According to a telephone survey conducted by university researchers of sociology, Atheists are the least trusted group in the United States. The survey, which included in-depth interviews with over 140 people in over 2,000 households, found that Americans place less trust in Atheists than in Muslims, homosexuals, immigrants, and of course, Christians, among others. Atheists are also the minority group that Americans feel least comfortable allowing their child to marry.
Why it is that Atheists find themselves loathed by American society is debatable. The purpose of religion is to give people morals to live by, so it can be assumed that most Americans think, "No religion, no morals." This statement could not be further from the truth. In the history of the world, it is religion, not lack of religion, that has caused various battles and slaughters. The Crusades, the Salem Witch Trials, 9/11, and the Jonestown Massacre are all examples of incidents where religion revealed its dark side.
The study's lead researcher, Penny Edgell, argues that Atheists play the role that Catholics, Jews and Communists have played in the past. This role, of course, is that of a scapegoat. Today, Atheists offer American society a new idea to discriminate and rally against. American society blames Atheists, as well as other groups, for the decay of traditional "family values".
Unfortunately for Atheists and other groups who use science as a way to explain life, the United States has a long way to go. The U.S. is a country that still doesn't recognize the union of homosexuals as "marriage" and despite all of the research providing evidence for the positive aspects of different drugs, still carries on with the failed Nancy Reagan campaign, "Just Say No". It has become clear that American society has not yet reached the Age of Reason, and it is taking an agonizingly long time to get there.