US atheists, agnostics less 'racist' than religious people according to survey

[OKComputer]

Thought this was interesting. Does it ring true to US Catholics?

Honestly? No. In most Christian churches you are likely to see people of all colors sitting together. Will you find racist Catholics? Sure. Will you also find racist atheists? Yup.

 

[TMC]

By the way, I can say, without a doubt, that the most racist people I know are atheists and agnostics, by far. I doubt they were asked.

Really? That has not been my experience, but of course each of our personal experiences are just anecdotal.

 

[Cirdan_XII]

They can be loaded. For instance, “Irish, Italians, Jewish and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Blacks should do the same without any special favors.” Does agreeing to that make someone racist?

Why is it not possible to love one’s neighbour without at the same time thinking he might be in part and in some way be responsible for his own misfortune?

Love means helping where you can, mentoring and forgiving. It means not holding people back. It doesn’t mean being in denial of their faults.

 

[Pattylt]

Why is it not possible to love one’s neighbour without at the same time thinking he might be in part and in some way be responsible for his own misfortune?

I certainly think we can think that about an individual. But, when you expand that claim onto an entire race, there’s a problem. I don’t think you mean to say that every poor black is there due to poor choices that he’s aware he’s making? It seems awfully easy to look at poor whites and see the horrible circumstances that led to their poverty…medical bills or having their house repossessed. With blacks it seems like we always jump to poor choices…like they even had other choices?

There’s plenty of people that have made bad choices. No one denies that. Just make sure that you don’t excuse the whites but blame the blacks. (Not saying you are!). Many do this and don’t see themselves doing it.

 

[Cirdan_XII]

I certainly think we can think that about an individual. But, when you expand that claim onto an entire race, there’s a problem. I don’t think you mean to say that every poor black is there due to poor choices that he’s aware he’s making? It seems awfully easy to look at poor whites and see the horrible circumstances that led to their poverty…medical bills or having their house repossessed. With blacks it seems like we always jump to poor choices…like they even had other choices?

I didn’t say that every black made poor choices. Obviously not. As there are lots of rich blacks too.

The original statement compared blacks today to Irish, Jews and Italians 100 years ago. At that time many people thought their situation was hopeless. That they were caught in a spiral of poverty from which there was no escape. Living in inadequate housing, not having access to good jobs or education. Often being involved in crime and violence. Suffering discrimination because people judged entire communities by the actions of some individuals in those communties. But they did finally escape from all that. And as far as I know, there were no major programs of positive discrimination or community investments that helped them out back then. They pulled themselves out slowly and over many generations. Maybe in part due to changes in attitudes. Due to children seeing that they didn’t want to live their lives as their parents had. And I’m not talking about individuals here, as there are different types of people in all communities . There are people who do the right things and people who don’t in any community, and at any time, then as there are now, but let’s say, this is about averages.

So let’s say a person who says yes to this initial statement comparing blacks today to these other minorities back then, this person is saying yes because they believe, blacks will eventually pull themselves out in the same way. Maybe even faster because these days there is much more of a helping hand than there was back then.

So this is a positive thought if you think about it. It’s a thought about hope. That problems can be solved. So why should somebody who entertains such a thought be considered racist?

 

[MarcoToussaint]

My dad’s black my mother’s White I’d they’re both Catholics but have strayed but I’d take my chances with a racist Catholic over an atheist any day… Lol

 

[StudentMI]

You shouldn’t have to settle. There are plenty of nice atheists if it came down to that. Don’t settle for second best.

 

[MarcoToussaint]

OK thanks alot

 

[blackforest]

Also conflating the answers is political affiliation. There’s a Pew survey, (I can dig it up on request - bleh, effort! ), indicating that conservatives are more likely to attend church regularly. The first two statements in the survey largely reflect the politically conservative belief in the existence of a meritocracy. So if these conservatives are also attending church, it could conflate survey results.

I, for one, meet Catholics all over the map politically, and not just on CAF.