be if you replaced "atheists" in that sentence with "Christian" or "Muslim"? People would practically riot! Americans won't tolerate religious discrimination, but if you put yourself outside the circle of religion altogether - then apparently you are wide open to public ridicule and BIGOTRY.

Kathleen Antrim: Brit reminds Europe of ‘a world without America’

Kathleen Antrim, The Examiner

Feb 28, 2007 3:00 AM (4 hrs ago)

Current rank: # 1,629 of 19,045 articles

WASHINGTON - Anti-Americanism is spreading around the globe. Using myths, disinformation and ignorance, America’s enemies are doing a fair job at defaming our country from both within our borders and abroad.

As Americans we’ve never claimed to be perfect, and like everything else in this world we certainly do have our faults. Fortunately, there are still those who know the truth and aren’t swayed by nasty rhetoric. Some of these friends from across the Atlantic have taken to the internet in America’s defense.

18DoughtyStreet.com is Great Britain’s first political Web television station. The brainchild of Internet entrepreneur Stephan Shakespeare and a group of Britain’s most-popular bloggers, 18DoughtyStreet.com was created to combat the disinformation and biases perpetrated by the mainstream media.

Focused on the rising anti-Americanism, 18DoughtyStreet.com has launched a two-minute video at YouTube, which is being distributed across Britain and Europe via e-mail. The broadcast depicts a world without America.

“Through five fictional news reports from the 1950s onward sit portrays a world dominated by Soviet Russia and warns that much of the world’s prosperity and medical advances would have been lost,” explains Audrey Mullen of Advocacy Ink.

The opening caption of the video reads: “Imagine a world without America.” Then the script runs through a series of five scenes beginning in 1959. Dressed in a dinner suit, a man reads:

“You are watching the News from London. General Secretary Stalin was in France today to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the liberation of Paris by the Red Army. Organized crowds of young people sang the Soviet anthem as troops marched down the Champs Elysees.”

Then a caption appears: “A World Without America … Would Be A World With Less Freedom.” Of course, had Hitler prevailed the French would be speaking German, and the Champs Elysees may have been renamed Adolph Straße.

Scene two focuses on America’s contribution to medical science as the same presenter is featured in a flower-power suit. The caption reads 1969, and the presenter reports that, “Latest data from the British Department of Health show that deaths from polio rose again last year. The hunt for a vaccine continues.”

The vignette ends with the words: A World Without America … Would Be A World Without Many Medical Advances.

The video rolls into 1979, and the same gentleman is dressed in a brown suit with large lapels.

“Tonight the Mediterranean Sea is full of boats of Jewish refugees fleeing for their lives. Earlier in the day the poorly equipped and underfunded Israeli army was finally defeated and Arab combined forces — with Soviet air cover — entered Tel Aviv …” he reads.

A chilling line appears: A World Without America … Would Be A World Without Israel.

The presenter appears in a power suit for the 1989 segment.

“Arriving at today’s hunger summit in her ministerial,” he reads. “Lady Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher vowed to work with Austrian President Arnold Schwarzenegger in fighting increasing hunger across Asia.”

Although the reference to a “president” Schwarzenegger may garner a few chuckles, the ending verbiage hits the point: A World Without America … Would Be A Poorer World.

The final scene is set in 1999 with the same reporter. He’s dressed casually in an open shirt and jeans.

“At a Downing Street press conference earlier today the British Prime Minister said that President Saddam Hussein was a man he could do business with,” he casually states. “He was speaking after it was confirmed that the Revolutionary Republic of Iraq and Kuwait had acquired nuclear weapons.”

While one digests this statement, these words appear: A World Without America … Would Be A World Held To Ransom By Tyrants.

A collage of America’s many contributions to the world flash on the screen: A free Afghanistan; 40 percent of the world’s R&D; Free Taiwan; nylon; Elvis Presley; air conditioning; Marshall Plan; South Korea; democratic Nicaragua; typewriter; a free Japan; Protection of world trading routes; jazz; 50 percent of the world food programme; the motorcar; the liberation of the Falklands; Berlin Airlift; the bra; frozen food; Dishwasher; denim jeans; $15 billion HIV/AIDS programme; FM radio; Coca Cola; Free Haiti; supercomputer; and 26 percent of global aid spending.

And the video ends with: “A world without America. A world with more disease, more poverty, more danger.”

Tim Montgomerie, director of 18DoughtyStreet.com, said, “For much of the last 50 years, Europe has benefited from America’s security umbrella and from the dynamism of American enterprise and science.”

Yes, America does have its faults and we’ve never claimed to be perfect. But as this video points out, America is still the greatest force for good around the globe.

Examiner contributor Kathleen Antrim writes “Capital Offense” and is a correspondent for NewsMax Magazine.

