Why are the media so unfair in portraying atheists?

[The_Joker_and_the_Thief]

@Valteron

WTF are you saying? That discrimination against “chosen” characteristics (like religious opinion) is somehow justified, because if I don’t like discrimination against atheists, I have only to start believing in God?

“If Christians don’t like being chomped by lions in the coliseum, they can just stop being Christians, I reckon!”

Merely that discrimination against things that are chosen in innately of a lesser degree than discrimination against things that can’t be modified, because the option exists to change.

But I don’t accept your premise that atheists are portrayed unfairly, and you haven’t shown that this depiction is tangibly harmful, so even arguing this point is assuming you’ve proven several things you haven’t.

[bump]

@Jophiel

Isn’t most of the staff in Bones atheist (or at least strongly agnostic)? I’m no expert in the show but I remember an episode with a Muslim character saying that he doesn’t talk about his faith because everyone else always finds it bizarre that he could be both religious and a scientist. Something that wouldn’t be a question if the rest of the people were religiously inclined.

I’ll be the first admit if I’m wrong though. Maybe there’s episodes defining everyone else’s religious beliefs.

Well, Booth is notoriously Catholic in the show, so there’s that.

I tend to think the OP is looking for confirmation of how he thinks the media treats atheists by cherry-picking examples of unsympathetic characters. Characters whose atheism is more a consequence of whatever makes them weird and unsympathetic (usu. intelligence), for example, Sheldon Cooper, Temperance Brennan and Greg House.

However, as a counter example, I’m pretty sure Hodgins is an atheist on “Bones” as well, but he’s not portrayed as awkward, or unsympathetic or lacking in empathy at all; if anything he’s the voice of empathy for the “squints”.

Wasn’t Meathead on “All in the Family” an atheist as well? Again, sort of a foil to Archie Bunker’s bigotry and cantankerousness, so not necessarily a negative portrayal.

There are others (isn’t it implied that ALL the Star Trek characters are atheists?).

[Teach-me-not]

As has been pointed out earlier, selling your soul to someone doesn’t quite describe an atheist. It is, in fact, a caricature of atheists by religious people (especially the preacher types).

Since Simpsons is already mentioned, how about Futurama? I don’t particularly trust my memory on this, but IIRC, the characters were mostly atheists and religious topics were typically avoided.

Seinfeld in Seinfeld was a Jewish atheist. He was widely considered funny, likable, and the voice of reason. He was also an asshole in some ways though.

Also, House MD comes to mind. House was an atheist, as was Cameron, Forman, Thirteen, and (probably) Wilson. Chase gave up his seminary training after losing his faith; he was a borderline case. A lot of likable characters, who were assholes at times – just like all of us :).

[Valteron]

@The_Joker_and_the_Thief

Merely that discrimination against things that are chosen in innately of a lesser degree than discrimination against things that can’t be modified, because the option exists to change.

I can’t believe that someone presumably in a western democracy in the 21st century is telling me that discrimination against a person for their religious opinion is less important than other forms of discrimination because people can avoid discrimination by “changing”.

[Robert163]

@Czarcasm

Not only is what you’ve pointed out true, but atheism itself is very rarely allowed on shows that have a regular atheist character. By this I mean that, to throw a bone to all the religionists out in the audience, some obviously miraculous event will be written into one of the scripts that will cause the character to frown, say “Hmmm, I wonder if…nah, it couldn’t be!”, ignore the obvious, and wander off shaking his/her head. This allows the audience to think, “I guess that know-it-all doesn’t know everything, does she/he?”

/\This

[Sir_T-Cups]

@Teach-me-not

As has been pointed out earlier, selling your soul to someone doesn’t quite describe an atheist. It is, in fact, a caricature of atheists by religious people (especially the preacher types).

Since Simpsons is already mentioned, how about Futurama? I don’t particularly trust my memory on this, but IIRC, the characters were mostly atheists and religious topics were typically avoided.

Seinfeld in Seinfeld was a Jewish atheist. He was widely considered funny, likable, and the voice of reason. He was also an asshole in some ways though.

Also, House MD comes to mind. House was an atheist, as was Cameron, Forman, Thirteen, and (probably) Wilson. Chase gave up his seminary training after losing his faith; he was a borderline case. A lot of likable characters, who were assholes at times – just like all of us :).

