And America's most hated minority is....

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/17/11 at 4:43pm

No...not the gays. Jeez, must everything be about you?
No, it's the Tea Party! Could someone let the media in on the fact?

Updated On: 8/17/11 at 04:43 PM

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 8/17/11 at 6:22pm

Not on Staten Island it isn't. Granted, around here politics is reduced to how you deal with the guy who cut in front of you at Starbucks.

[redmustang]

Posted: 8/17/11 at 6:32pm

.....is straight guys who like Broadway musicals.

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/17/11 at 8:19pm

redmustang - you're not alone (if you're in that group). We are a supportive bunch.

What I really came here to say was, don't tell Goth.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 8/17/11 at 10:20pm

"....is straight guys who like Broadway musicals."

I'm also a straight guy who likes Broadway musicals.

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/17/11 at 10:38pm

I think America's most hated minority is atheists.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 8/17/11 at 10:46pm

So wanting people to tell the truth is now considered discrimination?

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 8/17/11 at 10:56pm

"I think America's most hated minority is atheists."

I think this is quite true. Wasn't there some poll that said that atheists are the most mistrusted group in America? I'll look that up.


...and a quick google search finds this: http://www.atheists.org/press_releases/Study_of_%26%238220%3BMost_Distrusted_Minority%26%238221%3B_Underscores_Need_for_Gov%26%238217%3Bt_To_Stop_Promoting_R

"Researchers found that “Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in ‘sharing their vision of American society.’ Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.” Dr. Penny Edgell is quoted in a U. of M. press release adding that Atheists “offer a glaring exception to the rule of increasing social tolerance over the last 30 years,” and suggests that today‘s Atheists “play the role that Catholics, Jews and communists have played in the past.”"

I can't find a date on this study, though, so I'd be quite glad if this has changed. Updated On: 8/17/11 at 10:56 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 8/18/11 at 8:02am

Nope, they are more hated than even atheists:

[I]n data we have recently collected, the Tea Party ranks lower than any of the 23 other groups we asked about — lower than both Republicans and Democrats. It is even less popular than much maligned groups like “atheists” and “Muslims.” Interestingly, one group that approaches it in unpopularity is the Christian Right.
NYT

[Q]

Posted: 8/18/11 at 8:27am

"...among most Americans"

What meaning does that have? I'd like to know how they came up with 3000 people that supposedly represent 'most of America' at this point.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/18/11 at 9:22am

The problem is that most Americans aren't most Americans these days.

Updated On: 8/18/11 at 09:22 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/18/11 at 9:50am

The mistrusting-atheists thing to me, though, seems such a theoretical construct. I don't think of atheists as a readily identifiable group.

I mean, I have no idea which of my friends are atheists, but I know which ones are black, Jewish, gay, and so on.

And I know the one who's Republican.

All of which is to say I don't know how mistrusting or even hating atheists plays out in real life, in terms of jobs, housing, etc.





Updated On: 8/18/11 at 09:50 AM

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/18/11 at 1:33pm

Think there are any atheist tea-party members? Who are black and gay to boot?

That person should be put in a museum as the most hated person in America.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/18/11 at 1:48pm

Reg - Great point. Mistrusting atheists seems to be more of a concept than anything actually exercised in practice. I mean, how many holy-rollers would get up and walk out of a Luby's because they notice a group of atheists walking in? Unfortunately, amongst the batty Christian zealots, atheism is often mistaken for satanism or agnosticism. It's sort of like asking a Palin supporter to define socialism. They don't know what it is, they just know it's EVIL.

[bethnor]

Posted: 8/18/11 at 1:59pm

Think there are any atheist tea-party members? Who are black and gay to boot?

there might be. the descriptor atheist only means that you do not believe in god. it says nothing else at all about what you believe in. one can be atheist and fascist. it would be unusual, but certainly possible. penn teller is an atheist libertarian--which is different from tea party, but has very similar roots.

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/18/11 at 2:11pm

But in the realm of politics, I'll stick by my theory that atheists are the most hated. In our current political environment, religion is clearly intertwined with politics. Regarding the other groups referred to, there are certainly Tea Partiers in Congress, there are a couple of openly gay members of Congress, and there are even a couple of Muslims in Congress. Is there an atheist in Congress? There are certainly folks in Congress who are less religious than others, but is there one who has stated that he or she doesn't believe in God?