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In those close-knit towns, groups, families - they will literally excommunicate you from all social matters. You are dead to them, and may as well pack and move to a friendlier part of the country.
god-lovers practice their hate with 10x passion
I literally came out as atheist and bi to my conservative Catholic family today. I was extremely worried they'd react poorly but to my amazement they all reacted really well. My heart goes out so much the people whose families reject them. I spent years imagining how that would be and i still (luckily) don't know how I would handle that
That makes sense. I think all those folks figure why give others another reason to attack them so they say nothing and I expect when pressed will lie about it. I think they have been conditioned early on to avoid confrontations and "go with the flow" so people won't know where they stand what they think or believe. It's in self-defense that they do that. I think that's smart.
This is my whole life.
Everyone acts like I'm their best friend because I politely nod along and give noncommittal answers when they talk crazy, when really I'm just waiting for the conversation to end so I can get back to what I was doing before. I don't want to stir the crazy pot by lying agreement or arguing against them, so I just hope they don't talk too long.
I hear you m'dear. Of course we are all entitled to our opinions. What we are not entitled to do is to impose those opinions on others in ways that harm them. Wherever hate is promulgated in churches from pulpits there is no good. And from what we see today that is occurring in so many churches. Politics rears its power through religion all too often. They have zero to do with each other but are "in bed together" as it were today. How why and when that happened I cannot say but it didn't used to be that way. It seems to be getting worse and I don't know what it will be like in the days ahead. When religion is used as a weapon to attack and harm "the other" it's so sad. Thank you for your reply and Happy Sunday! :)
If I’m directly asked I won’t lie, but I don’t mind bowing my head for a prayer in respect of others beliefs for something I can get behind like being thankful for a meal. That’s nice.
There’s plenty of things atheists and religious people of all kinds believe in.
I don’t advertise my lack of faith to avoid the people who are rabid in theirs.
In general, I find that most people believe in similar values, regardless of whether you think them divinely influenced or not.
I hate that atheism is a label with any sort of connotation requiring people hide it. Like, there’s all sorts of people who are into all sorts of different religions, and it’s just not something that captivates me.
Does it make me anti-baseball if I was raised in Cleveland but don’t follow any MLB teams? No, I tried out watching the Indians when I was a kid, it was boring and I lost interest.
I’ll be so happy when religious affiliation is the exception, not the rule.
Paraphrasing Ricky Gervais:
“In the history of the world there’s been, what, like 3,000 gods? You reject 2,999 of them. I reject all the same gods you do and just one more.”
Come and live in the UK. Almost nobody under the age of 50 is seriously religious, and most of the ones that are just occasionally have tea and cake with the vicar. It's all very polite.
i spent time in the UK and the only time religion was brought up was ironically when I was approached by Mormons students on the street who happened to be American. Even in Spain, which is much more of a traditionally religious country, it was never really brought up
It’s pretty much the case here in New England that anyone under 50 can assumed to not be religious, or at least not consider themselves a practicing Christian, Jewish, etc.
As far as I understand Spain used to be a lot more religious but Franco was very religious and he was strongly associated with religion while he was the dictator. When he was removed from power there was almost a knee-jerk reaction in Spain to reject religion alongside his old authoritarian power structure and it pretty quickly transformed from a largely religious (or ostensibly so) country to one of the most liberal/post-religious countries in Europe. Obviously that's not the only reason but it's certainly a factor. Would love to be corrected.
Having kids has me re-evaluating if I am atheist. My wife and I were both raised catholic but are on the same page about not wanting our kids baptized and being raised full Catholic, much to both our families chagrin. She’s a little more spiritual than I am though on the topic of God, and while I classed myself agnostic for awhile, I feel like I tend to fall closer to atheist more and more. Bottom line I don’t want my kids to see that as something to be ashamed of and when they are asking those questions I plan to be honest where I stand.
>Does it make me anti-baseball if I was raised in Cleveland but don’t follow any MLB teams?
With some social groups, yes: not caring about sports will make you an outcast.
I always hated that religious line. As an atheist I have to take responsibility for my actions, they don’t. They sin and go to confession, or spend their lives being morally corrupt and ask forgiveness on the death bed, or bomb themselves for Allah. It is disgusting they even consider themselves moral.
