This is a part of an article I recently saw on wikipedia....
In the United States, there is widespread disapproval of atheists. As a result, there has only been one openly Atheist member of Congress in history; Pete Stark. According to motherjones.com, 52% of Americans claim they would not vote for a well-qualified atheist for president. More recently a 2007 Gallup poll produced nearly identical results. A 2006 study at the University of Minnesota showed atheists to be the most distrusted minority among Americans. In the study, Sociologists Penny Edgell, Joseph Gerties and Douglas Hartmann conducted a survey of American public opinion on attitudes towards different groups. 40% of respondents characterized atheists as a group that "does not at all agree with my vision of American society," putting Atheists well ahead of every other group, with the next highest being Muslims (26%) and homosexuals (23%). When participants were asked whether they agreed with the statement, "I would disapprove if my child wanted to marry a member of this group," Atheists again led minorities, with 48% disapproval, followed by Muslims (34%) and African-Americans (27%).
The full article can be seen here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_against_atheists
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