From: Team Rocket Elite | #013
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/edgell/home/Strib%20Atheist%20Faith%20and%20Values.html
http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/distrust-powers-anti-atheist-prejudice-37784/
I don't know if something like this would be reflected in how someone votes but an atheist may want to hide the fact they are an atheist to avoid the possibility.
I'm familiar with all of these studies, but it does seem a bit counterintuitive. It's like the whole "republicans only hate obama because he's black" logic. People who care enough about religion to use it as a litmus test for political office are almost certainly going to be voting republican anyway. That's just the way it works. During the actual campaign, Obama would say he was a Christian, but generally speaking, avoided the issue as much as possible (because once you dig deeper on it, it leads to Jeremiah Wright, which absolutely nobody was allowed to mention without being called a racist).
Do you really think the results would have been different if he said he was agnostic? I agree that coming out as an "atheist" probably wouldn't work, solely because atheist is a really loaded term that most people associate with a non-literal definition. It'd be like coming out as a "zionist" even though the literal definition of zionist is simply "someone who believes israel is a legitimate nation."
--
SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg
http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/