Criminal better than atheist

[patti]

Have you ever noticed that even though you may have commited some hideus crime, people will forgive you more than if you say you are an atheist. Then you get all these closest christians, even crackheads to practically lynch you for it. That is why i never say anything like that in public.

[McQ]

Have you ever noticed that even though you may have commited some hideus crime, people will forgive you more than if you say you are an atheist. Then you get all these closest christians, even crackheads to practically lynch you for it. That is why i never say anything like that in public.

Well, not personally having committed any hideous crimes, I wouldn't know,    but people certainly don't like hearing the term "atheist". That's for sure. Welcome to the forum!

[curiosityandthecat]

I think I've mentioned something along these lines before. Some research has been done on the same lines.

Quotes from: Edgell, P.,  Gerteis, J., and Hartmann, D.  (2006.)  Atheists As "Other": Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society.  American Sociological Review .  71(2), 211-234.

"For all these respondents, atheists represent a general lack of morality, but for some, this lack was associated with criminality and its dangers to safety and public order, while for others the absence of morality was that of people whose resources or positions place them above the common standards of mainstream American life" (228).

"Atheists are at the top of the list of groups that Americans find problematic in both public and private life, and the gap between acceptance of atheists and acceptance of other racial and religious minorities is large and persistent" (230).

"Catholics, Jews, and communists all have been figures against which the moral contours of American culture and citizenship have been imagined. We suggest that today, the figure of the atheist plays this role" (230).

And as McQ said, Welcome.  

[Infidel]

I work with criminals on a daily basis..  most crackheads are christians.  So that shouldnt surprise you.

[Asmodean]

I wonder where that concept puts criminal atheists?  

[Faithless]

The criminal atheists were too smart to get caught?  <ducks>  

[Asmodean]