Well Futurama DID have the Space Pope…

[Labdad]

Alicia Florrick, the title character in “The Good Wife,” is consistently portrayed as an atheist.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@Teach-me-not

Since Simpsons is already mentioned, how about Futurama? I don’t particularly trust my memory on this, but IIRC, the characters were mostly atheists and religious topics were typically avoided.

Avoided?! Futurama went out of its way to mock religion. A passing reference to the Second Coming of Jesus is mentioned in a blasé tone and only because for some reason it was related to the destruction of most of the world’s videotapes.

[Robert163]

@valteron

but** of course **science does not know everything! Did you honestly think there would come a day when a bunch of men with albert einstein hair and white coats would hold a news conference to announce that science now knows everything?

:d:d:d:d:d

that was supposed to be 5 big smiley faces…

[The_Joker_and_the_Thief]

@Valteron

I can’t believe that someone presumably in a western democracy in the 21st century is telling me that discrimination against a person for their religious opinion is less important than other forms of discrimination because people can avoid discrimination by “changing”.

You may not believe it, but not everyone shares your values, and therefore they may approach situations differently.

[Dallas_Jones]

With atheists there are many flavors to choose from, just as with those people who believe in some kind of faith.

The people of faith that you hear about in the media are the nut jobs, the evangelicals, who make a lot of noise and see everything as an affront to their beliefs. They make the news and cast atheists in an unfavorable light, with hate and vitriol. Most religious people are not like that, you work with them, live next door to them and like them, probably. They are normal people.

Atheists have the same issue. You have normal people who simply have discarded the idea of a God of any kind but go through life without taking that up as a major cause. They are normal people, you live next door to them and probably like them.

Then you have the evangelical atheists who pull their kids out of school because there is a Christmas play going on, sue the school board, protest because there is a holiday display on public property, that kind of thing. This sort of behavior makes atheists look like the same sort of intolerant nut jobs. There is a prime example of this going on right now in Great Debates with a follow up in The Pit by a poster who will not be named here. Hate and vitriol make news, normal people do not.

So when you see an atheist portrayed on TV it is often the angry evangelical anti-religious character that you typically see, not the majority or the reality.

And the Freedom From Religion site in the link of the OP just adds fuel to that fire. That is just a rabid media site for religious hatred and intolerance.

[Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew]

@bump

Wasn’t Meathead on “All in the Family” an atheist as well? Again, sort of a foil to Archie Bunker’s bigotry and cantankerousness, so not necessarily a negative portrayal.

I remembered him as an agnostic, but Wiki says he did sometimes “identify himself as an atheist in order to rile up Archie.” Either way, one of my favorite moments on that show was Archie’s reaction when Mike blew a raspberry to God.

[Valteron]

@Dallas_Jones

And the Freedom From Religion site in the link of the OP just adds fuel to that fire. That is just a rabid media site for religious hatred and intolerance.

If you are referring to the Center for Inquiry site linked in my OP, would you please point out where it is being a “rabid media site for religious hatred and intolerance.”

I mean this quite sincerely, Dallas Jones. I support the CFI financially and I would be VERY upset to think my money is being used to promote hatred and intolerance. I have never found any evidence of this, but if you can I would be grateful.

[Valteron]

@Robert163

/\This

Robert 163, I think you were trying to show us a link that did not work somehow. . . .

[Robert163]

@Valteron

The CFI (Center for Inquiry) is running a contest to do something about the distorted, unrealistic way atheists are depicted on TV (See Win Loads of Cash for Creating a Likable TV Atheist in the NO GOD BUT FUNNY Contest! | Center for Inquiry

More to the point, what should we do about the way atheists are portrayed in the media ?

Atheists are sometimes shown as evil or lacking morals, but in many cases the negative portrayal is much more subtle.

Even when the atheist is a lead character and generally depicted as admirable, they are nonetheless shown as being mechanical, robot-like and somehow lacking at the emotional and creative level. Just as Data on Star Trek, as an android, was incapable of understanding feelings, and of humour, the implication is that atheists are somehow lacking a soul and therefore incapable of “spiritual” functions.

