Religious Believers Don’t Trust Atheists, Says New Study

If an atheist ran for president, a recent poll suggests, he or she wouldn’t win many votes. That might be at least partly because of the main reason religious people dislike atheists: They think nonbelievers can’t be trusted, according to a new study.

“Where there are religious majorities — that is, in most of the world — atheists are among the least trusted people,” said the study’s lead author, Will M. Gervais, a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia, in a press release from the University of Oregon, where a co-author is an assistant professor.  The research was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Who would you most trust to fly and check your plane

1)  A devout Muslim who prays to Allah for guidance?

The flight recorder which was recovered from the crash indicated that during the emergency the Tunisian captain had turned over the controls to his co-pilot and uttered a prayer, instead of following standard procedures that might have allowed him to land the plane at an airport instead of in the sea. 16 people died. The 23 survivors were left swimming for their lives, some clinging to a piece of the fuselage that stayed afloat

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2)  A true born-again Christian who does not mind death because he "knows" that he will spend eternity with Jesus.

For a believer in Jesus Christ, death is a transition into a vibrant, joyful eternity. He or she will have never been so much alive. "Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus" (2 Corinthians 5:6, Living Bible).

A serious atheist who "knows" that the only life he has is this one and spends hours checking the plane is as airworthy as possible as he really does not want his life to end sooner than necessary

a)  A devout Muslim who dreams of going to Heaven and cannot wait to partake of the delights he has been told he will receive.

b)  A born again Christian who tells you he really does not mind death because he "knows" that he will spend the rest of eternity in heaven with Jesus.

c)  A serious atheist who "knows" that the only life he has is this one and spends hours checking the plane is as airworthy as possible as he really does not want his life to end sooner than necessary

a)  A devout Muslim who dreams of going to Heaven and cannot wait to partake of the delights he has been told he will receive.

b)  A born again Christian who tells you he really does not mind death because he "knows" that he will spend the rest of eternity in heaven with Jesus.

c)  A serious atheist who "knows" that the only life he has is this one and spends hours checking the plane is as airworthy as possible as he really does not want his life to end sooner than necessary

Religious Believers Don’t Trust Atheists, Says New Study  Email 69 Smaller Font Text Larger Text | Print If an atheist ran for president, a recent poll suggests, he or she wouldn’t win many votes.That might be at least partly because of the main reason religious people dislike atheists: They think nonbelievers can’t be trusted, according to a new study.“Where there are religious majorities — that is, in most of the world — atheists are among the least trusted people,” said the study’s lead author, Will M. Gervais, a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia, in a press release from the University of Oregon, where a co-author is an assistant professor.  The research was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

In six separate studies, the researchers asked 770 people – American adults and Canadian college students – a number of questions.  In one study, when presented with a description of an untrustworthy person, participants said they believed that description represented atheists and rapists to a similar degree and wasn’t as representative of gays, feminists, Christians, Jews or Muslims.

Another co-author, the University of British Columbia’s Ara Norenzayan, said one of the reasons for doing the study was a recent poll that found that only 45 percent of Americans who responded would vote for an atheist presidential candidate.  Those who were polled said atheists least represented their vision of America.

“Outward displays of belief in God may be viewed as a proxy for trustworthiness, particularly by religious believers who think that people behave better if they feel that God is watching them,” Norenzayan said in the news release. “While atheists may see their disbelief as a private matter on a metaphysical issue, believers may consider atheists’ absence of belief as a public threat to cooperation and honesty.”

Atheists also tend to trust religious people more than they trust other atheists.

“Those people who did not identify with a religion still tended to find believers to be more trustworthy,” said the third co-author, Azim Shariff of the University of Oregon.

That’s because people trust “those who fear supernatural punishment,” Shariff added, and because atheists aren’t especially vocal, powerful or connected.

Despite that, the study authors said these feelings toward atheists could be far-reaching.“With more than half a billion atheists worldwide, this prejudice has the potential to affect a substantial number of people,” Gervais said.

Tunisian pilot who prayed as his plane went down jailed in Italy

in Rome Wednesday 25 March 2009 A pilot accused of praying when he should have been taking emergency measures to avoid a crash in which 16 people died has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court.

Captain Chafik Gharby was at the controls of a plane belonging to the Tunisian charter airline Tuninter that crashed in the sea off the coast of Sicily four years ago. The 23 survivors were left swimming for their lives, some clinging to a piece of the fuselage that stayed afloat after the turbo-prop aircraft broke up on impact.

