Why is atheism frowned upon in the American society?

Answer 1

People fear change. For 2000 years we have been taught and even forced to believe a certain way. When Galileo in the 1600's showed the Church that the earth was not the center of the universe, they banished him for such heresey. Copernicus put the sun as the center of the universe almost a century earlier. If he had not died the day his book was published he may very well have been burned at the stake. 400 plus years later we now know the sun is at center, and faith was not lost. The Vatican in recent years has agreed that evolution is correct, but fundamentalist churches are gnashing their teeth over evolution. Faith is faith; science is not, it is fact. My hope is that the two can reconcile. Science does not want to undermine people's faith. That was my own last obstacle to overcome as I let go of faith to be an atheist.

Answer 2

During the period of "McCarthyism" (named for Senator Joseph McCarthy), the tem "atheist" was strongly linked with "Communist" (e.g. godless communist) so that, in the public mind, you couldn't be one without being the other. During the cold war Americans saw communism as an enemy and transferred their animosity to atheists. This continues to this day even though the cold war is essentially over.