I'm curious to know what percentage of Americans think that being Muslim is "bad" or "wrong." That's a little more important to me than how little they know about the president.

I'd assume the number is somewhat close to 100% - (atheists + agnostics). One of the basic tenants of pretty much every religion is that the other religions are a bunch of BS. I realize that not everyone who is religious is going to feel that way about someone of another faith, but then you can add in some other people who generally don't care about religion at all but think Islam is the worst of modern religions.

Edit: Also, how the hell does 20% of the population not know about the planets revolving around the sun?

And a much larger group than that think Fox News, MSNBC and CNN are places to get impartial news coverage.

Actually, the sun does revolve around the earth. I saw the sun go down over the flat horizon just the other night.

And I've seen pictures of people from the 1800s, and they weren't monkey, so Darwin was pretty much wrong.

And of course the concept of religious freedom should never apply to fringe of radical elements, like Muslims, protestants, or wiccans.

And speaking of wiccans -- yeah a wiccan turned me into a newt.

Well, my opinion of those networks is just that as well. I'm simply going off of my own experience having viewed them all. CNN and MSNBC are better than Fox by miles but the news is still presented in a very over-the-top, graphicised, bombastic fashion that is conducive to reality television and not proper news coverage and what they choose to cover in quantity s based mostly on what that model can be best applied to.

Dammit, Cheeze! Where were you back when I was in school! If only you could have dissuaded me from taking those damn classes!

Yes, because only agnostics and atheists are capable of logical thought. If only tolerance were a basic tenet of most of these "mainstream" religions.

Extremists and the ignorant exist in any large group, and I've met more atheists that are intolerant and likely to think being a Muslim is "bad" than Christians (because, you know, quite a few of them hate religion, period.) So your equation is a bit flawed.

The Fox poll about the "9/11 Mosque" could probably be used to make some inferences on how many Americans think Islam is "bad".

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/081310_MosquePoll.pdf

Even in that poll, where 64% felt building a mosque at ground zero was "inappropriate", 61% still thought they have the right to build one, including 57% of Republicans.

Maybe that's a bit lower than I'd like those numbers to be, but it's also reassuring in that if you try and pigeon hole one group as ignorant purely on their affiliations, you've got a pretty good chance of being wrong.

As I noted in my own objection, I don't think he's saying that atheists/agnostics = good understanding people and religious people = torch-bearing monsters. I think he's saying that belief in one religion obligates disbelief in all others, whereas a lack of investment in any religion leads to a lack of investment in this sort of religious conflict.

I'll agree with your point though that there are atheists who think that all religious are immoral and wrong, including Islam. However, I find it surprising that you have actually met some. In my experience, they are not as common as people seem to think.

Now in context, I find this statement a little bit ironic. The FOX News poll does not say that 64% of Americans think it's inappropriate. It says that 64% of people who would respond to a telephone poll by FOX News think it's inappropriate.

You are also making a very big assumption there; that the reason people think it's inappropriate is that they think Islam is inappropriate. That poll says nothing about how those people think about Mosques in other places. I am sure at least some respondents think the best solution would be to move the Mosque further away (but still build it), out of respect for the families of those who died on 9/11. Now I personally take issue with that argument but I can see how one might feel that way based on sensitivity to the attitudes in the community rather than any particular hatred or distrust of Muslims.

In fact, if you look at that poll you'll find that when you change the question from "is it appropriate" to "do they have a right," you'll find that the numbers more or less switch. 76% of Republicans think it's inappropriate, but 57% of Republicans think they still have the right.

Atheism != a "lack of investment in any religion" because atheism is, in itself, a form of religion where religion = a set of beliefs governing the origins of the universe.

Atheism, or rather some atheists (for it isn't the doctrine that is distorted, but the practitioners that distort the doctrine) most assuredly believe that their system is the right system, and thereby are obliged to believe that all other belief systems are wrong. As the old saying goes, "when they came for the Jews, I didn't stand up because I wasn't a Jew".

I think some atheists like to think they're taking the moral high-ground by standing to the side, pointing out the fallacy and inaccuracy of religious belief systems - "Haha, those stupid Christians and Muslims, believing in their false Gods, what a bunch of wackos. If only they'd believe in science!" - when in fact the issue is one of civil rights, ethics, and moral obligation to defend the liberties of our countrymen.

Meanwhile, if the conservatives and fundamentalists are victorious in their efforts to dictate where and when a Community Center (it is not a Mosque) can be built by a religious organization, the atheists had better watch their asses just like the rest of us. A non-believer is just as dangerous - if not moreso - than a 'wrong-believer'...

This is a bait and switch -- atheism is not what you are defining here. A true atheist doesn't have a set of beliefs, a true atheist has a set of understandings and is willing to change them given additional evidence. To compare atheism to a religious structure is fundamentally dishonest and typically used to undermine science.

Paraphrasing someone on these boards, the second hard evidence of the existence of Allah is presented, an atheist would by default self identify as a Muslim.

If I missed your point, I apologize, but it's disingenuous to compare atheism and religion in that manner. It looks like we fundamentally agree (I bolded the part where I realized we're saying the same thing)

That's an agnostic you're describing. Athesists believe there is no god, and are a Religion. Agnostics are undecided and awaiting further evidence. But, agnostics are usually only called such if they're actively looking for evidence and doing some studying/deep critical thinking on the matter. Otherwise, if you're sitting on your butt and just waiting for someone to be proven right, you're neither, just lazy.

Do we really need another thread to define atheism and agnosticism? I don't think it's any more productive to paint atheists as arrogant assholes or Christians as bigoted morons than it is to paint Muslims as suicide bombers.

Bill threw in one brief comment to qualify a claim of 100%. It was inaccurate and not essential to the topic in the slightest. Let's move on.

Yeah, so let's link to that and move on.

I'm awful with geography, and I always have been. It's just not information I've ever found useful, and when it comes up I find a map to place information in context.

Somalia is one I've always had trouble with, as well.

I probably still can't name all 50 states and their capitals from memory. It may sound silly, but if given a list I can pick out which are correct, and that's all I've ever needed.

See also: Supreme Court Justices.

What happened to FSeven?

Also, the true Pruit has but one 't', can change at will between warm- and cold-bloodedness, and has a Star-Trek-evil goatee.