A classic example is the character Temperance Brennan in the series “Bones”. She has all the classic traits of the “deficient, soul-less” stereotype. While Bones is depicted as very intelligent, she nonetheless has a lot of trouble understanding humour.

At other times, in spite of her high IQ, she is incapable of feeling empathy. For example, when she meets a “little person” she unknowingly makes him and others around him uncomfortable by asking point-blank what sort of dwarfism he suffers from. The implication in the scene is NOT that she is evil or cruel. It is that “godless” people must be lacking in the ability to think of others’ feelings.

Interestingly, there is a Simpsons episode in which Bart sells his soul (to Millhouse, I believe) and the result is much the same. While the episode does not say that Bart has become an atheist, the implication is fairly similar.

Just for starters, what other examples can the Straight Dopers think of in which atheists are unfairly portrayed? And what should we do about it?

A few points:

1- Bones has Aspergers. That is why she is robotic and stiff minded.

2- There are some “middle ground” Atheists on TV shows that are depicted as being non-jerk, non-judgmental, etc, but I can’t think of any TV show or movie (outside of science fiction) where an ATHEIST character was played as anything but an obnoxious condescending jerk.

3- This doesn’t really bother me because most ATHEISTS in real life are cynical and nihilistic and often border line jerks (at least when dealing with people about religious topics).

4- I am an ATHEIST.

5- I have met some Atheists who were generally relaxed and mellow people. Atheists who didn’t believe in god but didn’t really make a big deal about it one way or another. I have met a lot of ATHEISTS, people for whom the topic of religion and god is a big deal and their ATHEISM is a sort of personal identity. Most, but not all, of these ATHEISTS I have met tended to be cynical and nihilistic and a lot of them can be jerks about religion when dealing with other people on religious topics.

6- So on TV, like in life, the ATHEISTS are the most vocal and therefor draw them most attention.

7- I too am annoyed at the “science doesn’t know everything” depictions as well as the depiction of an ATHEIST scratching their head in wonder at the end of the show because they can’t explain…

[Robert163]

@Valteron

Robert 163, I think you were trying to show us a link that did not work somehow. . . .

Post number 9 From Czarcasm

Not only is what you’ve pointed out true, but atheism itself is very rarely allowed on shows that have a regular atheist character. By this I mean that, to throw a bone to all the religionists out in the audience, some obviously miraculous event will be written into one of the scripts that will cause the character to frown, say “Hmmm, I wonder if…nah, it couldn’t be!”, ignore the obvious, and wander off shaking his/her head. This allows the audience to think, “I guess that know-it-all doesn’t know everything, does she/he?”

[Bryan_Ekers]

@Robert163

Bones has Aspergers. That is why she is robotic and stiff minded.

That’s the Hollywood strain of the illness.

[Dallas_Jones]

@Valteron

If you are referring to the Center for Inquiry site linked in my OP, would you please point out where it is being a “rabid media site for religious hatred and intolerance.”

I mean this quite sincerely, Dallas Jones. I support the CFI financially and I would be VERY upset to think my money is being used to promote hatred and intolerance. I have never found any evidence of this, but if you can I would be grateful.

I was probably too hasty and I will withdraw my criticism. This is the part, from the About Us section that I was referring to. A anti-religion focus is an intolerant focus. In my opinion a tolerant society is inclusive. This mission seems to me to be an attack upon the various religions.

Fostering a secular society requires attention to many specific goals, but three goals in particular represent the focus of our activities:
1.an end to the influence that religion and pseudoscience have on public policy
2.an end to the privileged position that religion and pseudoscience continue to enjoy in many societies
3.an end to the stigma attached to being a nonbeliever, whether the nonbeliever describes her/himself as an atheist, agnostic, humanist, freethinker or skeptic.

[Robert163]

@Bryan_Ekers

That’s the Hollywood strain of the illness.

Yes, thank you for the correction, I don’t think I stated that very well

[Czarcasm]

@Dallas_Jones

I was probably too hasty and I will withdraw my criticism. This is the part, from the About Us section that I was referring to. A anti-religion focus is an intolerant focus. In my opinion a tolerant society is inclusive. This mission seems to me to be an attack upon the various religions.

Then how would you label most religious websites as to their tolerance of atheism? Would you call them “rabid media sites for atheist hatred and intolerance”?