The more I think about this the more I think how if it is true, it must come down to love. Many born-in atheists dont care about compromising with a cute girl or guy when it comes to some light form of religion. They will go to mass or sunday services every so often, and let their kids do whatever, because many of the born-ins atheists didnt suffer like their parenets or grand parents who left religion.
Atheists: Lowest Retention Rate Next to JWs
by breakfast of champions 173 Replies latest jw friends
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botchtowersociety
I find it interesting how some people here attribute conversion to all kinds of exogenous factors as if it couldn't ever be, in many cases, something as simple as a change of convictions.
I take that as a nasty character attack and a personal insult, actually. :)
You are free to take all the offense you want, but what I have often seen among atheists can be likened to a religious fervor. For example, just recently on the 4th I was at a party and making a new friend who happened to be anarchist (generally the whole group I was with could be best described as libertarian leaning), the conversation went just grand until he brought up atheism a couple of hours later in conversation. I said, "I've pretty much agreed with you on everything, but personally, I am not an atheist." Full stop. Out came all the tired old atheist tropes from "prove there is a god" to the "flying spaghetti monster" to the "invisible pink unicorn." I told him I didn't need to prove anything to him, and that I had no problem with his atheism. He got angry! He just kept on going on the attack, ignoring the "conversation stoppers" I threw up as responses indicating that I agreed to disagree, and it was all cool, but he kept ticking off atheist talking points and acting as if he had just read the atheist version of the JW Reasoning book.
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MrFreeze
I have a feeling that many raised in an atheist household answered with "agnostic" or "no religion".
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Qcmbr
I didn't expect these results though since atheism isn't a movement like say secular humanism it's hard to define what they mean. Is this just a way of saying that those who aren't born into a religion tend to join a religion when they get older? I wouldn't be so surprised at that in a religious country such as the US. Being born an atheist no more inoculates you against faith than it grants immunity to measles. I also wonder whether marriage partners have a large sway in the process ( I can think of a few people in my former faith who were marriage converts .) If anything this just reinforces my hope that critical thinking , especially regarding faith, will become a core part of the curriculum. Religion should not be placed in a sacred bubble during school time in order to not offend the pious parent. Faith ( the requirement to believe without evidence) is the key to stupidity and educational establishments are negligent when they do not challenge it at every turn.
I'd be very interested in seeing the figures for those who have been religious, done the homework and concluded there is no supernatural power. I think they would more closely define the definition of atheist ( I suspect non believing children are more likely to be agnostic and have no great preference either way.) Once a person has paid a price intellectually to take a position then I think it is much harder to change. I think it very unlikely that I would become religiously inclined again unless a superior being actually manifests ( and I don't mean in my stomach or in a dream or via a little voice behind my left ear - I can't believe in a God who plays parlour games and who can't even use a phone or a computer or some standard communication method.)
A real being wont be promising 70 virgins, blood sacrifices, resurrection for long disassembled atoms, magic fruit and talking snakes or an imaginary justice system involving being infected with smallpox - they will bring higher technology and actual knowledge about physics, maths, astronomy and biology. Their appearance would elicit a golden age of technological advancement unless they are simply farmers in which case we will suffer an eternal Armageddon.
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Qcmbr
Botch - an atheist who sees the danger of faith ( both to themselves and to their society ) will be very motivated to try and influence people. The recent pictures of a woman murdered for supposed adultery by religious thinkers stirs the blood of most people. Atheists can see quite clearly that faith is the common denominator and the mechanism that allows a suspension of rational logic also allows the suspension of moral thinking and makes possible the acceptance of such memes as eternal damnation, sin, scapegoats, sheep / goats, chosen / rejected, wheat / chaff , saved / lost and the capability to burn a heretic or shoot an adulterous woman. I'm proud that your friend had a discussion with you that forced you to confront important concepts. That this got in the way of a nice evening of drinking probably sucked but I suspect the woman who got shot by the faithful also had a bad day and my sympathy is actually with her rather than with your first world problem whinge.
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FlyingHighNow
You can't be an atheist AND be angry at god. You're simply throwing a tantrum.
I know that I've seen enough people, including myself, who have been angry with God and lose any belief in God.
You can become angry with God and lose belief in God. You never believed in Jehovah? You never felt anger towards him? You didn't lose your belief in God? Lose for lack of a better word, but you can replace that with a different word if you find a better more expressive word. There have been a lot of eloquent posts on JWD and N by atheists for why they became athiests. For people who once believed and now do not believe, it is understood that there are varied reasons why belief becomes past tense. That journey might or might not include anger towards God. It's sure nothing to be ashamed of.
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FlyingHighNow
You are free to take all the offense you want, but what I have often seen among atheists can be likened to a religious fervor.
I've seen this sometimes, but mostly here on JWN. I don't often hear anyone mention atheism unless it is my grandson or his friends. I did hear a coworker get really vocal one day when someone mentioned something about an experience with an answered prayer.
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Qcmbr
I suspect in your normal life outside JWN you wouldn't hear too many vocal xians either.No? But on here they just won't stop ... :P
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FlyingHighNow
Q, thank goodness I live in a part of the USA with a strong, reserved Dutch heritage. People here are pretty private about their lives in general and that includes their feelings about God or no God. I have heard more talk about politics than religion, but even that is pretty rare.
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jamesmahon
You are free to take all the offense you want, but what I have often seen among atheists can be likened to a religious fervor
As opposed to religious people I suppose who are always silent about their beliefs. Guess if he had brought up how he supported obamacare or socialism you would have remained completely silent? Because of course it is the height of rudeness to dare to challenge someone on their religious views as opposed to their political.
'Often seen'? What, as opposed to often seeing 'In god we trust' on the back of banknotes and having that as you national motto? That isn't religious ferver at all is it?