Examiner

http://www .examiner. com/printa -590070~Ka thleen_Ant rim:_Brit_ reminds_Eu rope_of_%E 2%80%98a_world_without_America%E2%80%99.html

http://www.18doughtystreet.com/

Lso that Dubya quote is actually an HW quote if I am not mistaken (and it has been disputed by some).

quote:Originally posted by Real.PUA:

Lso that Dubya quote is actually an HW quote if I am not mistaken (and it has been disputed by some).

Read the thread

its paints a really shitty picture of that area of the US. Polls and surveys done in the states are notoriously fucken stupid though. That survey was 1000 people or somethign like that. All i can do is hope america isnt really like that.

And if so, next time i go down across the border I'll be shur to wear an atheist shirt or something and call any religious person delusion. Or call them a brother in atheism.

I'm from MN. My town is about 18k and we have something like 45 or so churches. Would that be a lot?

And interestingly enough I just took a survey today where I identified myself as an atheist http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif).

[This message has been edited by bung (edited 02-28-2007).]

quote:Originally posted by gmail:

Read the thread

You still havent fixed your mistake.

quote:Originally posted by bung:

I'm from MN. My town is about 18k and we have something like 45 or so churches. Would that be a lot?

And interestingly enough I just took a survey today where I identified myself as an atheist http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif).



I'd say thats a fucken shitload!!!! My town is 300 000 people and we have maybe a dozen christian type churches and a dozen sikh churches. If that.

quote:Originally posted by Real.PUA:

You still havent fixed your mistake.

Because every time I edit it, a lot of gaps appear in the article and urls for some reason. Who the hell cares, I already stated I messed up.

quote:Originally posted by boozehound420:

I'd say thats a fucken shitload!!!! My town is 300 000 people and we have maybe a dozen christian type churches and a dozen sikh churches. If that.

I live in a neighborhood of 22,500 people, roughly nine miles square, and there are at least thirty churches. Possibly thirty-three.

Welcome to the Midwest.

(aka Steel Belt, Rust Belt, Corn Belt, Bible Belt...)

quote:Originally posted by Pseud0nym:

its fun converting kids at my school to agnosticism/atheism.

You can't "convert" them if it's not a religion.

The term has been more or less destroyed now anyway. It's antitheism instead of atheism.

quote:Originally posted by Opiumfarmosaurus:

[B] You can't "convert" them if it's not a religion.B]

Since they can be construed as sets of beliefs, you probably can.

quote:Originally posted by NotOnlyButAlso:

Since they can be construed as sets of beliefs, you probably can.

In that case you can identify atheism as another religion, destroying any of their defence as a logical conclusion.

Most Religion-goers will think they are right, because they have a larger audience supporting them. Whenever you argue with one good minded Christian there are 5 others there yelling "go to church", or "read the bible", or some ignorant shit like that. They are dumbfounded when I say I don't believe in it,and they ask why, plain and simple, there are more contradictions in the bible than truths, and there has not been 1 fact supporting it in the history of man kind, except if you take the ignorant stance, and see the bible as fact and 100% true.



And BTW, Atheists and agnostics comprise 12% of adults nationwide. There are around 1 Million Atheist/Agnostics in America, and those are only the ones who have come out and said it.

If only 3% of Americans were atheist, that would still account for over 10 million atheists in the U.S. alone. And that number is widely underestimated, because there are alot of people who would hasten to express their views due to social ostracizing and religious bigotry. The researchers themselves maintain that they are "hard to identify". You'd be suprised at how many *closet* atheists are out there. Secularism is growing in leaps and bounds.

Reiterated ^

[This message has been edited by AngryFemme (edited 03-03-2007).]

^ Agreed.

I went to a Catholic school and I reckon many of the people there never believed in Christianity or God, but simply said they did because following religion is simply the "normal thing to do".

-Kooper

[This message has been edited by Kooper0 (edited 03-03-2007).]

quote:Originally posted by lokilocke:

Most Religion-goers will think they are right, because they have a larger audience supporting them. Whenever you argue with one good minded Christian there are 5 others there yelling "go to church", or "read the bible", or some ignorant shit like that. They are dumbfounded when I say I don't believe in it,and they ask why, plain and simple, there are more contradictions in the bible than truths, and there has not been 1 fact supporting it in the history of man kind, except if you take the ignorant stance, and see the bible as fact and 100% true.



And BTW, Atheists and agnostics comprise 12% of adults nationwide. There are around 1 Million Atheist/Agnostics in America, and those are only the ones who have come out and said it.

You are 100% wrong and if you think other wise you are 100% misguided.

How am I wrong?

I was refering to your first paragraph.