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Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?

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Comments

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited January 2018

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  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited January 2018

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  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited January 2018

    When many of the older Brits lived through WWII, a bit of a false nuclear attack hardly registers.  I believe the unofficial motto of the UK is "keep calm and carry on".  

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited January 2018

    Here is an interesting interactive map of religious belief in America. Click on your state to see how many atheists there are. http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/


  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,967
    edited January 2018

    I can see that I fit right in here. Interesting bunch of questions to ask.

  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 4,833
    edited January 2018

    That was a very interesting link, ananda. Thanks for sharing that.

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited January 2018

    Click on the 2014 Landscape Study.  It shows comparisons to the 2007 study and discusses the changes.  The Pew Lanscape Studies are the gold standard in polling.  Some compare them to the accuracy of the Census.

    http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/



  • traveltext
    traveltext Member Posts: 1,055
    edited January 2018


    Reporting from Australia.

    2016 Census data reveals "no religion" is rising fast


    The results of the latest national Census today reveal we're a religiously diverse nation, with Christianity remaining the most common religion (52 per cent of the population).


    Islam (2.6 per cent) and Buddhism (2.4 per cent) were the next most common religions reported. Nearly a third of Australians (30 per cent) reported in the Census that they had no religion in 2016.


    The religious makeup of Australia has changed gradually over the past 50 years. In 1966, Christianity (88 per cent) was the main religion. By 1991, this figure had fallen to 74 per cent, and further to the 2016 figure. Catholicism is the largest Christian grouping in Australia, accounting for almost a quarter (22.6 per cent) of the Australian population.


    Australia is increasingly a story of religious diversity, with Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, and Buddhism all increasingly common religious beliefs. Hinduism had the most significant growth between 2006 and 2016, driven by immigration from South Asia.


    The growing percentage of Australia's population reporting no religion has been a trend for decades, and is accelerating. Those reporting no religion increased noticeably from 19 per cent in 2006 to 30 per cent in 2016. The largest change was between 2011 (22 per cent) and 2016, when an additional 2.2 million people reported having no religion.


    How likely a person was to identify as religious in 2016 had a lot to do with their age. Young adults aged 18-34 were more likely to be affiliated with religions other than Christianity (12 per cent) and to report not having a religion (39 per cent) than other adult age groups. Older age groups, particularly those aged 65 years and over, were more likely to report Christianity

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184
    edited January 2018

    Minus two..it would be fun to meet..

    keep plugging away on the bucket list..I finished mine so I have to start a new one..

    Wren, of course you fit it!

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184
    edited January 2018

    Ananda, interesting chart..I had no idea that evangelical protestants were double the traditional protestants..wow..

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited February 2018

    Here is an interesting article on faith and no faith.  " There have long been predictions that religion would fade from relevancy as the world modernizes, but all the recent surveys are finding that it’s happening startlingly fast. France will have a majority secular population soon. So will the Netherlands and New Zealand. The United Kingdom and Australia will soon lose Christian majorities. Religion is rapidly becoming less important than it’s ever been, even to people who live in countries where faith has affected everything from rulers to borders to architecture."  https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-nones-rising-religion/


  • traveltext
    traveltext Member Posts: 1,055
    edited February 2018

    Thanks for posting the link ananda.

    Some interesting statements from the article include:
    The secularizing West is full of white men. The general U.S. population is 46 percent male and 66 percent white, but about 68 percent of atheists are men, and 78 percent are white.

    Around the world, the Pew Research Center finds that women tend to be more likely to affiliate with a religion and more likely to pray and find religion important in their lives.

    Some of the humanist movement's most visible figures aren't known for their respect toward women.


  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited February 2018

    Traveltext,  I agree that misogyny among atheist males is a problem.  I think the biggest factor in fewer atheists among people of color and white women has to do with lack of power and security.  The poor have always been more religious than the rich and upper classes. Religion gives those without power and security a sense of safety.  The Me-Too movement and the Women's March is going to have some long term consequences in the world and in the male dominated religions.


  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited February 2018

    I love reading the Pew Religious Landscape Study.  Here is the section on atheist women.  What I find absolutely hilarious is 5% of women who claim to be atheist believe or somewhat believe in god.  http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/gender-composition/women/religious-family/atheist/

    Here is a section called 10 facts about atheists.  http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/10-facts-about-atheists/

    Here is a graph of change in religious nones.

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  • QueenElizabethTheFaux
    QueenElizabethTheFaux Member Posts: 8
    edited February 2018

    This is a great thread...just found it. It’s fascinating & I look forward to reading the entire thing. Ok, there was one time in my life (for appx 2 years) when I desperately tried to be an atheist.

    Some bad things had happened in my life that made me SO angry & I absolutely hated God. I screamed at him & told him that if he was standing next to me, I would kill him...& I meant it.

    There was NO way I was ever going to believe in him, or trust in him, ever again.

    A few months later, I noticed some odd things began to happen to me & towards my deep anger and hate of “God.” (Good things. But they are too odd to explain...other than to say that my comprehension of what “God” actually “is” changed completely.) I then began to understand why Atheists, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Scientologists, Agnostics, Muslims, etc. are here. I fully believe the people affiliated w/each one exists for very important reasons.

