A recent USA Today/Gallup poll indicates that Americans are more comfortable electing a Catholic, Black, Jew, Woman, Hispanic, Mormon, Thrice-married, 72-year old and homosexual than they are with electing an atheist. [http://www.pollingreport.com/politics.htm]

In her article "Confessions of a Lonely Atheist," reprinted from The New York Times Magazine, January 14, 2001 at http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/angier.htm,
Natalie Angier reports that "According to the International Social Survey Program, a comparative study of beliefs and practices in 31 nations, while a mere 3.2 percent of Americans will agree flatly that they "don't believe in God," 17.2 percent of the Dutch concur with that statement, as do 19.1 of those in France, 16.8 percent of Swedes, 20.3 percent of people in the Czech Republic, 19.7 percent of Russians, 10.6 percent of Japanese and 9.2 percent of Canadians."

This makes me wonder if our tendency towards the ends of the spectrum doesn't correlate with our religious steeping. A person can be many things, but if they don't believe in God they cease to be trustworthy and moral, despite all evidence to the contrary.

A recent article in the April 2006 American Sociological Review reporting on data collected in the American Mosaic Project, states "that out of a long list of ethnic and cultural minorities, Americans are less willing to accept intermarriage with atheists than with any other group, and less likely to imagine that atheists share their vision of American society" (pg 216).

In short, it seems we're willing to elect (and re-elect) a self-righteous war-monger than to let our child marry an atheist. Fascinating.