I was watching Paula Zahn on CNN just now. I'll admit I was working on something else and the television was just background noise. From what I gathered she was doing a show on race. With a three-person guest panel she was covering some recent stories such as Joe Biden's latest bout of Foot-In-Mouth Syndrome and the fact that two black coaches will face each other in the Super Bowl.
Somewhere in her show the subject turned to atheists. On the screen behind her, in big bright letters were the words DO ATHEISTS INSPIRE HATRED? A quick story followed about a couple who were chased out of their neighborhood when everyone else found they were atheists. They showed results of a poll which indicated that atheists were the most distrusted and disliked group of people in this country. Zahn (who sounds like a Star Trek villain) then asked her panel why this was the case.
I think half-baked TV spots like this are what gives atheists such a bad name. The three talking heads (I didn't catch their names) were about as bigoted on the subject as they were during the heated arguments about racism. I seem to remember one woman (who if I recall correctly was a Pulitzer Prize winner) lamenting the fact that atheists have no greeting cards of their own. Another talking head pointed out how hated we are in the south. I remember the phrase "Christian Nation! Christian Nation!" being repeated over and over with a Goebbel-esque fervor. Zahn smiled vacantly during the entire thing as usual.
No kidding people don't like us. Granted, I don't care about being liked but I'd like to be taken seriously.