Most New Yorkers are biased against atheists and born-agains in politics, poll finds

[rug]

The great majority of New York City voters say they are not prejudiced, but more New Yorkers are less likely to vote for an atheist or born-again Christian than a Muslim or a Mormon, according to the Quinnipiac University poll.

ByTina Moore / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 6:00 AM
Updated: Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 6:00 AM

Most New Yorkers are biased against atheists and born-agains in politics, a poll released Wednesday found.

- snip -

Some 30% of voters reported they would be less likely to vote for an atheist and 27% said they would be less likely to vote for a born-again Christian, the poll found. In each case, 61% of voters say the religious positions would not affect their vote.

A total of 24% said they were less likely to vote for a Mormon, while 70% answered that it wouldn't matter. On the question of a Muslim, 19% said they were less likely to vote for a Muslim while 76% said it wouldn't matter.

- snip -

"In our measure of prejudice, only the two ends of the religious spectrum - atheists and born-again Christians - draw significant negatives," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-yorkers-biased-atheists-born-agains-politics-poll-finds-article-1.1136540

[customerserviceguy]

1. A lot of cafeteria Catholics here, that's for sure

It's not just allegience to a belief system with many of them, but a part of their cultural identity. Same goes for a lot of Jewish folks here, too.

[rug]

2. There's also a low tolerance for bullshit.

[Goblinmonger]

3. So an atheist would, according to you, be de facto bullshit?

And it's a simple yes or no answer, rug. No deflection by "snappy" retort.

[rug]

11. Some do peddle bullshit, some don't.

And New Yorkers are particularly adept at detecting it.

[eqfan592]

21. So your argument is that atheists "peddle bullshit" more than the rest of the population...

...thus warranting New Yorkers (with their Spidey-Sense-like ability to detect bullshit) to be less likely to vote for them. Thank you rug for making your position clear to us all now.

[rug]

23. There are strange words in my mouth. Did you put them there?

Did you not read "some"? Granted, it shares three letters with "more" but they are truly different.

[eqfan592]

26. I'll note that you don't actually deny thinking that. :) (nt)

[rug]

27. Note what I am thinking now.

[eqfan592]

28. I did, but I don't see how it's relevant...

*from the deep, inner portions of rugs mind*

[rug]

30. Ten hours, eh?

This is only 31 seconds.

&feature=relmfu

[eqfan592]

31. Ahhh, veiled threats of violence. Nicely done. :)

Well that's my 4 reply limit to a sub thread involving you, rug. See ya.

[rug]

32. Yes, I'm sure you're quaking.

[edhopper]

5. I guess Catholic and Jewish politicians

don't engage in bullshit.

[rug]

12. Which ones?

I guess you don't grasp NYC politics.

[edhopper]

17. I live here

you bet your ass I do.
The name Rudy Giuliani comes to mind when I think of a giant Catholic bullshitting asshole.

[rug]

19. I went on strike against him in 94.

Catholic is the least of his bullshit.

Now, were you born there?

[edhopper]

20. Queens

But perhaps I misread your post. Your response seemed to imply that the reason New Yorkers turn against Atheist and Born Agains is because they, in particular, have a tendency to bullshit. As opposed to the Catholics and Jews that regularly get elected. Thus my reply.
Perhaps you meant that besides the info in this article, New Yorkers ALSO have a small tolerance for bullshit. Not linking the groups in the article to excessive bullshit.
Perhaps you could clear that up?

[rug]

22. Three of my children were born there, one at Booth in Flushing and two at LIJ in Little Neck.

I was born in Manhattan and lived there until they tore the buildings down for a 40 story high rise.

[edhopper]

24. please read my updated previous post.

[rug]

25. No, I mean NYers have little tolerance for bullshit, period.

It is easy to see the bullshit in fundamentalists, who are at one extreme.

For better or worse, to the extent that atheism is thought of at all, most of the publicity about in it NY revolved around the Holland Tunnel billboards, the WTC cross, the "Seven In Heaven" street name change, and the like. My gut tells me the common reaction is "Who cares?" And if that is in fact the basis for answering, the results do not surprise me, nor do I think it exhibits any particular bias against atheists.

It's too bad because NYC has a long history of free thinking extending further back beyond the Society for Ethical Culture on CPW, through the present.

I may be wrong but that's how these results strike me.

[edhopper]

29. I see

I really think it is the Ultra religious. The Ultra Orthodox Jews and Catholics. The very religious in the Black community and so forth that answered that way.
I think we would need to see a demographic breakdown to really understand this survey.

[edhopper]

4. New York is so much more diverse than most think

The 30% anti-atheists are probably very religious, the anti-born agains are probably very liberal nonreligious, who associate born agains with fundementalists.
There are people even here in NYC who won't vote for Obama because he is black.

[rug]

14. There's some speculation in your statement.

[edhopper]

18. It's opinion based

on living an working here for over 25 years.

[cbayer]

6. The findings don't support the headline at all.

30% and 24% are not "most" and these numbers are better than those generated by national surveys.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. It reads "More", not "Most", now

though, according to the article, it hasn't been updated since 6am EDT when it was published.

[cbayer]

8. Sloppy error or intentional flame bait?

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. The media has been known to not update the 'updated' time, when making an update

we'd need rug to say if he could have made a mistake, or if it read that at first.

[cbayer]

10. I'm going to lean towards rug having done a pure cut and past here.

I wasn't accusing him of intentionally altering the headline, but wondered if the daily news staff had done it, which would not surprise me at all.

[rug]

15. Nope, the original headline was "most".

I suspect a copy editor did the same math you did.

[rug]

13. The headline was changed by the Daily News.

I still don't buy the headline myself. There are other reasons not to vote other than bias. They may find judgment to be lacking, for one thing.

[cbayer]

16. That's what I thought. They probably got some blowback right away for the misleading headline.

I would guess that people find extremes the most objectionable and see fundamentalism and atheism as the extremes.

My experience of NYC is that they paid that much attention to religion when it came to voting, unless it was an opportunity to vote for someone they more closely identified with.