Is atheism a consequence of religious abuse?

harvey1 · Post by **harvey1** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 12:21 pm

There seems something odd that a group would exist solely as "anti" to a philosophical position. It's easy to imagine why you would be "pro" a position since it is the position you wish to take. But, labelling yourself based on a position that you don't wish to take is like walking around saying that you do not wish to ever visit the Vatican. It might be something you would say in a conversation if someone asked you to go with them to the Vatican, but would you go to a website for people who wanted to take a group trip to the Vatican just to tell them that you don't want to go to the Vatican? Why would you do such a thing, unless you felt abuse by those who took frequent trips to the Vatican. Maybe, for example, you were watching cartoons one fine Saturday morning and somebody drove by running over your puppy and said "I'm sorry, would you like a free trip to the Vatican? I'll pay...". In that situation, I could understand why you would visit Vatican tour websites. You're still peeved about the guy who ran over your puppy.

So, does anyone think that atheism is a consequence of religious abuse, like the guy who ran over that kid's puppy?

Post by **otseng** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 1:10 pm

Corvus wrote:A/As are, after all, a very small minority, though I wonder if they have not become more prevalent recently, and, if so, why?

From articles that I've been reading lately, it actually appears that atheism is on the decline.

Corvus · Post by **Corvus** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:56 pm

otseng wrote:
Corvus wrote:A/As are, after all, a very small minority, though I wonder if they have not become more prevalent recently, and, if so, why?
From articles that I've been reading lately, it actually appears that atheism is on the decline.

No offense intended, otseng, but those articles really only say more about how their authors believe they have more ammunition to use against atheism, than how atheism is on the decline. They give no statistics for its decline, and do not even tell us for how long it has been dwindling. They also do not reference agnosticism, dealing only with atheism and treating it, erroneously, as some sort of belief system in which people place their hopes for a better future.

Post by **otseng** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 3:11 pm

Corvus wrote: No offense intended, otseng, but those articles really only say more about how their authors believe they have more ammunition to use against atheism, than how atheism is on the decline. They give no statistics for its decline, and do not even tell us for how long it has been dwindling.

No offense taken. I had just come across those articles lately and your statement "A/As are, after all, a very small minority, though I wonder if they have not become more prevalent recently, and, if so, why?" nudged me to bring light to those articles. I would agree that the articles only mention atheism and nothing about agnosticism.

I would further agree that the articles do not bring up any hard numbers to support their claims, but I would be curious if there are any statistics to support your notion that A/A have increased recently.

QED · Post by **QED** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:36 am

Here's an online resource with plenty of figures. I don't think any of us can get a clear picture of the trends, but what of it anyway? What can be read into the mass movements of people... there are no shortage of examples where people have gravitated towards something or other for no good reason, or even worse - possibly for a bad reason!

I'm reminded of the early days of video tape-recording when there were three competing (and incompatible) standards: V2000, BetaMax and VHS. Of the three BetaMax was clearly the most agile and offered the best reproduction quality but within years VHS became dominant through a simple quirk of human behavior - by chance it was the format adopted by the pornography industry.

SarraceniaScott · Post by **SarraceniaScott** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:12 am

harvey1, there are atheists, and then there are antitheists. Antitheists may well be atheists, but go beyond a simple lack of belief in god(s), to having a particular animus against a specific religion (or perhaps, religion in general).

Does atheism result from religious abuse? I think not. It results from people, like myself, who are not wired for faith.

Does antitheism result from religious abuse? Definitely in some cases, at least. I know of antitheists who grew up as Unitarian Universalists in a predominantly Baptist region, and felt persecuted because of it. I also know of antitheists who started as fundamentalists, and then rejected their religion because they finally accepted science over the lies their religion required them to believe.

With respect to fundamentalist religion, I am a strong antitheist. I regard fundamentalism as a pernicious mind-virus, and science as the vaccine.

With respect to religious views that keep purely to the realm of faith, I am merely an atheist (weak definition).