Should Fort Bragg Hold an Atheist Concert?

[Rob H.]

20. "...US Christians...tend to trust atheists only slightly more

than they trust rapists."

Yeah, I saw the results of that survey last year, and it just made me sad. Check out this excerpt from an article I found:

The researchers found that religious believers thought that descriptions of untrustworthy people - people who steal or cheat - were more likely to be atheists than Christians, Muslims, Jews, gays or feminists.

Gervais was surprised that people harbour such strong feelings about a group that is hard to see or identify. He opines that religious believers are just more comfortable with other people who believe a deity with the power to reward and punish is watching them.

"If you believe your behaviour is being watched [by God] you are going to be on your best behaviour," said Gervais. "But that wouldn't apply for an atheist. That would allow people to use religious belief as a signal for how trustworthy a person is."

I still maintain that if a person is only doing the right thing because they think they'll be rewarded for it in their version of the afterlife (or that they'll be tortured for eternity if they do something wrong), it doesn't count.

Full article here: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Atheists+rapists+list+people+religious+believers+distrust+most+study+finds/5794699/story.html