    Now, I am no longer angry & filled with hatred towards a creator called God. I’m also a former Catholic who no longer believes in the teachings of the Catholic Church...or any other religion.

    If you asked me, “Then what are you?” I’d have to answer, “I am a Child of this amazing place that we call The Universe.”

    I know nothing. But that is good Bcuz it appears to be driving m towards a life-long quest to learn everything, which will not be possible...but certainly makes life interesting. (Most especially I am one who has kind regards for who YOU are & have deep respect for your individual religious &/or non-religious belief systems.)

    Much love,

    QueenElizabethTheFaux


  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184
    edited February 2018

    when I was a little girl, I thought if I studied long and hard enough, I could learn everything. I thought my father had because he could always answer everyone's questions. ( before Goggle and the internet). Of course, when I was older I realized the more you know, the more you don't know.

    But as you say, it makes it more interesting

  • traveltext
    traveltext Member Posts: 1,055
    edited February 2018


    solfeo, we don't need herding, but that's a good description should the need arise. The atheists I know are a pretty self-sufficient lot of people and we meet all over the place, films, dinners, parties, local community groups, etc. I couldn't imagine having to go and be indoctrinated in a church with people I cared about. Funerals excepted. This and weddings seem to be what gets me inside a church. Fortunately, the weddings and funerals I've been to in recent times have been secular events without religious gurus officiating. This said, I have nothing against anyone who adheres to a faith of any kind unless they are fanatics. These I have an aversion to.


  • trishyla
    trishyla Member Posts: 698
    edited February 2018

    Amen, brother!!

    Sorry, traveltxt. Couldn't resist. Happy Religious fanatics are my pet peeve as well.

  • spookiesmom
    spookiesmom Member Posts: 8,178
    edited February 2018

    at least the roof doesn’t come crashing down on your head🤪😜.

  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,967
    edited February 2018

    I took a philosophy of religion class in college. The final was: "There is/is not a God. Explain". That was a fun test and I ended up arguing both sides.

    I think religion never really 'took' with me because when my mother died when I was 4, they told me God wanted her. So when they tried to say God loves you, my inner response was - he sure has a funny way of showing it.

    Then moving to the Northwest, I became one of the people who felt much more spiritual backpacking in the mountains than anywhere else. I fit right in here.

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited February 2018

    Wren44, I think Epicurus Explained the "There is/is not a God." 2300 years ago.  

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  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited March 2018

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  • spookiesmom
    spookiesmom Member Posts: 8,178
    edited March 2018

    RIP Mr Hawking.

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184
    edited March 2018

    He was an amazing man

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184
    edited April 2018

    need a soft landing after this past week festivities

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293
    edited April 2018

    celebrating spring & chocolates weekend is finally over :P

  • trishyla
    trishyla Member Posts: 698
    edited April 2018

    My husband, the ex-Catholic, prefers to call it Zombie Jesus day.

  • Egads007
    Egads007 Member Posts: 474
    edited April 2018

    Spookiesmom, Mr. Hawking is the reason I am atheist today. During chemo I was given a few Hawking documentaries to watch while doing the daily couch crash. This lead to my fascination with all things science but especially the cosmos. I vaguely believed in god at that time but felt I had received a clearer vision on why things are the way they are. While I still am spiritual from a human to human standpoint, science now rules my beliefs. Indeed RIP Mr. Hawking.

  • ananda8
    ananda8 Member Posts: 1,418
    edited April 2018

    This has been posted before and I still find it comforting and very true.  We are the universe as much as the stars are. 

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  • UnwillingParticipant
    UnwillingParticipant Member Posts: 20
    edited April 2018

    I have been an atheist most of my adult life. It solidified for me when I learned that the bible was written by men chosen by Constantine in order to unite his subjects under one god. Read some things on religious symbols sometime - their origin and meaning. Crosses were around for millions of years before Jesus was. Constantine and his writers used old symbols to create new meanings; the symbol for the sun, or sun god, became the halo. If one reads real history, not religious history, it is clear where religion came from. It's adherents are tearing nations apart today and causing the formation of cults like ISIS and more. Religion for many is about achieving power over others. If I believed in a god, I'd have to hate such an entity for its cruelty. At 75, I feel free to enjoy things without having to thank anybody. I believe in law, our Constitution, good manners and helping others. I lived a lifetime of service to others through my nursing career. We must treat each other with respect and dignity, and help those less fortunate, but not because some deity says so. Its because it is simply the right thing to do. I neither need nor want the oppressive anchor of religion and I really hate it when people say they pray for me when it is something I'd never ask for and which deeply offends me. I am finally telling people how I feel about their praying for me now, and asking them not to. I've had to get tough with aggressively-religious relatives and threaten to end my relationship with one. That isn't pleasant or comfortable, but then, I am not the aggressor. Indeed, I've been too passive in allowing them to preach to me. No more.

    Cancer changed me enough to "come out" of hiding from the religious. I'm grateful to my doctors and especially my sister nurses, and that's where gratitude belongs; not with some deity. Spontaneous change occurs in anyone's health status - whether good or bad - and if a spontaneous change for the good occurs, it is sometimes called a "miracle" - an act of "god". Spontaneous change that is bad is not seen as an act of god, so why should a good change be? I could go on, but you get the picture. Courage - don't let the religious zealots grind you down.