Why So Many Hate Atheists

And why all the freakazoid haters are beneath our contempt.

David Atkins:

Next time you see anti-Muslim prejudice in your community, consider that your fellow Americans likely hate atheists even more:

The number of those identifying as nonreligious has grown dramatically in the U.S. in recent years. The percentage of American adults not identifying with any religion in Pew Research polls has grown from barely 15% to nearly 20% in the last five years. Much of this change comes from the fact that just 9% of those 65 and older do not identify with a religion, and they’re being replaced by youths with far higher rates.

The amount of hate and distrust toward atheists in America is still astounding. “Atheists as ‘Other’: Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society," a paper by three sociologists at the University of Minnesota, compared perceptions of atheists to those of other groups. Forty percent surveyed said atheists were a group which “Does not At All Agree With My Vision of America,” while the next most common response was Muslims at 26%. Nearly 50% said they would disapprove of their child marrying an atheist, and the next two highest groups were Muslims at 34% and African-Americans at 27%.

It's all of a piece: the racism, the prejudice, the misogyny. A huge portion of Americans desperately want to believe that there is divine order in the world, that it can be easily digested by reading the right book, that women who disobey their husbands and fathers will be punished, that "inferior" races who overstep their bounds will be brought to heel, that God favors this nation-state over that one, and that all the free-thinking libertines, global citizens and race traitors will burn forever in a lake of fire.

It obviously matters a great deal to them which book is used, which name their God takes, and which races and nation-states rise to the top of the primate heap. But that's not actually as important as the belief in the divine order itself. For them, the thought of a universe in which people grope forward with progress toward an uncertain end, where evil is not necessarily punished, and where society and culture change fluidly forever is a terrifying thing.

It shouldn't be. Human history is filled with far more pain, misery and cruelty than happiness. The idea that a grand creator made us this way is anything but hopeful. If the same creator that made this place is also in charge of whatever may come after, that's not a terribly reassuring thought. The notion, on the other hand, that our children will have the opportunity to create a better world than we lived in, and that our actions on this earth can help them make that a reality? That's an inspiring thought.