Concerning politics...

[rick]

Are atheists generally conservative or liberal as politics go? The atheists I know personally seem to tend towards conservatism, but that is hardly a conclusive observation. What say ye?

[rlrose328]

I've witnessed the exact opposite.  In my experience, those with freethought (including atheists) tend to be more educated and more liberal in their politics.  Not ALL, by any means.  There are atheists of all stripes.  Just in my experience only.  I belong to a local CFI Atheist meet-up and it is nearly exclusively liberal atheists.  And some of THEM make ME look conservative by comparison!  LOL!

Also in my experience ONLY, those with a belief system, especially a Judeo-Christian belief system, tend to be more conservative.  I believe this is because Christianity encourages the strong-father model, one in which the adherents are told what to do and what to believe, and that is a very conservative point of view.

Again, this is my observation only... your mileage may vary.

[Will]

2 words: Chris Hitchens. He's so conservative he still believes Iraq had WMDs, and he's one of the biggest atheists out there.

[rlrose328]

Ya know what?  All I know about Chris Hitchens is that he comes off as a very pompous, grandiose wordsmith.  The only thing of his I've read is the intro in "The Portable Atheist" and he sure does like his $10 words.  Whew!

Thanks for the clue-in, though.

[SteveS]

I guess it all depends on what we mean by "conservative".  I'm certainly not a social conservative, but I tend to be a financial (or fiscal) conservative.  Technically, my political ideology is mostly libertarian.

A major gripe I have with religion is not just that it seems wrong to me, but also that it is authoritarian.  Does rejecting authoritarianism make me liberal?  Yes in a way, no in a way.  Most political liberals tend toward socialism, which seems just as authoritarian to me as anything else.  Obviously, political conservatives embrace strong authoritarianism regarding social policies.

What I find interesting is that both halves of the American political spectrum seem okay with authoritarian solutions, they just vary on where they should be applied.  One thing about my view is that I at least see some consistency in rejecting authoritarian solutions --- I tend to reject them regarding both my money and property (politically conservative) and regarding our social behavior/policies (politically liberal).

I guess that makes me a blend.  Where else but in politics could a consistent policy end up making you a mix-mash?  

[rick]

All I know about Chris Hitchens is that he comes off as a very pompous, grandiose wordsmith.

I'm glad you said that. I was beginning to think it was just me.

[Vichy]

My experience with atheists is a definite liberal-leftist tendency, especially among humanists.  The objectivists of course tend to be fairly conservative (and war hawks, ugh) but they're a tiny minority of the group.
The people I hang out with are libertarians and atheists (largely due to moi, and their own inclinations) and don't match with the categorizations since they reject state benevolence a-priori and disagree with both groups on in so many ways and on so many levels that its inappropriate.  These days the difference between 'liberals' and 'conservatives' is largely rhetorical anyway.

[pjkeeley]

I won't have a bad word said against Christopher Hitchens! That man is hilarious. Yes, I disagree with his politics, but he's just too funny to be in any way bitter at. His arrogance is part of the appeal IMO.

[Neoncamouflage]

I'm very liberal, have been since I could form my own opinions, my family promotes having your own mind and deciding things for yourself so I didn't really have to worry about them telling me what to think(other than religion). Funny thing is my best friend and his family are some of the most conservative people I've ever seen(also very religious, coincidence?). So whenever they start on about those "stupid liberals" I just smile and change the subject.

[Kylyssa]

I'm very, very liberal but my Brother and Father are conservative.  I think it's all over the board.

[Asmodean]

Are atheists generally conservative or liberal as politics go? The atheists I know personally seem to tend towards conservatism, but that is hardly a conclusive observation. What say ye?

How can you generalise atheists when all that unites us is a lack of god-belief?

Personally, I'm a liberal democrat. Don't think you have that in the States :-P Basically, I'm the exact opposite of borderline communist socialists.

[Mister Joy]

I'm a libertarian - I'm socially liberal but in terms of economics I'm highly distrusting towards state intervention and support the free market. The Liberal Democrats come closest to representing my political opinions, without quite getting there, but I don't vote for them. I want the unelected liar Gordon Brown & his corrupt Labour government out of office, fast. The most effective way of doing that is by voting for the Tories. In a way, New Labour demonstrate far worse forms of conservativism than the Conservatives themselves: refusing to put the major issues in the spot light, burying their heads in the sand (and trying to do the same for us), nit picking away at us with a constant barrage of trivial nonsense (all of it having to do with the people and what problems we're causing, never mind the economy or the government themselves) & shying away from responsibility at all times.

So yeah. I'm a libertarian who votes 'Conservative', if that answers your question.

[crocofish]

On social issues, I'm quite liberal; and on fiscal issues, I'm more conservative.   I tend to not follow a political party blindly, although more recently I have been voting for mostly Democrats.    I look at politicians individually since there are bad and good ones regardless of their parties.  As Vichy said, "the difference between 'liberals' and 'conservatives' is largely rhetorical". I think Bill Clinton was a lot more conservative fiscally than G. W. Bush, even though the parties are portrayed as "tax and spend" Democrats and as "less government" Republicans.