[+/-] Poll shows Americans fear atheists and Muslims

This poll was conducted back in April but was only just today brought to my attention:

A nationwide telephone survey of more than 2,000 Americans has revealed that the non-religious are viewed as the greatest threat to the American way of life. The results, released this week, come from a survey conducted last summer by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center. The survey -- consisting of 120 questions about the respondents' views on race, religion, intolerance and prejudice -- is the first phase of a three-year study called the American Mosaic Project.

When questioned about what belief group doesn't share their vision of American society, 54 percent of survey participants indicated that atheists provided the greatest threat. Muslims were viewed as the second-highest threat....

Commenting on these surveys, Mary Ellen Sikes, Associate Director of the Institute for Humanist Studies, observed that, "Members of humanist, atheist, and freethought organizations -- 'the community of reason' -- are among the most compassionate, ethical, and patriotic people I have encountered anywhere. We volunteer in our communities, serve in the military, and have lower divorce rates than almost every mainstream religious denomination. Yet many non-believers feel they must hide their secularism from coworkers, neighbors, and families. We may be the last minority against which intolerance and discrimination are not only permitted, but modeled by political leaders at every level."