one thing about Tumblr Discourse™ I will never understand is how so many people on this website came to the conclusion that atheists are some kind of privileged category when they’re quantifiably one of the most hated groups in the United States. seven states have laws on the books that officially bar a non-believer from holding public office. systematic discrimination against non-religious people has been documented in everything from child custody hearings to medicine (apparently an alarming number of people think Christians should be given transplant priority over atheists). half of Americans say they would not vote for an atheist president or want their child to marry an atheist, both higher than the equivalent figures for Muslims by the way. and yet somehow tumblr has concluded that we’re all just privileged white male dickbags because, what, some loose mental association with reddit? wild.
Part of it is the whole “religion is peaceful”, so they’re unable to acknowledge that religion does teach they’re superior to other people, most of all atheists. Even the most liberal of religions still hate atheists.
It’s because atheists skew upper class and a lot of other privileged categories.
It’s the sort of thing people opt more often into if they are materially comfortable, and can afford to take the hit of symbolically opposing the majority. The question is whether taking that symbolic hit is more costly than all the other advantages they already have.
You can say this for a lot of weird beliefs that are overwhelmingly white educated male or AMAB (communism, libertarianism, transhumanism, etc.)
It’s not fair or even a good idea, but that’s no reason to be blind to why it happens.
True, but it goes farther than that. It’s not just that atheism is an upper-class thing. It’s that, in many of our most elite and privileged cultural circles, atheism is practically mandatory.
…OK, that’s not quite fair. In a mainstream-elite way, atheism is the second-best option, falling well behind “[shrug] I don’t really care about religion, man.” But it’s definitely preferred over any kind of actual theistic belief. Religious custom performed explicitly as a dogma-free cultural signal gets a grudging pass, but expressing your investment in religious doctrine will cause the great and good to look at you like you just walked into the room with cow shit all over your work boots.
And this remains true even though all the OP’s claims are factually correct. Surprise! Cultural dominance is not actually a one-dimensional axis! Different ideas have power in different places! (PROTIP: Walk into any small-town bar in Middle America, strike up a conversation, tell your interlocutor that you’re a proud feminist, and see what happens. Then walk into any coffeeshop in New York, strike up a conversation, tell your interlocutor that you’re not a feminist, and see what happens.)