Phil Zuckerman is doing research on apostates.
He is seeking apostates to interview.
web site:
http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/ mail:
phil_zuckerman@pitzer.edu http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apostate Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being:
How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions
By PHIL ZUCKERMAN
(Note: This is a rough DRAFT of an essay that is slated to be published in Sociology
Compass in the Fall of 2009).
EXCERPT:
Values, Beliefs, Opinions, and Worldviews
It is often assumed that someone who doesn't believe in God doesn't believe in anything, or that a person who has no religion must have no values. These assumptions are simply untrue. People can reject religion and still maintain strong beliefs. Being godless does not mean being without values. Numerous studies reveal that atheists and secular people most certainly maintain strong values, beliefs, and opinions. But more significantly, when we actually compare the values and beliefs of atheists and secular people to those of religious people, the former are markedly less nationalistic, less prejudiced, less anti-Semitic, less racist, less dogmatic, less ethnocentric, less closeminded, and less authoritarian (Greeley and Hout, 2006; Sider, 2005; Altemeyer, 2003, 2009; Jackson and Hunsberger, 1999; Wulff, 1991; Altemeyer and Hunsberger, 1992, 1997; Beit-Hallahmi, 2007; Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle, 1997; Batson et al., 1993; Argyle, 2000).
Concerning political orientations, atheist and secular people are much more likely to be registered Independent than the general American population, and they are much less likely to be right-wing, conservative, or to support the Republican party than their religious peers (Kosmin, 2008). Keysar (2007:38) reports that 50% of American atheists are Independent, 26% are Democrat, and 10% are Republican and that 43% of American agnostics are Independent, 22% are Democrat, and 15% are Republican. Greeley and Hout (2006) report that only about 21% of people claiming "no religion" voted for Republican candidates in recent elections. In the 2008 presidential election specifically, 76% of atheists and agnostics voted for Obama, and only 23% voted for McCain (Barna Survey 2008). Grupp and Newman (1973) and Nassi (1981) have found that irreligiosity is strongly and consistently correlated and with liberal, progressive, or left-wing political perspectives, and
Gay and Ellison (1993) found that -- when compared to various religious groups -- nonreligious Americans are the most politically tolerant, supporting the extension of civil liberties to dissident groups.
As for gender equality and women's rights, atheists and secular people are quite supportive (Hayes, 1995b). Recent studies show that secular individuals are much more supportive of gender equality than religious people, less likely to endorse conservatively traditional views concerning women's roles, and when compared to various religious denominations, "Nones" possess the most egalitarian outlook of all concerning women's rights (Brinkerhoff and Mackei, 1993, 1985; Petersen and Donnenworth, 1998; Hoffman and Miller, 1997). Additional polls reveal that abortion rights are more likely to be supported by the secular than the religious (Gallup, 2006; ABC News, 2001).
Concerning the acceptance of homosexuality and support for gay rights, atheists and secular people again stand out (Linneman and Clendenen, 2009; Hayes, 1995b). When compared to the religious, nonreligious people are far more accepting of homosexuality and supportive of gay rights and gay marriage (Sherkat, Powell-Williams, and Maddox, 2007; Burdette et al., 2005; Lewis, 2003; Loftus 2001, Roof and McKinney, 1987), and are far less likely to be homophobic or harbor negative attitudes towards homosexuals (Altemeyer, 2009; Rowatt et al., 2006; Schulte and Battle, 2004; Aubyn, Maynard, and Gorsuch, 1999; VanderStoep and Green, 1988; Kunkel and Temple, 1992). According to a 2008 Pew Forum survey, 60% of religiously unaffiliated Americans support gay marriage, compared to roughly 26% of Protestants and 42% of Catholics. According to Newport (2008), 76% of Americans who never or seldom attend church consider homosexuality morally acceptable, compared to 21% of
weekly and 43% of monthly church attenders. Additional studies consistently find that atheists and secular people tend to take a more liberal/progressive stand on a multitude of contemporary social issues (Hoffman and Miller, 1997; Hood et al., 1996; Nelson, 1988). For example, secular Americans were far less supportive of the U.S. invasion of Iraq than religious Americans (Smidt, 2005); only 38% of secular Americans favored invasion compared to 68% of Evangelical Protestants, 57% of Mainline Protestants, and 58% of Catholics, and 47% of Jews. Guth and colleagues (2005) found that only 32% of secular Americans consider the Iraq War justified, compared to 89% of Mormons, 87% of Evangelicals, 73% of Mainline Protestants, and 84% of Catholics. When it comes to the death penalty, atheists and nonreligious people are also markedly less supportive than their religious peers (Beit- Hallahmi, 2007; Gallup Poll, 2004). As for the general treatment of prisoners,
secular people are much less supportive of retribution and are less likely to favor harsh/draconian sentencing than religious people (Grasmick et al., 1992; Blumstein and Cohen, 1980). A recent survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (2009) found that secular, religiously unaffiliated Americans are the group least supportive of the governmental use of torture. Concerning doctor assisted suicide, non-church attenders are much more likely to support it than weekly church attenders (Carroll, 2007; Stark and Bainbridge, 1996), and support for stem cell research is strongest among the secular (Nisbet, 2005); a 2004 Harris Poll found that 84% of "nonreligious" Americans support stem cell research, compared to 55% of "very religious" Americans. Finally, secular people are much more likely to support the legalization of marijuana than religious people (Gallup Poll, 2005b; Hoffman and Miller, 1997).
The above information reveals that atheists and secular people have very clear and pronounced values and beliefs concerning moral, political, and social issues. As Lynn Nelson (1988:134) has concluded, religiously unaffiliated people "have as well-defined a sense of social justice as weekly churchgoers." But I would go farther. I would argue that a strong case could be made that atheists and secular people actually posses a stronger or more ethical sense of social justice than their religious peers. After all, when it comes to such issues as the governmental use of torture or the death penalty, we see that atheists and secular people are far more merciful and humane. When it comes to protecting the environment, women's rights, and gay rights, the non-religious again distinguish themselves as being the most supportive. And as stated earlier, atheists and secular people are also the least likely to harbor ethnocentric, racist, or nationalistic
attitudes. Strange then, that so many people assume that atheists and nonreligious people lack strong values or ethical beliefs – a truly groundless and unsupportable assumption.
