sabrina

Woo hoo, we beat the scientologists:) I’d like to thank Tom Cruise for his hard work of making atheism more accepted. We appreciate your efforts of making a complete ass out of yourself while promoting scientology.
Becky

“On a side note, who are these 36% of people giving neutral ratings to Fundamentalist Christians?”

Probably people who don’t understand the concept of Fundamentalist. They’re asked how they feel about it, see the “christian” and think: ‘meh’
Sean

Its notable to me that nobody got over 50% positive. Seems we Americans don’t like anybody all that much. People giving neutral rating are maybe just uninformed about that group’s beliefs. There’s a lot of neutrality in that whole list and comparing it to my experiences in life (and politics) “neutral” means “apathetic” in this case. Sad, really. C’mon people, don’t be afraid to have an opinion!
Unspeakabley Violent Jane

In Your Face Scientology!
Josh

Wow, its kind of depressing when you think about it. Especially considering Muslims, a very foreign religion, are higher than Atheists. At least we beat Scientology!
Ted Goas

Wow, that is just extremely depressing. I tried to come up with a better comment, I really did. Atheists have an approval rating of just 7% while Christian Evangelicals and Fundamentalists are almost 40%…?

I’m speechless.
Bob

“How can one be neutral when it comes to literal belief in the Bible and people who want to turn this country into a Christocracy?”

Simple, you’re confident enough in US Democracy that you have no fear that they’ll actually succeed. I’m neutral on flat- and hollow-earthers too. Seems more of a harmless eccentricity than anything else. [OK, I exaggerate a bit.]
Siamang

I’m actually surprised “Scientologists” were on that list. Isn’t there about a million more popular faiths than that one? Sure Scientology is more top-of-mind right now, but I tend to think there’s probably more Buddhists, right?

And yes, this sucks.
MeMyself

I don’t think the numbers reflect anything real.
Sam

evil atheist Darwinianists!
David

On a side note… Judaism is the second most positively viewed religion! With only a 4% negative!! Think of how far they have come!! And how few of them there are (percentage-wise)!! There’s hope for us atheists yet, I’d say!
mikespeir

And I’d always thought it was Sataninsts, pedophiles, and atheists–in that order–at the bottom. (And only then because we can’t leave placeholders between pedophiles and atheists.)

I’m felling pretty good now!
Karen

Judaism is the second most positively viewed religion! With only a 4% negative!! Think of how far they have come!! And how few of them there are (percentage-wise)!! There’s hope for us atheists yet, I’d say!

Yeah, that was the most surprising stat on the list for me too. They’ve really come a long way, baby!

As for the high ratings for fundies and evangelicals as compared to atheists, I’d say it’s likely something to do with populations. Almost everybody has a friend or neighbor who’s a decent (or better) person and is strongly Christian. I’d say there’s a lot of people who don’t know ANY “out” atheists.

So it’s the personal connections that we are lacking. I’m hopeful that will change as more atheists come out and more non-religious people start identifying explicitly as atheists over the next few years.