Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Atheist Statistics 2008
These stats really don't come as a surprise to me.
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Be careful when you
Be careful when you generalize atheist. As brent is fond of saying, atheist is just lack of god belief. Not all atheist are rational thinkers. I could classify my dog as an atheist, as far as i can tell, he has no belief in god. He appears to believe in food only, but i have no confirming evidence as he has yet to aver his preferences. I would classify myself as a "cognizant athiest" as i have thought it through and chose the classification athiest as the most rational option. If that is what you mean by athiest, then you may be forming an argument. Again, we would have to do a clinical study and process the data. Otherwise, we are just conjecturing.
greg
"although we must remain strictly agnostic about the existance of celestial tea pots......"
Problem with prison statistics
I'm so sad, because I thought I'd posted this last night but apparently forgot to hit the "post" button after hitting the "preview" button. Damn, damn, damn.
Anyway, I've always wondered just how useful the prison statistics are comparing believers (especially Christians) to non-believers. We all know that when people are in trouble and want to reform their image, the most common thing for them to do is publicly declare that they've "found God" or turned their lives over to Jesus, or some such nonsense. So isn't it likely that the great gap between Atheists and agnostics in society versus their representation in prison is at least in part due to some of them "gaming the system?"
Almost all prisons have some kind of "get straight" program, either subtly or defiantly religious in nature (again, mainly Christian, at least in the South), where inmates can get some time off from their sentences by completing the program. Or maybe they know they will have a better chance at their next parole hearing if they make a big, public show of their new-found Christian identity for a few months.
If I was in prison and knew it could make the difference between getting out in 5 years or getting out in 5 months, I'd carry a Bible with me everywhere, lead prayer groups in the dining area, and carve crosses in the foreheads of those dirty, godless Atheists (just kidding about the last part.) I would be counted as a Christian in prison because I'd lie my ass off in order to get out sooner.
Is any of that taken into account when the statistics are calculated?
As for the divorce statistic, I actually know Christians who spin it as "Christians only make up 27% of divorces; non-Christians make up 73%!"
Rob Miles
--
There are only 10 types of people in the world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.
Perhaps one explaination for the divorce statistics
Actually, one idea --
Could the divorce statistics be different because the religious people are rushing into early marriages, where the atheists and agnostics are just living together? That way, if two early relationships break up, only the religious one counts as a divorce.
Not that this really changes anything, b/c the religious aren't supposed to be rushing into marriage.
Duke
That's an interesting idea.
That's an interesting idea. I just took the numbers at face value and came to the conclusion that atheists/agnostics are less likely to split up. But I feel like I have a different attitude towards marriage than most theists.
1) I don't think marriage is necessarily a forever decision. It can be, but its definitely a day by day thing. Which means that I know that if I don't give my marriage the attentiveness that it needs, it won't last, so I make sure that I do.
2) I wasn't looking for a "soulmate" picked for me by God when I got married. I just wanted someone to share my life with, not define myself by another person. I do a pretty good job of standing on my own two feet - I don't need someone to hold me up.
I've always thought that theists put way too much importance on marriage and expected too much synchrony. All that conformation to someone else would be way too much pressure for me, and I'd run the other way.
Marriage
I think you've stated what's really behind the difference, without saying it explicitly: atheists are prone to be more reality-based in their thinking. That has to translate into advantages in a LOT of areas of life.
I'd bet if you could know the numbers, atheists are also statistically less likely to drive dangerously, less likely to use drugs or alcohol or tobacco, more likely to have savings and health insurance, more likely to exercise, and probably even better at getting their bills paid on time.
And then there's the deeper, more satisfying orgasms, and the greater penis length.
Ok, the better sex, no drugs
Ok, the better sex, no drugs and alcohol, savings and insurance, exercise.....all that would apply to my life. But I had a hell of a lot of fun in my little miata!!!!! And safety wasn't my first concern. ;-)
That's why . . .
That's why I signed up.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
I'm surprised the numbers
I'm surprised the numbers are as high as they are. From my perspective, almost everyone outside the science community (and many within it) are devoted to their belief in a deity.
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