Is it true that there are very few elderly atheists?

Question

I saw this statement as an answer to a question...


Thoughts?

No, Kessie, that isn't the point at all.

Answer 1

I would think so. When people get to the point where they are so close to dying I think they have to start believing in God. Thats why some churches prey on the elderly, repeatedly reminding them they will die soon, however with a $300 contribution they are a lot more likely to go to Heaven. They hunger for something to save them and Religion is the answer.

Answer 2

I do not know of a study or a poll which would even hint as an answer, but off hand I would think the number would be high enough: I scanned a copy of "The Quotable Atheist" just now, in which a whole bunch of atheists are quoted. Listed were dates of birth and deaths, and a sizeable number were on up in years. Consider just three: Sartre, b. '05, died '80; George Bernard Shaw, b. 1856, d. 1950, and Mark Twain, b. 1835, d. 1910. Not spring chickens, eh?

Answer 3

I would imagine you could find a generational increase in believers, but that's got more to do with 1) increasing knowledge, 2) decreasing taboos, 3) increasing tolerance.

Going back, say, fifty or sixty years ago, atheists were almost an unmeasurably small minority. To balance that, of course, some people "lose their faith" as they get older (others "find" it), but you might say that people become less "searching" or "questioning" with age. So if you've made it to a certain age as a theist, you'll probably spend the rest of your life a theist.

Answer 4

I think that the ederly are more likely to have "found" god, so to say. But i also believe that they are not as worldly as the younger generations, which leads to them believing what their parents drilled into them. I myself, am 19 and i consider myself an atheist at this point. But i am not going to try to force my views on anyone because i simply don't know what to believe. I think it's ludicrous for someone to tell you that their religion is "right" or you should belive in it. There are so many out there....if i do eventually find religion i will chose the one that makes the most sense.

Answer 5

Okay...I'm 60 years old...what do you call "elderly"? At what age do I become "elderly"? But to answer your question, if I understand you correctly, you are asking whether we think that as people age, they become religious or more religious because they are "sick and week (sic)" as someone put it. Typical young person response. No, I do not believe that any more than I believe "there's no atheists in foxholes." I think that's what people who believe in God would LIKE to believe, but it's just not true. And I would differ with those who say "they get wiser." I got "wiser" and now I'm agnostic.

Answer 6

It might be true, but I would say that's more that people are afraid that their fragile egos will disappear for all eternity than any real belief in a deity.
People who are atheists based on logical thought and reason rarely change their mind and suddenly 'find jebus'. Only the 'Mad at god' crowd turn into raving religious fanatics.

PS Hi BR! Nice avatar!

Answer 7

The point of this statement is - what? That atheism is a 'new' idea? Or is it because the closer to death you become, the closer to a God?

In either case, I can only speak for myself which is to say I've been an atheist long before it became mainstream and as I've aged, that hasn't changed.

Answer 8

There are as many elderly atheists as there are elderly people of any religion. They may not 'talk about it as much' so it would seem there are fewer than there are of 'younger' ones who WANT to talk about it all the time ... I think that is called 'maturing' and I'm glad of it.

Answer 9

No, I never believed in God so i do no longer pass over him. as far as surviving loss of existence and living blissfully in Heaven in an afterlife, it is merely fake convenience, that's no convenience in any respect. no longer an extremely consoling concept besides, as though the Bible as Koran are to be believed Heaven is an extremely unique club and the infinitely merely and loving God/Allah is sending maximum individuals to Hell. i discover there is extra convenience available in understanding not one of the nasty factors of the quite a few theologies are actual. i discover convenience in being basic with myself. i discover convenience interior the theory that on the top of my existence i'm going to return to non-existence and that i won't ought to be around for the top of Earth and all the actual universe. I do know the experience of community that many churchgoing people have, yet church is merely one among many places people discover community.

Answer 10

I would imagine so... older generations tend to carry-out traditions and beliefs that they were raised on. Older people have closer ties to our ancestors. Modern religions have takin a turn because more of us... have taken in much more information and are permitted to our own beliefs.

Haha... For the "Thumb's Down?" I am in Religions of the World (college) it is a fact. Good Luck!