Why are there more believers than atheists or agnostics?

[reboot]

Here is a link to Peru's religion statistics:

What are Peru's religion

 

Another link: Major Religions Ranked by Size

 

Well that answers my one question.

 

Not that I believe everything people mark on a census.

[samsungxoxo]

Because in many societies, it's not socially acceptable to be atheist or especially agnostic.

True it's hard to admit it in a religious society. Once you do, it's like they think you're weird. Not everyone is an open-minded individual. Even my mother, who is catholic used to have sort of a hard accepting my lack of belief. Took her a while to find out it's not weird but just different.

 

My father on the other hand, is in the ''I don't know'' category. His known phrase is ''Well I may not believe in flying witches but if there are, then there are.... there might be a possibility''. However, he won't say his views in front of others either since most are believers.

[samsungxoxo]

duplicated....

[thatone]

Because in many societies, it's not socially acceptable to be atheist or especially agnostic. Even atheists give poor agnostics a hard time, like saying "I don't know or want to speculate" is some kind of bad thing. People have such hubris.

 

Because most people are simply what their parents were. And, as the Dawkins quote says, many people express they are "X religion" without REALLY believing it. They just are what they were raised to be. People believe what they are told as children quite often and identify with it.

 

At any rate, I don't see how you lump all those religions together, really. Many of them have nothing in common.

 

because it was secularism that gave us the western world we have now. religion has been trying to drag us back to the dark ages in some form or another since.

 

shrugging your shoulders and letting them get an inch or two is not really the noble/respectable ideal that agnosticism is portrayed to be.

[KathyM]

95% of people in the U.S. believe in God. That is what makes the most sense to them. Creative design is a lot more believable to people than random, meaningless existence that came from nothing.

[thatone]

40% of that 95% will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and if given the opportunity to have stem cell treatment for that cancer 99% of that 40% will take it despite the religious US railing against the idea 15 years ago.

 

90% of that 95% are conservatives and 60% of that 90% identify favorably with tea party republicans, despite the fact that people exactly like themselves destroyed the ideas they are espousing 100 years ago with prohibition, by removing the one major source of tax revenue that the government had at the time and letting it be replaced with the income tax.

 

no one ever argued that there's a shortage of stupid people walking the streets. we're just arguing that stupidity is not a virtue.

[samsungxoxo]

95% of people in the U.S. believe in God. That is what makes the most sense to them. Creative design is a lot more believable to people than random, meaningless existence that came from nothing.

There's always the Big Bang Theory as well as Stationary Theory. I'm going for the former one. Basically everything was compressed in a tiny cubic mass (smaller than an olive) and suddenly it exploded.

In a way science can be creative too as there is so much to discover still, which is why some explanations are left as theories (the closest explanations that is).

[Nohbody]

95% of people in the U.S. believe in God. That is what makes the most sense to them. Creative design is a lot more believable to people than random, meaningless existence that came from nothing.

 

Are you a secret nihilist?

[writergal]

samsungxoxo, I take it you've read my comment?

 

I have to say - and I really truly do not mean this to be insulting or offensive - but it astonishes me that so many Americans actually know so little about other religions, or investigate them much....particularly Buddhism.

I mean, how many people here think of the Buddha as fat and jolly?

 

Hey there TM! I've been a Buddhist since I came back from my teaching year in China. I can't speak for all Americans but I will say that Buddhism is very popular in the US. I think Buddhism has been propagated in the US since before the Vietnam War but don't quote me on that. I just know that most US states have Buddhist temples.

 

The sect of Buddhism I learned about while in Shantou is Mahayana Buddhism (which most Chinese practice) vs. the other sect, Theravada. And my state has the largest populations of Tibetan, Hmong and Somali in the US.

 

Luckily, I've been able to continue my interest in Mahayana Buddhism through one specific temple that's not too far from where I live, which has a large community of practitioners, offers retreats, daily meditation sessions, Dharma talks, for example.

[FredRutherford]

Please show me your findings. I believe there are more atheist that you can count. .

Sorry to disappoint, but atheists account for a very tiny fraction of the U.S.

 

I think there are far more non-believers/atheists than Theists.

we just have nothing to preach or proselytise about, so we're just quieter.

No, atheism is common predominantly in the protected world of academia and constitutes a very small fraction of the U.S. population.

It always has.

 

Academics, the so-called "tolerant' and "liberal" ones, often intimidate and shun someone expressing a belief in God. That doesn't work in the real world, however.

 

Atheists, according to one of the most respected polling organizations, account for only 4% of the U.S. populace.

More Than 9 in 10 Americans Continue to Believe in God

 

QUOTE:

More Than 9 in 10 Americans Continue to Believe in God

 

Professed belief is lower among younger Americans, Easterners, and liberals

 

No real surprise there.

Edited June 13, 2012 by FredRutherford

[TaraMaiden]

You do realise other countries other than America actually exist, don't you?

I mean, you don't have the Monopoly on god.....