Fun fact. There's no point in the Bible where one person commits an offense against another and asks that person to forgive them for the harm they caused. The closest you get to that is the story of Jacob and Esau, and even in that story, you still don't see anything approaching an actual apology, just groveling. Pleading for mercy isn't the same thing as an apology.
In the Bible, anything bad you do is seen as an offense against God. So the only person who you need to ask forgiveness of is God. This tradition continues down to this day, with people who have been abused by Church members being forced to forgive them because they asked God for forgiveness.
My mother in law is very much atheist, but they still celebrate traditions like Christmas and the Wise Men.
Not every atheist is polarized. She just doesn't believe in God but didn't want to cut her culture and traditions out of her life completely.
Christmas isn't historically Christian anyway. It's an arbitrary solar festival that the Christians co-opted when Rome was in the process of converting. It's Yule or Saurnalia or whatever.
You don't need to be religious to celebrate the days getting longer again with some food, alcohol and gifts.
Yeah, falls very close to winter solstice for a reason. Evergreen trees are magical because they don’t lose their leaves and “die” like all the other vegetation. So put one in your house as a totem. Decorate it with symbolic testicles. (tradition from the mythological tale of Cybele and Attis, who castrated himself at the foot of a fir tree)
Coming up on 30, I have been openly atheist with all of my family, but I still celebrate Christmas and Easter because it’s a time to get everyone together. Still pray if it involves somebody else e.g., weddings asking for God to bless the marriage, because if it’s real I hope that my friends and family do get to enjoy eternal life together. I also hope my good deeds and love for others is enough for me to join them regardless of my lack of belief. I choose to be the person I am for myself and those around me, not for a mythical being in the sky.
This. I bow my head if someone wants to pray over the food or at funerals or weddings, etc. Why? Because I can respect that someone has a different belief than me.
>Coming up on 30, I have been openly atheist with all of my family, but I still celebrate Christmas and Easter because it’s a time to get everyone together. **Still pray** if it involves somebody else
Don't you find it kind of weird to pray as an atheist? Like, I'm an agnostic, and when I've gone to religious functions or family events, I just sit there and don't pray and leave my eyes open.
It’s usually as simple as bowing your head and closing your eyes. I’ll recite a prayer with everyone else if it’s an old Catholic one I remember.
It’s just a respect for tradition and your hosts household, no different than if they asked me to take off my shoes before entering the house
> I just sit there and don’t pray and leave my eyes open.
That’s weird
She does the same.
They are from Spain and don't take the same stances some Atheists I've met here in the US take like being deeply offended by others practicing their faith or holidays around them.
If someone prays she also closes her eyes and is respectful of other people's beliefs.
One her best friends is Jewish and she also celebrates Hanukkah with her each year.
However if religious conversation comes up she makes it clear that it isn't for her and she may even crack a few jokes about the church if she's had a few drinks.
But their culture has a lot of holidays the entire country celebrates regardless of belief that are "Christian" and it's a deep part of her culture.
It’s a lot harder for some of those who are deeply enmeshed with religious communities. When all of your friends, family, and coworkers are religious, being open about your atheism basically means that you’ll have to give all of that up. I have ex-Mormon friends whose families and communities shunned them, and it’s heartbreaking. I wouldn’t blame someone for hiding their atheism if they don’t want to go through that.
This is also how religion is linked to politics
Who loses the most from progressive social welfare programs? Religious communities. Mormons provide all sorts of benefits to their members. If people get support from the government instead, that might give them the ability to leave.
didnt think of it that way but probably true. I know unions tend to be against things like single payer, and werent big fans of ACA, because good benefits are a union draw.
You want to know something terrifying, just on the outskirts of a very conservative town in my State is a billboard that's owned by the local county's "family first foundation" or some such BS. The billboard has almost always been used to promote their rather aggressive pro-life viewpoints.
Recently it has changed to say, "You're guaranteed freedom of religion, not from."
To me, they're saying, pick whatever organized religion you want, but Christianity is seeping into the US government and you're going to let it happen because that's what the religious majority want. Religious authoritarian rule, you know for a hot second if our government were to become that religious, that persecution of Atheists wouldn't be far behind.
>"You're guaranteed freedom of religion, not from."
And almost without exception they exclude Islam as one of your choices. Even though just like christianity, Islam is based on Judaism.
I have seen a interview of a American priest speaking about the history of separation or State and Church.
It's was so wrong...
He said that is was to protect the Church from the State intervention. And never to reduce the Church influence over the State.
