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Topic: | | | I. A despised Group | |
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< | Over the past fifty years, minority groups that have traditionally been distrusted by Americans have steadily gained acceptance in this country. A gallup poll released in 2000 which measured voter’s willingness to elect a president from different minority groups demonstrated the significant progress many groups had made in gaining acceptance by the majority. For example, 95% of respondents said they could vote for a black person (up from 37% in 1958). Religious groups have also made great strides. In 1937, 60% of those polled said they would not vote for a Roman Catholic for president. 46% said they would not elect a Roman Catholic. In the 2000 poll both groups had a positive response rate of about 92%. While the current presidential election cycle has shown us that the connection between polls and how people actually vote can be fairly tenuous, the mere fact that number of people who will say they would vote for one of these minorities as so greatly increase is an indicator that these groups are more accepted than they once were. | >
> | Over the past fifty years, minority groups that have traditionally been distrusted by Americans have steadily gained acceptance in this country. A gallup poll released in 2000 which measured voter’s willingness to elect a president from different minority groups demonstrated the significant progress many groups had made in gaining acceptance by the majority. For example, 95% of respondents said they could vote for a black person (up from 37% in 1958). Religious groups have also made great strides. In 1937, 60% of those polled said they would not vote for a Roman Catholic for president. 46% said they would not elect a Roman Catholic. In the 2000 poll both groups had a positive response rate of about 92%. While the current presidential election cycle has shown us that the connection between polls and how people actually vote can be fairly tenuous, the mere fact that the number of people who will say they would vote for one of these minorities has so greatly increased is an indicator that these groups are more accepted than they once were. | | | | |
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< | While Atheists have also gained acceptance in some parts of the country (typically among college educated people living on the coasts, as found by a study conducted by the University of Minnesota), they remain one of the least electable groups: only 49% of respondents said they could vote for an atheist. That same University Minnesota study found that Atheists were by far the most disliked group among Muslims, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, Jews, conservative Christians, and Whites. 40% of those polled selected Atheists as the group that "does not at all agree with my vision of American society."
This general dislike/distrust is further demonstrated by laws which actually bar Atheists from holding office: Arkansas, Texas, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. While legal challenges to these laws have been successful, the mere fact that such laws on the books and, in some cases, still enforced, further demonstrates the extreme distrust of Atheists as a group. Furthermore, even if such laws are found to be unconstitutional, it remains extremely difficult for open Atheists to be elected. No other group has such overt laws written to prevent them from holding office (one can certainly argue that other structures are in place to hold back other groups... but not actual laws barring office holders). | >
> | While Atheists have also gained acceptance in some parts of the country (typically among college educated people living on the coasts, as found by a study conducted by the University of Minnesota), they remain one of the least electable groups: only 49% of respondents said they could vote for an atheist. That same University Minnesota study found that Atheists were by far the most disliked group among Muslims, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, Jews, conservative Christians, and Whites. 40% of those polled selected Atheists as the group that "does not at all agree with my vision of American society." The Minnesota study also found that Atheists have become, for many people, “a symbolic figure to represent their fears about ... trends in American life." “These included crime, rampant self-interest and [the elite].” | | | | |
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- All such laws are unconstitutional. Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961). Your grafs above should state the legal situation clearly and avoid overdramatization.
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> | II. Constitutional Protection | | | | |
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> | The constitution provides protection for those that do not believe in a religion. The 1st Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The Supreme Court has held that the free exercise clause of the 1st Amendment applies not just to the decision to believe in a particular creed, but also in the decision to believe in no religion at all. This view is most clearly expressed in Wallace v. Jaffree: “the Court has unambiguously concluded that the individual freedom of conscience protected by the First Amendment embraces the right to select any religious faith or none at all." Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 53 (1985). | | | | |
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> | The Court has also held that religious tests for public office are unconstitutional under the 1st and 14th Amendments and that neither the State nor Federal Government may “pass laws or impose requirements which aid all religions as against non-believers.” Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 495-496 (1961). | | | II. Impact? | |
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< | Some have argued that Atheists will be the new target of scapegoating in America during times of national stress. Scapegoating social groups is the result of society encounters probmes and is unwilling or unable to discover and solve the true cause. Instead, it decides to blame an already disliked minority group for the problems. The Minnesota study found that Atheists have become, for many people, “a symbolic figure to represent their fears about ... trends in American life." “These included crime, rampant self-interest and [the elite].” Perhaps this is an indicator that a scapegoating predisposition already exists? Certainly the religious right has publically blamed atheism for many of our society’s ills and has done so more vocally after 9/11 (Jerry Fallwell’s infamous statements on CNN after 9/11, for example). | >
> | So, while Atheists are legally protected, they are distrusted by many of their fellow citizens to a greater degree than most other minority groups. Discrimination against atheists, however, is, to a large extent, limited to political rhetoric. Unlike with other minority groups, it is difficult to discriminate against atheists for the simple reason that atheists are difficult to identify. They do not share a common skin tone and do not live in the same part of town together nor may they be identified by their personal relationships. Further, unlike religious groups who can often be identified by their religious practices, atheists specifically do not engage in any sort of ritual activity that would set them apart from the rest of society. They look no different than any other person who lapsed in the observation of their religion. It is difficult to act on one’s prejudice when one cannot identify a target. | | | | |
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< | Additionally, if not believing in god is so antithetical to the principles of our society that Atheists should be barred from office in some states, then how far are we from enacting further legislation restricting open Atheism?
