I wonder if the number of Atheists on here is because they tend to be more isolated than religious people?

Question

What do you think? To me, it makes sense, because Atheists don't have a gathering place like a church or whatever to discuss their beliefs, so they go one here more.

The reason i say this is because i constantly see questions bashing atheists whose answers, the pro-atheist ones at least, seem to have tons more Thumbs-Ups than any other type of question.

Or perhaps atheists stick together more, so there just seems like there's a disproportionately large number of them on here because they show their support more often with the thumbs-up's.

How do you use the thumbs up function? No, wait, i'll ask another question about that...

Anyway, whaddaya think?

To those that say that there are as many theists on here as atheists... Exactly!

the number of atheists in the United States is supposedly less than 5%, i don't have the exact figures, but that's the supposed figure. even if it were 20%, that would still mean there was a disproportionately large number of them. i mean, shouldn't it be 95% theists? that's just the point I'm making.

Ok... i see i've misrepresented my ideas...

First of all, i'm and Atheist.

Second, I am not bashing Atheists. I am not saying we are "crying alone in a corner waiting for someone to come along and make everything better."

I am simply looking at the difference between actual prevalence of atheists in the US and comparing it to the prevalence of atheists in this section.

And i mean isolated religiously, not isolated in general. i'm postulating that since atheists are vastly outnumbered, we find other ways to come together to express our ideas with like minded people, a function which is fulfilled by church or mosque or whatever for religious people.

I repeat, i am NOT bashing atheists. I am one myself, for god's sake (no pun intended, =P)

Answer 1

i believe you may be right in the sense that athiests have no nationwide gathering place, we are a bit more isolated (from other athiests, not people in general as i have a huge circle of friends and am extremely outgoing) and it is more difficult to come together as a group in the real world.

but there are *proportionally* just as many thiests on this site (as in the entire site of yahoo answers) as athiests. anyway, i think a lot of the questions that athiests end up in are posed specifically to athiests, so you will see a majority of athiestic answers there, but not so much say for a question about say islam.

one reason that could account for the more thumbs up is that most athiests are closely related in their thoughts, so if someone sees a post that is quite similar, instead of reposting the same thing they might just give a thumbs up.

now thiests have so many varying opinions within their own beliefs so maybe they want to add their own opinion if it varies with others already posted.

just an idea.

plus i think we are passionate about defending ourselves from some thiests who constantly condemn us to a hell we don't belive in, and just as thiests support each other, so do we.

"And i mean isolated religiously, not isolated in general. i'm postulating that since atheists are vastly outnumbered, we find other ways to come together to express our ideas with like minded people, a function which is fulfilled by church or mosque or whatever for religious people. "

^ i completely agree with you there.

Answer 2

Greetings! Actually, I think that the reverse is true. The further isolated, the more likely a person is to become fundamentalist. A person that is isolated would take a few of those pointers that may be extracted from the bible or Book of Mormon or the Koran and delude it into their own belief system. The Branch Davidians were in an outpost outside of the town of Waco, TX (not exactly a metropolis). Also, there are fundamentalist churches in isolated parts of Idaho and Montana that have a mixture of Christianity and Nazi blended.

You are very likely to find athiests to be very well educated and taught how to ask questions in ways that have many religious leaders stymied. There are many world religions that are studied and each have their own version of utopia or Heaven as well as Hell and damnation.

Athiests believe there is no God, simply put. This comes about for many reasons, but usually when the questions they ask either cannot be answered or is answered in religious hyperbole or rhetoric.

Speaking for myself as an agnostic, I believe that God does exist, but what or who exactly God is, no one has the right idea. Whether you believe in science and evolution or God and creationism, something had to get the ball rolling.

The scriptural texts around the world may have had God as
their insight, but were written by men who had flaws or prejudices and therefore deluded the actual meaning of the so called "word of God" into their own texts. I do not believe that any religion is immune from this flaw.

Also, I believe that all religions have some sort of human or spiritual truths so unique that one religion cannot be "superior" to another.

And to go back to your question, I have lived in the SF bay area for over forty years and was reared as a Protestant.

Hardly an isolated area.

Hope this helps your question. Take care.

Answer 3

Did you answer your own question? If there are so many atheists on this forum, why are there so many atheist bashing questions? I would think there are more non atheists.

Where do you get your info that atheists are more "isolated" than religious people?

Thumbs down on anti atheist answers might be due to the poor answer rather than whether the rater is an atheist.

Poor reasoning and logic on your part. No wonder you believe in myths, fairy tales, and great powerful beings who take care of you.

Answer 4

I don't feel that athiests are any more isolated than anyone else. If I had to guess why there are more athiests answering questions about athiesm, I would say that would be the same reason that Christians answer questions about Christianity, or why accountants answer questions about accounting. People are going to answer questions on subjects that they feel they know the most about.

You're also going to get a reaction any time you ask a question that "bashes" anyone. There is a difference between intelligently disagreeing with someone's point of view and ignorantly refusing to see the other person's point of view.

Answer 5

If you took an absolute poll, I think you would find that the percentage is pretty much 50/50. And once again, I would like to try to dispel the idea that all us atheists are crying in a corner in the dark hoping something will come along to make our lives better! I'm not isolated. One of the reasons I'm on here is because I LIKE people and conversing with them, whether they agree with me or not. I can meet a lot more people here than riding the bus or going to the store. Everyone's immediate circle of friends is limited by their lifestyle, whether one of their groups is a congregation of a certain sect or not.

Answer 6

Speaking for myself only, I am definitely not isolated. Sometimes I wish that I was, because it gets exhausting talking to so many people all of the time, I feel like I never have any time to myself. I am related to a few christians, but for the most part, at least 95% of my friends and family are either atheist, agnostic, or non-practicing, non-pushy, christians.

Answer 7

Atheists may very well be isolated in many places, but not where I am. I come here because I like to talk about religion and spirituality - and for the cheap entertainment. As for the ratio of believers to non-believers, it seems to vary from hour to hour. It goes in cycles.
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Answer 8

Have you any idea how many basement dwellers play World of Warcraft online? Trust me, its way more than the few atheists who hang here when not looking for Christian babies to eat.

Since we don't believe in religion, we can hardly feel 'religiously isolated' can we?

Answer 9

You have something of a point here, I think. It's not often that I meet atheists in life, so I like coming here because there are a lot of atheists here. And yeah, I think there's a definite feeling of solidarity among atheists on R&S.

Answer 10

I think it is very stupid to say that and quite ofending really! We are not more isolated! We are, if anyhing, less isolated as we can meet with just anyone, regardless of their religion!and what exactly is 'pro-atheism'? unlike some people, I think most atheist are quite open and don't really care what people believe in....I understand the need for religions and the historical background to them and sometimes wish I believed in something....I just don't!