Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Panic over the Unknown:

America hates Atheists


By Douglas L. Keene and Rita R. Handrich

Douglas L. Keene, Ph.D. [[e-mail]] is a psychologist, founder of Keene Trial Consulting, Past-President of the American Society of Trial Consultants, and adjunct faculty at the University of Texas School of Law, teaching Advanced Civil Trial Advocacy. He assists law firms with trial strategy (including focus groups and mock trials) on major civil litigation and white collar criminal defense, voir dire strategy, jury selection, witness preparation, and related services. His national practice is based in Austin, Texas [http://www.keenetrial.com].

Rita R. Handrich, Ph.D. ([e-mail]) joined Keene Trial Consulting in 2000. She is a licensed psychologist with extensive experience as a testifying expert witness. In addition to providing trial consulting services through KTC, she is Editor of The Jury Expert. Rita is a frequent contributor to "The Jury Room" --the Keene Trial Consulting blog.

"If 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' was remade today, the 'shocking' guest would no longer be a highly accomplished, educated and sophisticated black man (Sidney Poitier) but a highly accomplished, educated and sophisticated atheist."1

"The prisons are probably filled with people who don't have any kind of a spiritual or religious core. So I don't have to worry about...a conservative Christian, you know, committing a crime against me."2

Contempt for out-groups--those members of society that are identified as "not like me"--is as old as time. But for all the awareness of bias, hate crimes, and prejudice against minorities, some get overlooked. Atheists are the most mistrusted, reviled, and disliked minority in the United States, according to numerous studies. Jews, African Americans, homosexuals, illegal immigrants, and even the much-mistrusted Muslim communities are all held in higher regard by the average American than are Atheists. The threat of spiritual alienation is more compelling than anything other than immediate injury.

It may be surprising that we Americans are more suspicious of atheists than we are of Muslims, but there you have it! Bias works in mysterious ways. Gad Saad's blog post last year1 (Atheists Are the Most Mistrusted Group: They Are Evil and Immoral!) cast a bright light on a 2006 study published2 (but previously largely unnoticed) by researchers from the University of Minnesota.

In this article, we examine today's surprisingly intense negative attitudes toward atheists, review what research tells us about "them" (atheists), and make recommendations for how you can use this information to improve your own litigation advocacy. Should you pay attention to potential triers-of-fact who espouse atheism? Let's put it this way: Can you ever afford to ignore intense personal values held almost universally by your jury?

Much more @ http://www.astcweb.org/public/publication/article.cfm/1/22/2/America-Hates-Atheists