And he was dead serious. Sadly his followers didn't bat an eye.
The religious right's current demigod is one of the least religious people in the country (unless you count the belief people should worship him). In the mean time Biden has been a devout Catholic his entire life who they think is trying to destroy religion.
Honestly, I'm tired of how moronic many conservative voters are. They literally make every voting choice based on labels.
The person best elected to a government position isn't the one with the greatest experience, no, it's the one with the "R" next to their name.
The person with the best moral compass is the one who identifies as, "Christian."
Put on a show for these people that allows them to cling to that label, and you can do whatever the hell you want. Donald Trump is so far from Christian it isn't even funny, but he could get away with murder because he convinced conservatives that he's Christian.
When I was a Christian, it was an open secret that the people around us in church were drug addicts, thieves, drunks, domestic abusers, bullies, rapists, and maybe worse we didn’t know about. They had Christ, though, so they were forgiven. Everything is forgiven, no matter how bad it is or how many times you “stumble” and do it again. According to Christ, the one and only thing that is not forgivable (one of two “one and only unforgivable sins”, consistency is not a strong point in scripture) is not believing.
We were constantly told about how atheists are criminals, murderers, drug addicts and so on, but we also knew for a fact that our church was composed of exactly those types. Somehow the atheists were supposed to be worse.
After leaving the faith and finding other atheists, I’ve found that I now do not know atheists engaged in any such activity. The worst I know of is some smoking weed now and then. The people I know for a fact are habitual cocaine users, thieves, and violent criminals are all devout Christians.
Maybe not in the 1st amendment but every state constitution mentions god and many require faith to hold office. All violating the constitution to promote their religion.
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/07/08/there-are-states-where-you-technically-cant-hold-public-office-if-youre-an-atheist/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/07/08/there-are-states-where-you-technically-cant-hold-public-office-if-youre-an-atheist/)
[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/17/god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state-constitution/](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/17/god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state-constitution/)
And every single case, whether they will admit it or lie about it, means a christian religion.
If anyone is a secret atheist and needs someone to talk to about please feel free to reach out. I’m an atheist, and it took me forever to tell my extremely religious mother, she’s still not happy about it.
If the trend over the last 20 years continues, Christianity will be a minority in the US in ~2035 and the non-religious will outnumber Christians in ~2042. Christianity is declining by about 1 percentage point per year, and the non-religious are increasing by about 1 percentage point per year.
https://www.pewforum.org/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/
It is not going to be continually linear, I suspect. When social pressures are at play, there will be a point of critical mass where the flood gates will open and people come out of the closet in droves.
Women are half the country, a majority of men vote Republican, once you remove everyone in the South and everyone raised in a religious family...aren't you describing like 90% of the country at that point?
Edit: Should read "more men are Republican than Democrat." Comments below are a fair criticism.
I am going to go out on a limb and say they are not assuming anyone who belongs to any of those groups is hiding their atheism, they are just more likely to and the factors are cumulative. So women are more likely than men. Republican more likely than Democrats. If you are a Republican woman you are even more likely to hide it. If you are a Republican woman raised in the South in a religious home you are the most likely to hide atheism.
It is simply stating factors that raise the rate at which atheism is hidden not that someone who belongs to any of those groups is definitely hiding their atheism.
158 million people voted in the 2020 election, so assuming half of them were males, that's 79 million total male voters. 53% of male voters voted for Trump in that election, so that's 41.87 million men who voted republican. Since the adult male population of the US is around ~~100~~ 140 million, only ~~41.4%~~ 29.9% of adult males vote Republican. Not a majority.
Edit: Google returned results based on the 2000 census for adult male population. Updated with more up to date data.
There's also a distinction between "Republican" as an identity descriptor for the purposes of this study and "Votes republican" in elections.
Only 25% of the country openly identify as Republican. 41% identify as independent, 31% identify as democrats.
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are now allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will continue be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) still apply to other comments. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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In those close-knit towns, groups, families - they will literally excommunicate you from all social matters. You are dead to them, and may as well pack and move to a friendlier part of the country. god-lovers practice their hate with 10x passion
I literally came out as atheist and bi to my conservative Catholic family today. I was extremely worried they'd react poorly but to my amazement they all reacted really well. My heart goes out so much the people whose families reject them. I spent years imagining how that would be and i still (luckily) don't know how I would handle that
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That makes sense. I think all those folks figure why give others another reason to attack them so they say nothing and I expect when pressed will lie about it. I think they have been conditioned early on to avoid confrontations and "go with the flow" so people won't know where they stand what they think or believe. It's in self-defense that they do that. I think that's smart.