Gharby was at first hailed as a hero for having saved the lives of most of the passengers. But after an investigation, he, his co-pilot, and several Tuninter executives and technicians were charged with a range of offences including manslaughter.

The court in Palermo agreed with prosecutors that the chain of events that led to the crash began when a wrong part was installed in the ill-fated plane, a Franco-Italian ATR 72. A mechanic accidentally fitted an outwardly identical fuel gauge intended for the smaller ATR 42.

The plane took off from Bari, bound for the Tunisian island of Djerba, on 6 August 2005. As it flew over Sicily, its engines slowed to a halt, even though the instrument panel showed the aircraft had enough fuel left for the flight.

The judges accepted the prosecution case that the pilots, instead of making a crash landing on the sea, should have been able to glide the plane to Palermo airport. Instead, Gharby was said to have panicked. In cockpit recordings entered as evidence he was heard calling for the help of "Allah and Muhammad his prophet".

His lawyer, Francesca Coppi, said: "Faced with danger, he invoked his god as would any one of us."She described her client as "a broken man" who was "convinced he did everything possible to save as many lives as possible".

The co-pilot, Ali Kebaier, also received a 10-year sentence. Tuninter's director-general, Moncef Zouari, and the company's technical director were both given nine years.

A mechanic and two executives in the airline's maintenance department each received eight-year sentences. Two of the accused were acquitted. The remaining seven defendants, who were not in court to hear the verdict, will not have to go to prison until the appeals process has been exhausted.

Of the passengers who died, two were Tunisians. The other 14 were Italians and many of their relatives travelled to Palermo on chartered buses to hear the verdict. Angela Trentadue, whose 27-year-old daughter died in the crash, welcomed the sentences. Another relative, who did not wish to be identified, said: "I wanted to hug the judge."

The Cabinet Office minister and chairman of the Conservative Party gave Benedict XVI a personal gift during a 20-minute private audience – a gold-plated cube that opens up to reveal 99 tiny cubes, each inscribed with a reference to Allah. In keeping with the theme of interfaith dialogue, she also gave him a copy of the Koran which was translated by an East European Jew who converted to Islam and helped write Pakistan's constitution. "They were personal gifts from me," Baroness Warsi, the first female Muslim cabinet minister, told The Daily Telegraph at the Vatican on Wednesday. She also presented the pontiff with a letter from David Cameron, the Prime Minister, a message from the Queen and a copy of the King James Bible. "He thanked me for the comments I've made. He said he was glad I was making the case for faith. He was intrigued by the cube and I thought as I showed it to him 'Oh my God I'm going to break it'," the minister said

Baroness Warsi expanded on a speech she gave in Rome on Tuesday, and an article she wrote for The Daily Telegraph, that British society was under threat from a rising tide of "militant secularisation" and that Europe needs to be "more confident in its Christianity". Speaking after her meeting with the Pope, she said: "Secular fundamentalists are saying that people of faith shouldn't have a voice in the public sphere. I'm saying faith should be one of many voices, it should be part of the debate." She criticised the arguments of Richard Dawkins, the outspoken atheist, as "false". According to a study carried out for Prof Dawkins's think tank, most people in Britain who identify themselves as Christian are "overwhelmingly secular in their attitudes on issues ranging from gay rights to religion in public life". Almost three-quarters of people interviewed agreed that religion should not influence public policy, while only 12 per cent thought it should. Nearly half had not attended a church service in the previous 12 months, apart from on occasions such as weddings, funerals and christenings. Asked if she was swimming against the tide in a country where faith appears to be diminishing every year, Baroness Warsi said: "The fact that people don't go to church doesn't necessarily make them secular." Evan Harris, the vice-president of the British Humanist Association and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, said: "Baroness Warsiis wrong on every count. "Secular liberal democracy, which involves the separation of Church and State and an end to religious privilege, is the best guarantor of religious liberty and free expression. "The last thing the world needs is more theocracies or governments giving special status to religious laws. To talk of militant secularism is self-serving paranoia. "What a pity that ministers are going to a totalitarian theocracy - the Vatican State - with a poor record on gay rights, women's rights and children's rights, to criticise those who peacefully campaign against sharia (law), sectarianism and homophobia as 'militant'." The visit led by Baroness Warsi cemented ties between Britain and the Holy See, 30 years after the UK upgraded its relations to full diplomatic status, and 18 months after Pope Benedict's visit to Britain. She and the other ministers, including Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary and Alan Duncan, the Minister for International Development, met with Vatican officials in one-on-one talks and then in a round-table discussion. They discussed religious freedom, international development, climate change, the crisis in Somalia and the Horn of Africa and the situation in Syria. They issued a joint declaration calling for an "immediate end" to violence in Syria and pointed to "the role which Christians can play" in the region. Nigel Baker, the British ambassador to the Holy See, said there was an opportunity for Britain's international networks, through organisations such as the Commonwealth, to mesh with the Vatican's extensive overseas contacts, maintained through papal nuncios and Catholic charities. "There are places where they are strong on the ground and can help us engage, and there are places where we are strong, for instance in Commonwealth countries," he said. The fact that the British delegation was met by the Pope was an honour, the ambassador said. "It's quite rare for a delegation that is not at head of state or head of government level to be received by the Pope. It's an indication of the weight that the Holy See is giving to this visit."

