Poll: ... to find out which religion yields most Atheists and Agnostics?

Question

for ATHEISTS & AGNOSTICS ONLY, please.

Had you not embraced Atheism / Agnosticism, why would your religion have been by virtue of birth? (What was your family's or their family's religion)

I have asked some queries about Atheism - and have received a large number of responses. Most of the responses were logical and helped me understand what the western concept of Atheism is about.

I hold that it is rare to find a Buddhist-Atheist and almost imporssible to find a Hindu-Atheist. I would surmise that >80% atheists are bred out of Christianity - but this is only a guess. I seek to learn more. So please respond - and if you know other Atheists / Agnostics, please also ask them to respond.

I will keep these question open for 72 hours and then try to add up the numbers and see where we arrive at. I expect a good participation from you because I find Atheists have no hang-ups and less fear of speaking out their minds.

Thanks in advance !!

Another Fkg typo:

The MAIN question is:
Had you not embraced Atheism / Agnosticism, WHAT would your religion have been by virtue of birth?

Skeptic: As usual, your queries are profound. The findings can be biased since the question is in English.
CAN SOMEONE ASK THIS QUESTION IN OTHER LANGUAGES and help me in this little research? If you wish to help, please e-mail me from my profile page. Thanks.

Machineh...

Careful. I, a Hindu, refuse to argue with you because your statement displays the level of intelligence you hold up there under your skull. I respect that for whatever modicum it denominates.

SKEPTIC:

Loved your suggestions. And I did put my Q on the Chinese website. I'm afraid, I could not proceed much - because it's too difficult to understand which link is for which. But see the results !!! Why is it so one-sided?

Answer 1

I was raised Southern Baptist Christian.

I practice contemplative spirituality, most intensively in Zen traditions.

I feel little need to identify as solely one religion.

I also feel "God" is a poetic expression for an experience that is too basic for words. I further see that that experience is at the foundation of both theistic (e.g., Christian) and non-theistic (e.g., Zen Buddhist) practice traditions.

I don't believe there is a God. I don't NOT believe there is a God. I very much suspect I understand why Christians like the Carthusian monk who wrote The Cloud of Unknowing say that there is a God and that they have experienced That. And also why Zen Buddhists suggest it's a waste of time to try and put it into words.


EDIT: A number of folks have suggested that Buddhists are essentially "atheists." That's not really accurate. The early Buddhists and modern-day Theravadins can be considered perhaps "agnostic," as they are not very concerned with metaphysical debates over the existence of a Creator. They, do, however, generally accept the idea of spiritual beings, and see the Hindu gods as in effect something like angels.

Pure Land Buddhists place faith in a Celestial Buddha (Amtibha/ Amida), with the expectation that such faith will result in their being born, through that Buddha's grace, into a Pure Land ("heaven") after this life. It seems unfitting to call Pure Land Buddhists "atheists."
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Answer 2

Excellent Question. I was brought up Christian my whole life in New Jersey. I received communion and confirmation. I went to Sunday school and have a mother who teaches it. My whole entire life has been complete lip service to the church. I do not pray when i am there, instead i focus on the architecture of the churches i end up in. It is a social norm to attend mass occasionally and it is pretty much mandatory to attend a funeral. So i believe that Christianity definitely yields the most atheists because many people who call themselves christian are not religious at all. Also, most Christians are from the United States and there is complete separation of church and government in the US. Because of this reason we are less likely to hear anything about religion in our everyday lives.

Answer 3

The answers you will receive to this question will be extremely biased.

You are writing on an English language site. Almost all English speakers are from overwhelmingly Christian nations.


(As for myself, my parents were Atheist and Agnostic).

Also ask yourself this: how many of the Buddhists you know do not believe in any Gods? They are in effect atheists.



EDIT: I emailed you some ideas... Hope you got them.

Answer 4

My parents raised us to make our own decisions. My mother is a Christian but my father is an atheist (I was not aware until I was an adult). I guess "by virtue of birth" I would have been Christian since I was born and raised in the Bible Belt and our town had no other religions back then.

Answer 5

My Mom is a Protestant and my Dad is Catholic. I was baptized in a United Church, that was the last time my parents ever went to church. I did go to church youth groups when I was in my early teens. Hmmmm.... confusing I guess I would have been a Unitarian? I would have been some type of Christian. Now I'm an atheist. Sorry if that is more information than you needed!

Answer 6

Baptized in an Episcopalian church, attended a Methodist church from 4-18. Stopped believing at 12 (church attendance was still mandatory until I left my mother's house).

The atheists I know personally are pretty evenly divided between: raised Catholic, raised Protestant, raised in no church.

I don't think Buddhists who are also atheists are all that rare, since the two aren't incompatible.

Answer 7

Origin: Christian

Now: Agnostic

Answer 8

I and my 3 siblings were raised agnostic. I am still agnostic. My sister became a Catholic and then a radical atheist. One brother has become Catholic. The other brother is Southern Baptist. My sister became Catholic because she went to a Catholic boarding school due to behavior problems, later decided to rebel against all things religious. The brother that became Catholic did it because he like all the rituals associated with Catholosism. The other brother moved to the Georgia and got hooked up with Southern Baptists.

Answer 9

My great grandfather on my mom's side was excommunicated from the Catholic church because he chose his children over his wife when she was at a bar instead of home watching them and one was badly injured. My Dad's side of the family were mostly Lutheran. My parents never talk about religion in any context and I never went to church so I am not sure. I would describe my parents as untheist not atheist.

Answer 10

predominately christian i guess. maybe this is because we are not forced into a religion, like years past, we have gone past that. and we are left with a free thinking world. who thinks beyond religion and thinks of mankind, Hindu's are peace loving people as are Buddhist, these people are not forced fed religion, their religion was first and foremost. leave you all to guess the most hateful religion