An article in today’s Los Angeles Times by John Allan Paulos discusses two polls about American’s attitudes towards atheists. The first was a 2006 University of Minnesota poll that indicated that atheists are "seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public" and that atheists are at the bottom of the list of candidates (after Catholics, Jews and Gays) that they are willing to support. This has been diaried several times before. The second poll is a recent Pew forum poll that quantifies American’s religious identity. This second poll helps to explain the first and, I believe, is a call to action for atheists.
The Pew poll finds that only 1.6% of respondents are willing to admit they are atheists (and 2.4% agnostics). This cannot be right! Almost everyone I know is, if they were honest, an atheist, and I do not move in that bizarre a cultural group. People are just not willing to admit it. No wonder we are held in such dark suspicion by the rest of America – it is because they do not "know" any atheists and therefore assume that we must be some weird dangerous hidden cult. The solution is obvious. We have to come out of the closet. The analogy to gays is obvious. The main goal of outing was to show how many gays there were and to let the world know who they were. And it worked! Once you realize your colleagues, coworkers and friends are gay, and are wonderful people, attitudes change.
However, there is a major difference between gays and atheists. There is nothing about my life style that identifies me as an atheist; therefore it is much easier just to remain comfortably in the closet. There is always the question of "what is the point" of making an issue of it.
But, there is a point. People’s deep suspicions of atheism colors all aspects of our life and politics. It prevents any kind of honest dialogue about religious beliefs. I know of only one politician that has had the courage to admit he was an atheist: Our governor Jesse Ventura who famously stated that "Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business." Not surprisingly, he never ran for public office again after making that statement.
However, coming out is easier said then done. We have a summer home in a rural area and our best friends are a family of dairy farmers. These are the most wonderful, generous people we know. But, I assume, that they probably agree that atheists are "a threat to the American way of life." I am sure that if they knew we were atheists, it would change their mind. But, I am just not willing to go there. It is too easy to ignore it. Although I am sure that this is the essence of the problem about attitudes toward atheism, I do not know if I have the courage to come out of the closet.