Really? I wasn't surprised by the order of the results. I mean, the first 5 items in the list are pretty easy for your average Judeo-Christian American to swallow, and then the farther down the list you go the more that said average Judeo-Christian is going to react with distaste or uncertainty.
The only exception there would be the 72-year old, but that is arguably the one descriptive phrase in the whole list that might actually have bearing on a candidate's qualifications (susceptibility to illness/death).
In any case, I've been led to believe (though I don't have the links to back it up) that somewhere in the ballpark of 4 out of 5 Americans consider religion--predominantly Judeo-Christian religion--important in their lives. That half (or fewer) of those people believe that atheism, homosexuality, and marital complications reflect poorly on an individual's ability to lead in a way consistent with their own beliefs is not surprising... unless maybe you'd expect it to be even lower.
Yeah, the overall placement wasn't a surprise. It was more a matter of the specific orderings. I would have figured homosexual would be below athiest. Jewish was also a bit higher than I would have figured, to five sure, but maybe not #3.
Ah, I see what you mean. Even so, my observation has been that there are more people who believe that there can be good/moral homosexuals than good/moral atheists. Atheists don't believe in or answer a higher power, and therefore employ a relativistic morality that is truly dangerous and possibly even evil. Homosexuals, though, can still be good people.
By which I mean that many gays still go to church, but atheists never do.
Could also do with the social acceptability of predjudice. I would guess a lot more polled people are more racist or antisemitic than they admitted here.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-02-21 09:19 pm (UTC)The only exception there would be the 72-year old, but that is arguably the one descriptive phrase in the whole list that might actually have bearing on a candidate's qualifications (susceptibility to illness/death).
In any case, I've been led to believe (though I don't have the links to back it up) that somewhere in the ballpark of 4 out of 5 Americans consider religion--predominantly Judeo-Christian religion--important in their lives. That half (or fewer) of those people believe that atheism, homosexuality, and marital complications reflect poorly on an individual's ability to lead in a way consistent with their own beliefs is not surprising... unless maybe you'd expect it to be even lower.
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Date: 2007-02-21 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-22 12:50 am (UTC)By which I mean that many gays still go to church, but atheists never do.
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Date: 2007-02-21 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-21 10:02 pm (UTC)