[Trimmer]

My father on the other hand, is in the ''I don't know'' category. His known phrase is ''Well I may not believe in flying witches but if there are, then there are.... there might be a possibility''. However, he won't say his views in front of others either since most are believers.

Again, I think that's where Pascal's wager really comes into play. If you believe and God exists, then you get infinite gain. If you don't believe and God exists, you have infinite loss (damnation.) And if God doesn't exist, you break even either way. So probability theory would dictate that you should hedge your bets and believe.

 

95% of people in the U.S. believe in God. That is what makes the most sense to them. Creative design is a lot more believable to people than random, meaningless existence that came from nothing.

Creative Design, at the hand of a God that came from........ ? God makes "more sense" only if you ignore (or excuse away) the "where did God come from?" part... Otherwise, both options are on pretty much even footing as far as the "came from nothing" angle.

 

You do realise other countries other than America actually exist, don't you?

I mean, you don't have the Monopoly on god.....

Maybe not, but God does love American football better than any other sport...

[TaraMaiden]

Maybe not, but God does love American football better than any other sport...

I'm not sure that's true... I keep seeing UK soccer players join the pitch as players or subs, making the sign of the cross... and 've seen athletes during the Commonwealth/Olympic Games offering up a prayer, prior/post specific personal event.

Only if they come first though.

god must love winners, that's what it is.

 

although, as an afterthought, not all soccer players who I see cross themselves actually score a goal, or even play for the winning side.

I wonder, do they loiter at the pitch sideline afterwards and say, "thanks god, great game, shame we didn't win, but you can't have your eye on the ball, all the time, can you, dude?"

[FredRutherford]

You do realise other countries other than America actually exist, don't you?

I mean, you don't have the Monopoly on god.....

The U.S. is one of the leading economic superpowers. English is the leading commercial language.

Many of the posters in this thread are in the U.S.

So no slap here on anyone else.

 

From the link someone supplied earlier, in the world, atheists account for 16% of all religious professions.

Major Religions Ranked by Size

Atheists are the third largest belief group, behind the much bigger Christianity and Islam.

 

That site, I think, is Catholic but is likely accurate. Others can search further.

 

I mean, you don't have the Monopoly on god.....

Who said Americans "monopolize" God?, as if its possible for any group of people to "control" God.

Why the hate from an adherent of a so-called peaceful religion?

Edited June 13, 2012 by FredRutherford

[Feelin Frisky]

There are more believers because there is so much threat built into major religious traditions. People indoctrinate their children under all sorts of fear-based preconceptions. Personally I think one of the worst "sins" is to close the mind of a child by force-feeding them the figments of faith. There are fewer free-thinkers because it is actually difficult to disindoctinate one's self. Indeed even if we decide not to believe as individuals, there are many institutions which reflect assumptions that come from religious traditions. The most insidious I think is what I call "defacto creationism". This is the general assumption that human beings are "created" and separate from animal nature and we can create institutions like education and militaries around an "order" which sees people through a false sense of "normality". We're all assumed to be the same or similar and given a certain limit by creation which determines our place in a hierarchical structure. Everything would be different if we eradicated this defacto creationism from the fabric of society and replaced with with the truth that each human being is unique and has virtually unlimited capacity if we provide the right motivational course and challenges to fulfill that capacity. Embracing our animal heritage is not painful or ugly. It helps us understand why people can turn out cruel or crazy--almost every nut that murders a bunch of people and then kills himself has some mixture of falsehoods that come from religion and failure to impart real connection with other people.

[d'Arthez]

From the link someone supplied earlier, in the world, atheists account for 16% of all religious professions.

Major Religions Ranked by Size

If you bothered to check the graph it is stated that half of those 16% are theistic non-religious people. Then there is a group of "no religious preference", which is not necessarily atheistic. Agnostics are included as well.

 

So Atheists number fewer than Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and in all likelihood Buddhists, believers of indigenous systems, and Chinese traditional belief systems.

 

Atheists, according to one of the most respected polling organizations, account for only 4% of the U.S. populace.

Notice that when the question became more inclusive "God or a natural spirit", the number of believers declined in comparison with "God". It even expands on this in the article! In 2006 only 73% believed that God existed. The rest are just guessing.

[Silly_Girl]

Hate?? You must have a very low tolerance threshold

[TaraMaiden]

Why the hate from an adherent of a so-called peaceful religion?

 

"Hate"...?

you see 'hate' there....?

 

:laugh:

 

wow, all I can say, is you need a better pair of specs...!

your vision is grossly distorted!

How can you read that and detect hate?

 

amazing......

[FredRutherford]

"Hate"...?

you see 'hate' there....?

 

:laugh:

 

wow, all I can say, is you need a better pair of specs...!

your vision is grossly distorted!

How can you read that and detect hate?

 

amazing......

Hate may have been too strong a word, but that word is so frequently hurled by others.

 

Rude or arrogant or intolerant may be better words...

No one said any group of people have a "monopoly" on God...