Who do you honestly think is the most ignored and disliked group in the United States? You could probably come up with a plethora of groups, but atheists, in fact, are the most maligned group in the US.
The University of Minnesota did a study on which group is the most distrusted in society, and atheists scored higher than Muslims, homosexuals and Hispanics on which group disagreed with one’s vision of American society. A more shocking statistic is that half of those surveyed would disapprove if their child married an atheist.
Now why would people dislike atheists so much? There are obviously some stereotypes (albeit unfounded ones) about what atheists are like. Besides the fact that they are "godless," people associate atheists with immoral behavior, materialism and threatening the status quo. This negative portrayal stems from the erroneous belief that without a deity, one cannot have a sense of right and wrong.
We can see from the numerous good deeds and accomplishments done by atheists that this is not the case, with many people such as Isaac Asimov, Bruce Lee and Steve Wozniak helping shape our culture and society. Not all atheists are peddling drugs or prostituting people. As for materialism, what is more materialistic than taking the money (and taking advantage) of people who believe in a deity, and then using that money for one’s own material gratification?†
I can guarantee you that this is happening more often than an atheist hoarding money. It is easy to claim that atheists are the ones who are trying to teach your children evolution, taking "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance and wanting to undermine the values of American society.†
The fact is that atheists aren’t the only ones who want evolution in your local school or want the non-secular and Lemon Test-failing "under God" out of the pledge. This is not an "atheist thing." This is the desire for church and state separation, which many of those who believe in a deity want. It is illegal in many states (including Texas) for an atheist to hold office.
The Texas Constitution requires a state official to at least profess a belief in one deity. So a Wiccan, Muslim or Christian can be the governor of Texas, but an atheist cannot. Would it be appropriate to put in a state constitution that African Americans or homosexuals cannot hold a state office?
This would scream "discrimination" to most people. Even though we have come so far, we are still holding on to the belief that without religion, there is no order. This dates back to before the Protestant Reformation, when the Roman Catholic Church held European society together.† Now we have the government holding society together, and do not have to rely on a high church official to dictate what we can and cannot do.
Thus it is perfectly acceptable to dislike or hate atheists in society. What does this say about people and society in general? That we need a universal scapegoat for all of our problems?† Or does it just mean that most people fear what they do not understand? I guess time will tell.
