Religiosity does not moderate fear of atheists the way it moderates racial views

Evidence

There is, however, an interesting caveat to this relationship. When we examine Americans’ fear of atheists, individual religious commitment has no effect on attitudes (see Figure 3.7). Christian nationalism does. This means that Americans who are more religiously active have the same levels of fear of atheists as Americans who do not attend religious services, read their sacred scriptures, or pray. Americans who embrace Christian nationalism, however, are much more likely to believe atheists have inferior values, hope to limit their freedoms, and want to endanger their physical safety. Thus, while greater religiosity is connected with more progressive attitudes toward racial and (most) religious others, this does not hold for Americans’ views of atheists. It is likely that seculars or atheists are simply viewed as more of a threat to “religion” per se—as anti-religion—in a way that members of other ethnic or even religious communities are not. — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 370

Categorization

• QUESTION: The asymmetry — religiosity moderating racial but not anti-atheist attitudes — raises the question of what non-Christian-nationalist religious people actually share with secularists, and whether the ‘co-laborers’ thesis of the next paragraph is optimistic.
• XREF: connects to: Christian nationalism is the strongest predictor of fear of Muslims and atheists — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 742; Anti-atheist prejudice is socially accepted while racial prejudice is not — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 232; Anti-atheist hostility is not simply generalized prejudice — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 239 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Anti-atheist hostility is not simply generalized prejudice #corroborates (0.90) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 239
• Anti-atheist prejudice stems from trust concerns, not xenophobia or outgroup dislike #corroborates (0.85)
• Intrinsic religiosity suppresses only the specific prejudices a religion prohibits #expands (0.85) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2548
• Anti-atheist prejudice is socially accepted while racial prejudice is not #complicates (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 232
• Atheism is perceived as a public threat to cooperation, not a private belief #expands (0.80)
• The religious-atheist trust gap is not symmetric ingroup-outgroup prejudice #expands (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 285
• Moral distrust of atheists is not explained by generic stereotype content #corroborates (0.80)
• Merely orthodox religious belief does not predict prejudice #corroborates (0.80) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2081
• Religious groups distinguish proscribed from nonproscribed prejudices #expands (0.80)
• Religious belief strongly predicts distrust of atheists #qualifies (0.75)
• Belief-centered religions generate more prejudice against atheists than practice-centered ones #complicates (0.75)
• Religious fundamentalism predicts prejudice only through rightwing authoritarianism #qualifies (0.75) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2134