At least in the U.S., I would say that Gay’s have it worse. I haven’t heard of too many atheists being bullied, beaten up or killed but it’s happened to too many gay people.
For instance, is there an atheist equivalent for Matthew Shepard?
This is actually what I was hoping this thread would be about. 
“Two men enter, o…oh, my!”
Which is why they devote just as much of their time, energy and attention to being gay as to every other sin. :rolleyes:
I voted atheist, influenced by the American polls you see from time to time about who folks would be willing to vote for for President. A gay man who loves JAYSUS GAWD ALMIGHTY and has been WARSHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, AMEN! will beat the most red-blooded poonhound of an atheist every time. I admit that this may’ve been a bit provincial, but it’s hard to say–I feel like folks in the more rabidly homophobic societies (other than Russia) aren’t exposed to visible atheists in the way that they are to homosexuals, even if the exposure to the latter is only through the decadent Western media.
Considering that as an atheist, there are seven or eight states where I cannot hold public office, and the fact that this paper shows an alarming fear and mistrust of atheists, I’m going to go with the majority would object more to a vocal atheist.
It’s hard out there for a (former) chimp.
In purely personal experience, I’m relatively comfortable telling people I’m gay but I tell relatively few that I’m an atheist. (I’ll admit to not being religious but I usually leave it there.)
I’m having trouble figuring out what “object to” means, but I think that discomfort and disapproval of gay people is still much more widespread, in the US and elsewhere, than many of us are inclined to think. I am sorry to say that I am acquainted with quite a few people who are uncomfortable with gays and dismissive of their rights and concerns. I’ve met these people in all walks of life and socioeconomic classes and while the zeitgeist has shifted quite a lot I think discriminatory thinking against gay people is still very common.
On the other hand, although I am active in my current church and was also quite active in the RC church for many years, I do not think I ever met a single person who expressed any negative feelings about atheists. It’s true that the RC church (and certainly the Episcopal church I have moved to) has both a high tolerance for doubt and a tendency to elevate works over faith, so that I really can’t opine about other Christian denominations.
Still, given that I have spent so much of my time among actively religious folks it’s interesting to me that I have encountered no animosity, versus the polls (and the expressed convictions of many atheists) suggesting the opposite.
Its the reverse from my experience. Nobody has ever had a problem telling me they are atheist, but I know precisely one homosexual on a personal level.
I honestly have no idea how to answer this question. There’s just so much overlap.
I don’t think “vocal atheist” and “openly gay” are equivalent. If the atheist is “vocal” about being an atheist then that suggests at the very least that he brings it up a lot, and perhaps that he’s actively attempting to persuade others to become atheists. But being an openly gay man doesn’t mean beginning every sentence with “As a gay man…” and certainly doesn’t mean trying to persuade straight guys to change teams, it just means the guy doesn’t lie about or try to avoid mentioning his sexual orientation when this is relevant.
Are we supposed to think of both men as simply being open about being atheist/gay, or are we supposed to think of them both as bringing it up excessively or even trying to “convert” others?
This was my thinking, too. China, the most populous country in the world, is officially atheist, and what I know of Hinduism tells me that most Indians would be fairly relaxed with atheists. Right there that gives you 40% or so of the world’s population. Add in Russia, Cuba, North Korea, and other Communist or formerly Communist nations and you’ve got quite a lot of people in the world who are quite comfortable with atheists.
In most of the rest of the world, people who are fine with one are probably fine with the other, and people who aren’t fine with one are probably not fine with the other. So counting the huge atheist-friendly swathes of the globe, I’m going to say that worldwide homosexuality is probably much more looked down upon.
You’re correct in the first case; simply open and vocal in the way that it isn’t a secret for any acquaintances of the individual. Our gay man isn’t closeted, perhaps he’s even in a relationship with another man. Our atheist is…well, just take a look at GD. Not ‘evangelical’ but not afraid to state his opinion on religion whenever the subject comes up.
According to the Wikipedia article, which actually does take the position that atheists are discriminated against in the United States, it is not true that there are states where you cannot hold public office as an atheist (if that is what you mean). See this:
That’s essentially what I was thinking. There are entire countries full of atheists in the world. I am pretty sure that there isn’t any country that is full of homosexuals. Even in San Francisco, only about 15% of the population is LGBT apparently.
Being a member of both categories . . . and assuming the poll reflects today’s attitudes, as opposed to a few decades ago . . . more people would object to the vocal atheist. In fact, I did come out as an atheist to a group of gay people, and their reaction seemed to be that I had committed a *faux pas *by bringing it up.
But most of people are voting from an American perspective and many are assuming (from what they say in their own posts) that what goes on in the US is what goes on everywhere.
This poll might have needed a further split by “nationality and amount of international travel”, but that would be a bitch to prepare.
OOT: I voted the third, but my opinion is actually something else. That the amount of people who would object in any appreciable amount to one and to the other would be similar. This is even more so if the question isn’t asked “raw” (for example, use “homosexual” rather than “gay” to avoid the “do we include lesbians or not?” confussion).
What really matters, though, is whether your poll is composed of one question (“do you hate gays more, or atheists?”) or two (“do gays give you the willies?”, “are atheists scary and nasty?”). I suspect the structure of the poll would make a significant difference to its results.
I’ve told otherwise normal people, in the most non-threatening way I know how, that I’m an Atheist, and they STILL get pissy with me. So I chose Atheist.
Yeah, I should have worded that better. I should have said that there are still seven or eight states that still have laws on the books that require a religious test. That those laws are invalid is comforting, but the simple fact that they are there speaks volumes about the population as a whole and their opinions of atheists.
I’m not sure what your facts have to do with the attitudes I’ve personally experienced. What I have seen – repeatedly – is that people who would object to either gays or atheists think that most gays are atheists. They don’t recognize the split hair that you mention, nor do they draw the “religion vs god” distinction that I brought up earlier. The OP asked for opinions, and mine is that most ignorant/narrow-minded people assume that gay = atheist. Whether they have a good reason to is beside the point.
In the US it would easily be atheists. 10 years ago this might have been different, but homophobia is pretty taboo right now whereas there is no popular movement for tolerance of atheists.
Worldwide I’m not sure, but a billion Chinese people and most of Europe won’t have any trouble with atheists.