3 ms·

Atheism is not as rare or as rational as you think

2 points by RickJWagner 5y ago

paulryanrogers 5y ago
> Even in the U.S., my team found in a large and nationally representative sample that effortful cognitive reflection doesn’t at all predict atheism among people strongly exposed to religion as kids. Having been raised very religious then left the faith, this isn't surprising at all. It took me a lot of time and learning to distance then break out of the broken way of thinking I was taught. When I worked in the church it was no secret that they target kids and families with young children. This was seen as the only real avenue to "reach people".
bediger4000 5y ago
I'm not sure this is a good article. Sentences like this are in it: > Contemplating the existence of a god or gods is a uniquely human endeavor. And every religious read nods along, thinking "yes, yes! Very special!" even though the article is careful not to mention any specific religions. It also has this rather un-examined assertion: > almost every member of our species has believed in a god. Nobody would dare make such a universal assertion about any other non-physical thing: there's just no evidence for Neanderthals or early modern humans singing and dancing, for example, and precious little for things like funeral behavior, bodily decoration and other things. Asserting belief in a god or gods or something mostly goes without examination. If funeral behavior is somehow evidence of belief in a god or gods, do we also attribute belief to crows? There's some evidence that crows have funerals: https://www.audubon.org/news/a-funeral-crows https://www.audubon.org/news/a-funeral-crows , and that elephants mourn their dead: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/elephants-mourning-video-animal-grief https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/elephants... I conclude that this article has some underlying, unexamined assumptions in its thesis.

3 ms·

Atheism is not as rare or as rational as you think

2 points by RickJWagner 5y ago

paulryanrogers 5y ago
> Even in the U.S., my team found in a large and nationally representative sample that effortful cognitive reflection doesn’t at all predict atheism among people strongly exposed to religion as kids. Having been raised very religious then left the faith, this isn't surprising at all. It took me a lot of time and learning to distance then break out of the broken way of thinking I was taught. When I worked in the church it was no secret that they target kids and families with young children. This was seen as the only real avenue to "reach people".
bediger4000 5y ago
I'm not sure this is a good article. Sentences like this are in it: > Contemplating the existence of a god or gods is a uniquely human endeavor. And every religious read nods along, thinking "yes, yes! Very special!" even though the article is careful not to mention any specific religions. It also has this rather un-examined assertion: > almost every member of our species has believed in a god. Nobody would dare make such a universal assertion about any other non-physical thing: there's just no evidence for Neanderthals or early modern humans singing and dancing, for example, and precious little for things like funeral behavior, bodily decoration and other things. Asserting belief in a god or gods or something mostly goes without examination. If funeral behavior is somehow evidence of belief in a god or gods, do we also attribute belief to crows? There's some evidence that crows have funerals: https://www.audubon.org/news/a-funeral-crows https://www.audubon.org/news/a-funeral-crows , and that elephants mourn their dead: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/elephants-mourning-video-animal-grief https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/elephants... I conclude that this article has some underlying, unexamined assumptions in its thesis.