Atheism remains least-trusted characteristic in American politics

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Odd that they didnā€™t include African-American, Muslim or even Jewish on that list. Iā€™m sure less-common traits like ā€œtransgenderedā€ would probably be a pretty big political handicap too.

Also, who the hell are that 2% of Americans who would be more likely to vote for a candidate who cheated on their spouse?

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Itā€™s the most positive attribute on that list for me.

I donā€™t trust any politician who ā€˜does Godā€™.

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Having a bit of a hard time parsing that chartā€¦ ā€œdoesnā€™t matterā€ should be in between ā€œmore likelyā€ and ā€œless likelyā€ under any reasonable system.

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1% are those who cheat and assume everybody does and so at least a candidate whoā€™s admitted to doing it is honest about it and it canā€™t be used against him (or her).

The other 1% are those who deliberately answer surveys in the most ridiculous ways to skew results.

I am occasionally in one of those 1% groups.

Meanwhile, a career in American politics is something Iā€™m going to have to avoid.

Largely because Iā€™m Canadian, and have zero public speaking skills. But this doesnā€™t help matters.

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Atheists: We Donā€™t Have A Prayer.

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I wonder how many of the anti-atheist respondents have a mental picture of atheists as all being loudly confrontational and outspoken Dawkins types, similar to how a lot of people used to* associate feminism with caricatures of man-hating lesbian bra-burners and Andrea Dworkin.

* probably still do, come to think of it.

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If they had put Muslim on there, it would surely take the prize.

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I donā€™t think so, actually.

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Atheists are thought of as evil persons in certain parts of Texas and surrounding areas, including a lot of the South. My atheist Russian professor friends in north Texas tell me that they learned years ago to just nod politely and keep their mouths shut when the subject came up.

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Maybe what Iā€™ve encountered is more widespread than I thought?

Iā€™ve met people who upon learning I donā€™t go for their jazz & discussing it that many people may mistake being atheist for being someone who does not have or does not acknowledge a higher power. I can dig it I guess, denying someone elseā€™s faith is ignorant and arrogant & people often think that faith not shared is faith denied even where it isnā€™t.

Ridiculous right? Iā€™ve got or acknowledge higher power(s), they just arenā€™t anthropomorphic deity class higher powers.

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Oddā€”it seems like Obamaā€™s political enemies could make a much stronger case for the President being a closeted Atheist than a secret Muslim, yet they opted for the latter.

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Could be the pol-leaders of Xians are internal atheists themselves from years of playing a role with huge plot holes & thus unconsciously avoid accusing others of what they deny & hide within themselves.

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Bill Clinton and Mark Sanford?

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I guarantee you that there are lots of atheists in Congress pretending to be Xtian.

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To a lot of religious people, Iā€™m sure atheism==amorality. Consciously rejecting god is equivalent to consciously rejecting morality in their eyes. Iā€™m sure there are those who would prefer satan worshippers to atheists: ā€œAt least they believe in the battle between good and evil, even if they are on the wrong sideā€¦ā€

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I remember there being a few things Obama said in the 2008 election and his early days in office that actually did make me go hmmm. I think there was something about him not actually attending church very often even though he was supposedly a member of one. He also mentioned non-believers in his 2008 inaugural address. Whatever his beliefs, just mentioning the existence of non-believers felt like a huge step forward at the time.

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I live in NC, so Southern Baptist reign supreme, and that pretty much sums it up. And itā€™s not even so much that they have some moral high ground to stand on, itā€™s literally the fact they canā€™t process the idea of morality without god. My parents didnā€™t raise me in the church, which they regret and I am grateful for, and I think my morals are pretty damn solid. I found through highschool and college that the more exposed my peers were to religion the more likely they were to be the ones to act out, they sayings about the preacherā€™s daughter usually are true.

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Once, while I was volunteering as a tutor for kids who got caught up in the justice system, it got mentioned that I was atheist. Thatā€™s almost exactly what one of the kids said except he claimed to be siding with satan. No, I donā€™t know satan worship meant to a 10 year old either.

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If I suspect that someone might want to make it their personal project to ā€œsaveā€ me from atheism, I tell them a half truth: My grandfather was from China and I come from a long line of Buddhists. It doesnā€™t work as well as the ā€œIā€™m Jewishā€ gambit, but sometimes I donā€™t feel like justifying my life of godless debauchery and sleeping in on Sunday with strangers.

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