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Can You Trust an Atheist?Feb8 by Scott William Bryant The scarlet "A" serves at the sign of the New Atheists public awareness campaign.Do you trust an atheist? Would you vote for one if he or she was running for office? What if their competition were an openly gay individual or a Muslim? Could you vote for an atheist then? What if your child wanted to marry an atheist? Would that concern you?Fifty years ago, these questions were not at the forefront of American culture because the American population was largely “Christianized.”[1] But by the dawn of the new millennium, the culture had radically changed as globalization brought about an increased sensitivity to living in a pluralistic world.In 2004, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) conducted a survey looking into the religious beliefs of the United States population. According to their findings, 9% of Americans did not believe in either a god or a universal spirit.[2] But even more surprising than these figures are the figures released by the 2008 ARIS study. According to those results, released in March of 2009, 15% of Americans now claim to possess no religious beliefs of any kind.[3] If that is true, than it may be time for the Church to begin to consider how it intends to corporately interact with the more than 34 million Americans who possess a radically different worldview than that which is articulated by Christian scriptures.

So just how do Americans view atheists? Sam Harris, one of the “Four Horsemen” of the New Atheists puts it this way: “[Being an atheist is] basically the worst thing you can be in terms of having a political life.” Why? Because Americans do not trust atheists. In fact, a recent report from the Pew Research Center suggests that 53% of all Americans believe that it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral. Perhaps this is why a separate Gallup poll reveals the following:9% of Americans would not vote for a Jewish presidential candidate.22% of Americans would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate.32% of Americans would not vote for a gay or lesbian presidential candidate.49% of Americans would not vote for an atheist presidential candidate.[4]So what do you make of this? Do you agree with the 53% of Americans who believe that atheists cannot be moral? And if so, what is it about an atheist that seems less moral or trustworthy than a homosexual, a Mormon or a Jewish individual? * * * * * * * * * *For further reading, please see: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d2239780-4d4e-11e1-8741-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1lcQdyKUf[1] The term “Christianized” does not seek to imply that the vast majority of American citizens were, in fact, Christian. Rather, the term “Christianized” suggests that the population was heavily influenced by Christian ethics, practices and even beliefs.[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/wtwtgod/3518375.stm[3] “American Religious Identification Survey(ARIS 2008)”.

During an investigation of the events that led to the crash-landing, Italian authorities recovered the cockpit voice-recorder from the wreckage of the ATR-72 turboprop plane and heard that Captain Gharby had turned the controls over to his co-pilot during the emergency and uttered a prayer, instead of following standard procedures that might have allowed him to land the plane at an airport. In a similar situation two months ago in New York, Captain Chesley Sullenberger took the controls himself before successfully ditching a much larger plane in the Hudson River.

Pilots urge reinstatement of Tunisian pilotNawaat.org | Jul 21, 2009 | 1 comment | Short URL: http://wp.me/p16NIR-QZ BRUSSELS (AP) — The world’s largest pilots’ group urged Tunisian authorities Monday to reinstate the captain of an airliner that ditched in the sea in 2005, because of his “outstanding airmanship” during the accident.Sixteen of the 39 people on board the Tuninter ATR-72 twin-turboprop airliner died when it went down off Sicily on Aug. 6, 2005. The fuselage broke apart in the choppy waters and a number of passengers drowned.Investigators found that Capt. Chafik Gharbi was unaware the airliner had run out of fuel during the flight from Italy to Tunisia. The fuel gauge installed on the plane was the wrong model and showed the fuel tanks to be nearly full, rather than empty, they said.

