I can't disagree with the survey findings, but I think they do show that prejudice towards Atheists is at least equal to prejudice towards other religions, or any tribal/ political, racial group. So the problem appears to be with the security of identity within ones own group. (I believe this because my friends believe it and they're my friends and we have rules of behavior, like the Ten Commandments, the Scouts oath, a motorcycle club charter, or whatever.) More precisely: we need that security because the world is a big raunchy place and someone can get bumped out by events unless we have committed friends.
If you get bumped out (& become homeless or Hikikomori), you have to fit yourself back in by appearing to be a member of some cliche' group, which may be demeaning. Prejudice is a group phenomena & it can be identified by someones attempt to transform or impose their values on others. That's not always the case though, many tribal cultures don't evangelize, in fact many of their traditions are private, even secret.
So then comes Gautama Siddhartha AKA, "The Buddha". He's said to be a prince but archeological records of the town where he grew up show it wasn't a palace, more like a mud brick farming/hunter/gathering town on the edge of someone else's kingdom. So our hero was just a guy who'd had it w/ social games & came up w/ his own plan. The only reason we know about it is because he discussed it with people & some came to the conclusion that yeah dude, that sounds ok. The basic teaching is "relate if you must but don't take the bullshit. Don't resist it, just ignore it". His teachings got tuned up during the succeeding years to appeal to the upper classes who need it as much as anyone, and can also provide food and housing. They'd be skeptical of grubby hobos so the story changed him into a prince.
