Posted by Hemant Mehta in A recent Zogby International poll had some fascinating results dealing with prejudice.
One result:
42% believe Americans would be most concerned about their child dating a Muslim; followed by an atheist (17%), and a Mormon (14%).
We’re not the scariest people to bring home with you! Time to celebrate.
I’m *so* going back to Shaadi.com.
[tags]atheist, atheism, shaadi.com, Zogby International, desi, Muslim[/tags]
Hee. I saw a study not terribly long ago (maybe a year?) that said that, when asked the question themselves, we were at the bottom of the list in terms of dateability. This poll asks what do you think everybody else would respond. I wonder if there’s been a shift of opinion (ie, we’re out of the doghouse), or if it’s the difference in wording (when asked themselves, they’d least like to have their daughter date an atheist, but they think their neighbor would prefer atheist to muslim).
If I had a child, which I don’t, I don’t think that atheism would matter to me as long as the person wasn’t a bigot who tried to force an ideology on my child or grandchildren. I’d be really upset if a child of mine married a Republican or a member of a fundamentalist cult (religious or otherwise). If they had a sense of humor and a genuine affection for people and animals it wouldn’t matter to me if they believed or not. I could probably name a long list of atheists I’d be thrilled to have as an inlaw.
I’d be more afraid of one of my sons dating a Mormon or a Muslim. That’s just me though.
I agree!
Wow, Muslims ahead of atheists huh? Wow. Actually there was an article in Newsweek, this week, the main article, all about how Muslims in America are trying to find their place, and how the younger generation feels more isolated as Americans b/c of Sept. 11th, and how some of them are more conservative than their parents………interesting. I think we will be hearing more from the Muslim community. Maybe they can keep the fundies busy!
42% Hmmm, that’s interesting: same percentage as have their heads squarely positioned and irretrievably fixed up their asses.
Contrary to what the pollster thinks, I think it is far less accurate to ask about what “most Americans” think. When thinking about “most Americans,” there are a lot of stereotypes at work, but few people will stereotype themselves. Asking people about themselves may have its biases, since people generally think of themselves as good, but at least this bias goes in a predictable direction. Stereotypes could be completely off the mark.
For example, the figure that says 37% think Catholics are most likely to be involved in sexual abuse is probably due to stereotypes that arose from well-known scandals.
The 17% figure for atheists could have been deflated by religious people who imagine everyone around them is godless, or inflated by secular people who imagine everyone around them demonizes them.
What about a middle-eastern atheist?