Still, in March an Italian court sentenced Gharbi and his co-pilot Ali Lassoued each to 10 years in prison. The court found that they attempted to restart the engines after the double flameout, rather than focusing on gliding to the nearest airport.Both pilots have since returned to Tunisia and are appealing the sentence.The International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations has denounced the court ruling, saying the pilots reacted to the engine failure in “textbook fashion and completed a successful ditching at sea.”Tuninter has reinstated Lassoued since then. But Gharbi remains suspended from flight duty, the pilots’ organization said.“None of it makes any sense at all, both the sentencing and the refusal to reinstate Gharbi,” Gideon Ewers, spokesman for the London-based pilots group said in a telephone interview.“It’s all crazy because, frankly, the pilots did an outstanding job,” Ewers said.

Death of the Body and Passing Into Eternal Life"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22, NASB).

It is only in Christ that you can be made alive. Jesus said it was to our advantage that he went, because the Holy Spirit would not come to us unless he went. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit. "I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:7-9, NASB).

When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior the Holy Spirit indwells in us (John 14:17). It is the power of the Holy Spirit which raises men and women from the dead.

"Yet, even though Christ lives within you, your body will die because of sin; but your spirit will live, for Christ has pardoned it. And if the Spirit of God, who raised up Jesus from the dead, lives in you, he will make your dying bodies live again after you die, by means of this same Holy Spirit living within you" (Romans 8:10-11, Living Bible).

By looking at the resurrection of Jesus Christ we can get a good perspective on the type of body we are promised having accepted Him. Jesus’s resurrected body transcended physical limitations and could pass through shut doors (John 20:19).

At times His body was not recognizable (Luke 24:13-16; John 20:14, 15; John 21:4,12; Mark 16:12), however Jesus by breaking bread or the tone of His voice had the power to make himself known.

For a believer in Jesus Christ, death is a transition into a vibrant, joyful eternity in which he or she will have never been so much alive. "Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus" (2 Corinthians 5:6, Living Bible).

Just like the plunge into an ocean where one marvels at spectacular coral reefs and incredibly beautiful sea creatures, so is the transition of the physical body to the eternal, superhuman body. Residing for eternity in the company of He who is the source of life will be the reward of all those who accept God’s free gift, salvation through faith in the Son of God.Death for those who are in Christ is not a time of mourning. We will all die sometime. Because of the sin of Adam death of the flesh is unfortunately inevitable. However, death for those who trust in Jesus Christ has lost its sting. "His weak, human body died on the cross, but now he lives by the mighty power of God" (2 Corinthians 13:4, Living Bible) and so will you in Him.

For a believer in Jesus Christ, death is a transition into a vibrant, joyful eternity in which he or she will have never been so much alive. "Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus" (2 Corinthians 5:6, Living Bible). Just like the plunge into an ocean where one marvels at spectacular coral reefs and incredibly beautiful sea creatures, so is the transition of the physical body to the eternal, superhuman body. Residing for eternity in the company of He who is the source of life will be the reward of all those who accept God’s free gift, salvation through faith in the Son of God.Death for those who are in Christ is not a time of mourning. We will all die sometime. Because of the sin of Adam death of the flesh is unfortunately inevitable. However, death for those who trust in Jesus Christ has lost its sting. "His weak, human body died on the cross, but now he lives by the mighty power of God" (2 Corinthians 13:4, Living Bible) and so will you in Him.

Paul in Romans 8:11 explains, "If the Spirit of God, who raised up Jesus from the dead, lives in you, he will make your dying bodies live again after you die, by means of this same Holy Spirit living within you" (Romans 8:11, Living Bible). Jesus’ words are clear, " I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John 11:25,26, KJV).

Clarification of Atheism

That an atheist is not someone who does not believe in whatever …

AWe find it as difficul to believe in any of the does n more accurate and clear statement is that we find ourselves unable to accept Christisn concepts Just as Hindus Muslims Shintoists Buddhists etc cannot accept it

II Corinthians 5:1-10 New King James Version (NKJV)

-"These earthly bodies. make us groan and sigh, but we wouldn't think of dying and having no bodies at all. This is what God has prepared for us; as a guarantee, He has given us His Holy Spirit" (v 4,5).

From his inspiration and experience Paul adds, "Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies."--Why? "Every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven, with Jesus" (v 6). Far better than on earth!--Notice, "We are ,not afraid, but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:1-10New International Version (NIV)2 Corinthians 5Awaiting the New Body 1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. The Ministry of Reconciliation 11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.