May 10, 2015 4:59 AM

Yet another silly and indefensible reason for disliking those who are good without God

Study: People don’t like atheists because they serve as a grim reminder of death’s finality

More and more people in the United States are casting aside religion and identifying as atheists — yet polling has found that nearly half of Americans still wouldn’t vote for a presidential candidate who didn’t believe in God. Most Americans think atheists are about as trustworthy as rapists. And prejudice towards atheists is by no means unique to the United States. It is an attitude shared across the majority of the world’s countries — both past and present…. “Atheists have long been an especially stigmatized group,” social psychologist Corey L. Cook and his colleagues explained in new research on anti-atheist prejudice. “In fact, the Greek term atheos (godless, without a god) originated as a pejorative designation of those who failed to worship culturally accepted gods; and, religious and political leaders throughout recorded history have vigorously inveighed against those who do not believe in God (or Gods).”

Hi, my name is Jack, and I don’t believe in God. I’m also not here to burn your village, kick your dog, or rape your women and children. Translation: Grow the !@#$ up, America. Swearing fealty to what I believe to be an Imaginary Friend doesn’t make one more of an American or a more worthy human being. I’m not the Grim Reaper, and I’m probably a bit more trustworthy than your average rapist. Don’tcha think it’s time you lost the smug self-superiority you’ve been assuming for lo, these many years simply because you believe in something you believe to be God?

I have no problem with granting people their right to believe as they choose. Truth be told, I admire believers who actually endeavor to LIVE their beliefs, because they’re the people who will make the world a better and more peaceful place. What I can’t stomach are hypocrites who couldn’t lead a Christ-like life if they were handed a manual and apersonal coach. I don’t tolerate those who use their beliefs as a club with which to bludgeon those not enlightened enough to share their beliefs. This is a sore point with me, as a member of my own family has made it crystal clear that I’m going to Hell because I’ve “rejected God.’ The going to Hell part I’m OK with (seeing as how I can’t see how I could go to a place I don’t believe in), but the arrogant, hyper-religious self-superiority doesn’t sit well with me.

Researchers have found evidence that atheists are disliked and distrusted because of the widespread belief that people behave better when they think an almighty divine power is watching their every move.

So let me see if I have this straight: people don’t trust atheists because they don’t live by the belief that they only way a human being behaves is because The Great Moral Policeman in the Sky © is monitoring their every thought, word, and deed? If not for the fear of Divine Judgment (and, presumably, punishment), this world would be an amoral hellscape in which lawlessness and generalized bad behavior would be the rule?

Maybe it’s just me, but that seems a pretty sad commentary on the state of human morality and respect for the rule of law.

But Cook and his colleagues have proposed another hypothesis: Atheists are disliked because they pose a fundamental threat to the worldview of religious people, a worldview that helps them mitigate “the potential terror arising from the uniquely human awareness of death.”

Their study, “What If They’re Right About the Afterlife? Evidence of the Role of Existential Threat on Anti-Atheist Prejudice,” was published online April 27 in the scientific journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Hmm…so people disapprove of me because I somehow remind them of their own impending mortality? Might I submit that the fear of death is an issue to be resolved by an individual, not a responsibility to laid at the feet of those who happen to be good without God? I have my own issues with my mortality, but I think that’s a pretty natural thing. As one ages, a point is reached at which one recognizes that they’re likely closer to the end than the beginning, that they’re on the back end of the actuarial bell curve. Live long enough and it happens…and it sure as Hell beats the alternative.

Of course, I can’t do anything about the ignorance or prejudice of others, but there are times when being anti-atheist feels like the last acceptable prejudice. For example, I could never run for office and openly acknowledge that I don’t believe in God. Even though the 1st Amendment’s Exclusion Clause proscribes religious litmus tests for those who’d seek elective office, the de facto reality is that one must declare fealty to the majority religion in order to have any hope of electoral success. It’s petty, and it’s patently absurd, but the only ones who see this prejudice as a problem are the ones being discriminated against.

I’m sorry if my presence on this Earth reminds you that the Grim Reaper will eventually come for you. That’s not my fault; that’s your lack of comfort with the reality of life, of which death is part and parcel. From where I sit, I’m not about to accept responsibility for your fear of shedding your mortal coil. Your inability to deal with that, and your need to project that fear onto people like says far more about you and your inability to face reality than it ever could about me.

At least I don’t have to fear an artificial construct- The Great Moral Policeman in the Sky ©- in order to be able to behave in a morally and ethically acceptable manner. My moral code is independent of any religious restrictions, and for the most part I think it’s served me- and society- pretty well.

We’re all going to die. I’m sorry if my lack of belief in your God reminds you of that, but I don’t think that’s my problem. That’s something you need to sort out for yourself. I have enough on my plate without assuming responsibility for your impending mortality.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on May 10, 2015 4:59 AM.

What? You mean to tell me that Jesus DIDN'T write the Constitution?? was the previous entry in this blog.

Because as every good, God-fearing, Christian patriot knows, God is a Republican is the next entry in this blog.

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