In America, atheists comprise 14% of the general population but comprise only 2 % of the prison population.?

Question

In other words atheists are 7 times less likely to commit a crime than a person who believes in God.
On this basis should not people stop believing in God/Allah etc.

Answer 1

People should base their belief in God/Allah/FSM on whether they think it's real or not.

Isn't the average IQ of prison inmates lower than the average IQ of the population at large? There's a proven correlation between IQ and atheism with few low IQ people being atheists - maybe the high number of lower IQ people in prison skews the numbers towards theists? I would not take this to mean atheists are more moral, just that it takes more reasoning power to become an atheist if you were raised theistic than it does to just stay what your parents are.

Or the percentage of atheists in prison is representative of the general population but they, like many atheists in the rest of society, must be extra careful to hide their atheism for personal safety? To be totally blunt, who would admit to being an atheist in prison? I can't even safely admit to being an atheist at my job and there are no murderers or rapists in my office.

Answer 2

BLAH BLAH BLAH

I see this all the time there are so many factor to consider a blanket statement like yours is meaningless.

1. Biggest factor Are they calling themselves Christian by association (raised or had some experience in the church)or by Practice (Practicing the principles on a daily basis)

2. The numbers change 10% 12% 14% etc

3. Where are you getting your numbers from and are they a neutral source.

Answer 3

I don't know about the accuracy of your statistics, but they ring true, if someone is a declared atheist then they have probably done a lot of thinking for themselves, this sort of thinking would also help them to realise that there are better ways to make a living than by crime, also they would also be less liable to act like a mindless thug.
Mindless thuggery is very close to unquestioning belief.

Answer 4

Atheist don't declare themselves as Atheist in records, so prison athorities just check the records to see what religion a person is, even if he is actually an atheist. So I don't this statistics is correct. Anyway, this is not a good reason to believe in evolution and reject God.

Answer 5

1. Where did you get those numbers? According to most stats I've seen, the athiest population is closer to 1-2% nationwide.

2. Don't forget that prisonser often start attending chapel or meeting with clergy because it gives them something to do. By law, we have to provide access to religious resource. How many of them declare a religious affiliation because they want out of their cell for more time?

Answer 6

I don’t know the answer to this but I believe it is more like only 0.2% come on don’t make look even worse to these people. But the percentage is a lot greater for Christians Something like 40%

Answer 7

You've been mislead. Go here for the TRUE statistics:

http://www.adherents.com/misc/adh_prison.html

What you must also understand is that a person in prison may SAY they have a religious affiliation, but if they don't visibly PRACTICE their belief, they're falsely claiming that affiliation. Therefore, if we re-adjust the statistics, you'll see that, overwhelmingly, atheists and non-religious inmates outnumber truly religious inmates.

Peace.

Answer 8

Absolutely not. However this is pertinent information, important for dispelling the myth that atheists are morally lacking.

Blessed Be

Answer 9

not a basis...but shows how hypocrite people can be