Do you know that Atheists comprise only 2% of America's jail population. Why is this so?

Question

adyghe.. the religious orientation of inmates is ascertained at the time they are bought in.

The American Religious Identification Survey 2001 was carried out under the auspices of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The poll utilized a sample of over 50,000 randomly selected respondents, and was described as "the most comprehensive portrait of religious identification in the U.S.
The survey shows that the atheist population of the US stands at 14.1%.

http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/atheist4.htm

Answer 1

Of course. Most criminals are not raised in Atheism. Atheism
is something one generally thinks about before taking a position.

Bottom line, most criminals don't do much thinking, if they did they probably wouldn't be in jail. I'm sure the percentage of PhDs entering prison is also very low. So what?

I Cr 13;8a
10-8-6

Answer 2

There are a lot less atheist in the world compared to those who associate with a religion. So if there are 2% in jail, there are much less in society. Just using imaginary figures, if USA was 80% christian, 5% Muslims, 5% Jewish, 5% Native American and the rest Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic... then the numbers in jail would be a similar ratio. It doesn't mean that being atheist means you will be a better member of society... just that there are less of you.

Answer 3

Interesting statistic... how many claimed "don't know" or that they believe in nothing and so are atheist by default? Oh, and how many claimed to be Buddist?

I think its because its socially acceptable to give lipservice to being Christian or another major faith in America. That's American culture and history at work, not necessarily that those who claim a religious affilitation are more prone to getting caught.

Oh there is another question? is it that an atheist is more likely to fight a conviction and a religious person accepts some form of penance?

You need to look closer at the statistics, my friend.

Answer 4

What is that supposed to prove? Are you trying to say that if we had more atheists in the world, we'd have less criminals? That statistic doesn't prove that. It just proves that 98% of the people in jail believe there is a God and 2% don't believe there is a God. You could take any category of people......bakers, dentist, bankers, garbage collectors and you'd probably get that same breakdown 98% are believers and 2% are atheists. That just tells me that man inherantly knows that there is a God.
Anybody who says there is no God is just not thinking straight. In your brain there are 100 billion neurons. Each one of those neurons(remember, there's 100 billion of them) is connected to 1000 other neurons. That comes out to 100 trillion connections in your brain. These connections send electronic signals(and you can measure the electricity) from one place to another. If part of the brain is damaged and you lose some function that is controlled by that part of the brain, the brain can actually re-wire itself and let other neurons in the undamaged part of the brain take over so that you can get back that function. That's only the connections in the brain, not the rest of the body.
Our bodies also have tons of information in the DNA. You have enough information in your DNA to fill encyclopedia sized books stacked from here to the moon and back 500 times. Do you really think that came about by just random chance........kind of like a monkey typing out the works of Shakespear just by randomly plucking away at the keys?
Atheists need to step back and look at the big picture of what is being claimed by atheism and evolution, namely, that the unbelieveable complexity of the human brain(not to mention the rest of the body) is nothing more than rearranged pond scum. It’s pond scum from the original prebiotic soup rearranged over billions of years into 100 trillion connections in the brain by luck…..just random chance. Everywhere you look in the universe you see design. Where you see design you must have a designer. Only a God could design a universe. That's just common sense.
That's why 98% of the prison population believe in God. But if you were to take a survey of the house painters in this country, atheists would probably comprise about 2 % of the house painters. Does that mean that if we had more atheists in this world we'd have less house painters?

http://www.intouch.org/index_76034.html

http://www.livingwaters.com/listenwatch.shtml

Answer 5

BLAH BLAH BLAH I see this constantly there are various of element to evaluate a blanket assertion like yours is incomprehensible. a million. greatest element Are they calling themselves Christian via association (raised or had some adventure interior the church)or via prepare (practising the techniques on a on a daily basis foundation) 2. The numbers exchange 10% 12% 14% etc 3. the place are you getting your numbers from and are they a impartial source.

Answer 6

Chuck Colson`s Prison Fellowship is having a powerful impact on people`s lives, changing them for the better. Read his book, `Loving God`

Answer 7

the presence of someone in jail could not be accounted for the religion. it has to do much more with the attitude and mentality of a person. most crimes one sees is not attributed to religion but mostly to the workings of human mind and heart. its actually because of lower tolerance and acceptance. most crimes that are done are because of human emotions and sometimes a disorder. Crime doesnt depend on nationality or religion of a person, but it is more likely bonded with Human Emotions of -- anger, jelousy, revenge, love for someone, greed, etc.

Most serial killers have dysfunctional backgrounds. Frequently they are physically, sexually, or psychologically abused as children with there often being a correlation between their childhood abuse and their crimes.

The element of fantasy in serial killer's development is extremely important. They often begin fantasizing about murder during or even before adolescence. Their fantasy lives are very rich and they daydream compulsively about domination, submission, and murder, usually with very specific elements to the fantasy that will eventually be apparent in their real crimes. Others enjoy reading stories of sadism, packed with rape, torture and murder. In some cases, these traits are not present.

Some serial killers display one or more of what are known as the "MacDonald Triad" of warning signs in childhood. These are:

Fire starting, invariably just for the thrill of destroying things.
Cruelty to animals (related to "zoosadism"). Many children may be cruel to animals, such as pulling the legs off spiders, but future serial killers often kill larger animals, like dogs and cats, and frequently for their solitary enjoyment rather than to impress peers.
Bedwetting beyond the age when children normally grow out of such behavior.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer
this link also gives usual motives for crime -- although it is for serial killers it also applies to people comitting crimes as well.

Answer 8

Because they end up pondering on their life and finding God. There is a huge conversion to Islam in the US prisons.

Answer 9

Religion teachs the goods of life and living .If a person does believe in God and dont follow any religion ,then he/she can do anything if its working .We an Arabic prover states "If you dont feel shy ,you can do anything".

Answer 10

Because many people claim a faith for cultural purposes, rather than truly being adherents.