Atheists: Lowest Retention Rate Next to JWs

by breakfast of champions 173 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Giordano

  I think when it comes to surveying atheists there are some built in problems that makes assessment difficult. A lot of non believers do not identify with terms such as atheist, agnostic, nonreligious and non-theist which add to confusion among poll data.

  Non belivers are now the 3rd largest group in religious-none religious surveys however the Atheist may only make up 3 or 4% of that.

  It's also interesting to note:

  a Canadian poll released September 12, 2011 sampled 1,129 Canadian adults and came up with some interesting unrelated data on the numbers of declared atheists...................... [ 6 ] . A quote from the study:

  The data also revealed some interesting facts about Canadians beliefs:

  • A majority (53%) of Canadians believe in God. What is of particular interest is that 28% of Protestants, 33% of Catholics, and 23% of those who attend weekly religious services do not.
  • One quarter (23%) of those with no religious identity still believe in God." [ 7 ]

  So if the retention rate is low there may be confusion in how some identify themselves, for instance would those that don't believe in god but still identify with the church they attend weekly call themselves atheists or Protestants or Catholics? When push comes to shove people join a church or organization for a variety of reasons none of which may be related to a belief in god.
• 

  tec

  I don't always know how to answer those polls if I am asked either, which is why I don't really like them. They can give an 'idea', a general ball park figure, but they cannot give an accurate picture.

  Non-religious or non-demoninational both work for some who have faith, but not religion... but if they are placing non-religious in the atheist category, then those figures are being calculated wrong as well.

  I imagine with more and more people coming out as having faith, but not religion, that will be added as a category.

  Peace,

  tammy
• 

  cofty

  Its cute when people of faith protest they don't have a religion. Words can be so flexible can't they?
• 

  slimboyfat

  Cofty what does your name mean?
• 

  cofty

  Cofty what does your name mean? - SBF

  Its an acronym.

  a clue....

  
• 

  Sulla

  NewChapter, there was a considerable period of time after I was a JW that I had no religious affiliation whatever. During this period, I never once felt any sort of pressure to join a religion. This was deep in the American South, where one would expect, I don't know, something.

  But, do I read you correctly to say that the pressure placed on you to join a religion took the form of being invited to study the Bible or hang out at Christian youth groups? And that this "pressure" is not sufficiently malign that you would wish to protect your child from it? Perhaps many people would view this an something more nearly the opposite of pressure. Tough to say.

  But I am geninely puzzled that you confess such indifference to your child becoming a religious person, excepting Catholic or JW. You are an atheist and, therefore convinced that religions are teaching actual lies each week. How is it that you son't mind whether your child joins a group that is patently teaching lies?
• 

  Sulla

  Charles

  Oscar

  Finnegan

  Trevor

  Yancy
• 

  NewChapter

  Sulla--no that was not the pressure. I was just talking about how a young person is exposed to religion regardless of the parents.

  It is not INDIFFERENCE. It is accepting that I can only encourage her critical thinking skills and then I simply must trust her to find her way. As I said, it is not about retention, it is about encouraging her to use her brain. If she must test some of those things, I'm not going to freak out. What good would it do any way? I can only have hope that she has what she needs, so that if she should take some religious road for a while, she will have the resources to recognize when it is no longer a good thing for her. I would prefer she never set aside her critical thinking to chase a fairytale, but she will do as she deems fit. I'm not worried about her eternal future, but concerned that her present life is full and rewarding. I think belief works against that. For now, she is still an atheist who just likes to investigate other people's beliefs. She has ruled out Christianity completely, so she's doing pretty good. I expect her to test everything and never to take my word for anything as she carves out her life. To expect less of her leaves her vulnerable.

  And your experience is your experience. In just the last few months, I have been told I was going to Hell, that I need to make things right with the Lord, that I have thrown away belief too easily (easily?) and need to reconsider, and that I just didn't understand the bible, and if I would go with this other persons interpretation, I would see its value.

  That was all in real life---and mostly I never even mention I am an atheist. I don't start the conversations. I don't even engage that much. Because I can't shut up the believers around me (some were strangers) they glean that I don't believe and they are off. So while your experience is all rainbows and unicorns it is not the measure of all.

  I know a young atheist who plays guitar for services at a church. He likes to play guitar. People probably think he is a Christian. He laughs. He likes the music. Many things can bring a person to a church, and god belief is only one of them.
• 

  slimboyfat

  Which one is you?
• 

  cofty

  The short-arse in the middle

  Trevor Brooking, Geoff Hurst, me, Eric Harrison (MUFC Youth coach legend), ?? (devolpment manager form the FA)