- Very far, since all such laws are clearly unconstitutional. You see how your failure to state the law correctly in the first place is enabling the distortion of logic throughout the essay?
After all, who else is barred from holding office?
- What "else"? Atheists aren't barred from holding office.
In some states, former felons are allowed to run for office (Illinois, for example). Are Atheists considered less trustworthy than former criminals? If so, surely employers, who generally refuse to hire ex-felons should likewise refuse to hire Atheists?
However, it is unlikely that Atheists will ever become an active target of scapegoating in the same way other groups have. Atheists are extremely difficult to detect. They do not share a common skin tone and do not live in the same part of town together. Further, unlike religious groups who can often be identified by their religious practices, Atheists specifically do not engage in any sort of ritual activity that would set them apart from the rest of society. They look no different than any other person who lapsed in the observation of their religion. As a result, they make very poor scapegoats.
On the other hand, escaping violent persecution is not the same as being free to embrace whatever view of religion one likes without limiting one’s ability to engage with the rest of society. The issue also cuts to fundamental rights: what does freedom of religion mean? Does it include freedom from religion (some in the religious right say no, it doesn’t). | >
> | Once one self-identifies as an atheist publically, however, the protection of anonymity disappears. So, while there is no legal bar to an atheist running for office, the public dislike for atheists means that many people will not vote for them if they make their religious views known. The result is a constructive bar to office. | | | | |
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> | Prejudice towards “outted” atheists even extends to the judicial system. In a 2006 article, Eugene Volokh cited cases across 18 states where the religiosity of a parent was a factor in the outcome of child custody cases. Eugene Volokh, Parent-Child Speech and Child Custody Speech Restrictions, 81, New York University L.J. 631, Appendix (2006). Representative of these cases is the South Carolina Court of Appeal’s 1998 decision in Pountain v. Pountain, where it upheld the lower court’s decision to deny child custody to an agnostic father and went on to state that “Although the religious beliefs of parents are not dispositive in a child custody dispute, they are a factor relevant to determining the best interest of a child”. Pountain v. Pountain, 503 S.E.2d 757, 761 (S.C. Ct. App. 1998). | | | III. Acceptance? | |
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< | The same characteristic that insulates Atheists from scapegoating also impedes acceptance. Social Psychologists argue that the basis for prejudice is the cognitive structures people naturally form to deal with a complex world: people simplify reality by attaching simple rules to their surroundings. Only when those rules are confronted by a conflicting reality are people likely to unlearn that rule. So, by promoting social ties between different groups, one can help both groups accept the other.
However, because Atheists are so difficult to identify, people’s preconceptions about them are challenged less often than those of other groups. Perhaps the best way to encourage acceptance is by establishing a more visible Atheistic presence: push more Atheist candidates to run for office or be more open about one's lack of belief. The most effective way to reach people is through popular media. Exposing people to Atheist characters that do not reinforce negative stereotypes (perhaps the most common being that of the immoral elitist) would challenge the preconceptions of a much larger section of the population much more quickly than trying to effect change on the individual level. However, care must be taken. Direct, overt attacks on religion tend to galvanize the theists and give them a target to rally against, effectively creating the very threat that they claim already exists.
- Scapegoating can't occur because unbelievers are hard to identify. Therefore the problem of intolerance can best be addressed by increasing the visibility of unbelievers, which will make scapegoating possible.
- In order to make this essay better, it needs to be rewritten completely. The issue of holding public office should be disposed of in a sentence, with a citation. The constitutional status of unbelief as a free exercise of religion, which is clearly established, should be shown. The constitutional structure once established, the nature of a prejudice against largely invisible people can be discussed, and the possibility of "coming out of the closet" explored. The reasons why this is not likely to occur should also be labeled, and the absence of any possibility of a history of unbelief, with its attendant consequences, explored.
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> | How may atheists gain greater acceptance? Social Psychologists argue that the basis for prejudice is the cognitive structures people naturally form to deal with a complex world: people simplify reality by attaching simple rules to their surroundings. Only when those rules are confronted by a conflicting reality are people likely to unlearn that rule. So, by promoting social ties between different groups, one can help both groups accept the other. | | | | |
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> | However, because Atheists are so difficult to identify, people’s preconceptions about them are challenged less often than those of other groups. Perhaps the best way to encourage acceptance is by establishing a more visible Atheistic presence: push more Atheist candidates to run for office or be more open about one's lack of belief. The problem is that atheists do not experience discrimination if they are unobtrusive about their beliefs beyond hearing negative public commentary about them. Further, if they are open, they face the potential of discrimination. It is therefore likely that distrust of atheists will continue. | | |
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