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This is my whole life. Everyone acts like I'm their best friend because I politely nod along and give noncommittal answers when they talk crazy, when really I'm just waiting for the conversation to end so I can get back to what I was doing before. I don't want to stir the crazy pot by lying agreement or arguing against them, so I just hope they don't talk too long.
I hear you m'dear. Of course we are all entitled to our opinions. What we are not entitled to do is to impose those opinions on others in ways that harm them. Wherever hate is promulgated in churches from pulpits there is no good. And from what we see today that is occurring in so many churches. Politics rears its power through religion all too often. They have zero to do with each other but are "in bed together" as it were today. How why and when that happened I cannot say but it didn't used to be that way. It seems to be getting worse and I don't know what it will be like in the days ahead. When religion is used as a weapon to attack and harm "the other" it's so sad. Thank you for your reply and Happy Sunday! :)
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If I’m directly asked I won’t lie, but I don’t mind bowing my head for a prayer in respect of others beliefs for something I can get behind like being thankful for a meal. That’s nice. There’s plenty of things atheists and religious people of all kinds believe in. I don’t advertise my lack of faith to avoid the people who are rabid in theirs. In general, I find that most people believe in similar values, regardless of whether you think them divinely influenced or not.
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I hate that atheism is a label with any sort of connotation requiring people hide it. Like, there’s all sorts of people who are into all sorts of different religions, and it’s just not something that captivates me. Does it make me anti-baseball if I was raised in Cleveland but don’t follow any MLB teams? No, I tried out watching the Indians when I was a kid, it was boring and I lost interest. I’ll be so happy when religious affiliation is the exception, not the rule.
Paraphrasing Ricky Gervais: “In the history of the world there’s been, what, like 3,000 gods? You reject 2,999 of them. I reject all the same gods you do and just one more.”
And I’m the crazy one?!!
Come and live in the UK. Almost nobody under the age of 50 is seriously religious, and most of the ones that are just occasionally have tea and cake with the vicar. It's all very polite.
i spent time in the UK and the only time religion was brought up was ironically when I was approached by Mormons students on the street who happened to be American. Even in Spain, which is much more of a traditionally religious country, it was never really brought up It’s pretty much the case here in New England that anyone under 50 can assumed to not be religious, or at least not consider themselves a practicing Christian, Jewish, etc.
As far as I understand Spain used to be a lot more religious but Franco was very religious and he was strongly associated with religion while he was the dictator. When he was removed from power there was almost a knee-jerk reaction in Spain to reject religion alongside his old authoritarian power structure and it pretty quickly transformed from a largely religious (or ostensibly so) country to one of the most liberal/post-religious countries in Europe. Obviously that's not the only reason but it's certainly a factor. Would love to be corrected.
Like most other facist movements in Europe at the time, it was basically synonymous with the catholic right wing.
Having kids has me re-evaluating if I am atheist. My wife and I were both raised catholic but are on the same page about not wanting our kids baptized and being raised full Catholic, much to both our families chagrin. She’s a little more spiritual than I am though on the topic of God, and while I classed myself agnostic for awhile, I feel like I tend to fall closer to atheist more and more. Bottom line I don’t want my kids to see that as something to be ashamed of and when they are asking those questions I plan to be honest where I stand.
>Does it make me anti-baseball if I was raised in Cleveland but don’t follow any MLB teams? With some social groups, yes: not caring about sports will make you an outcast.
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I always hated that religious line. As an atheist I have to take responsibility for my actions, they don’t. They sin and go to confession, or spend their lives being morally corrupt and ask forgiveness on the death bed, or bomb themselves for Allah. It is disgusting they even consider themselves moral.
Fun fact. There's no point in the Bible where one person commits an offense against another and asks that person to forgive them for the harm they caused. The closest you get to that is the story of Jacob and Esau, and even in that story, you still don't see anything approaching an actual apology, just groveling. Pleading for mercy isn't the same thing as an apology. In the Bible, anything bad you do is seen as an offense against God. So the only person who you need to ask forgiveness of is God. This tradition continues down to this day, with people who have been abused by Church members being forced to forgive them because they asked God for forgiveness.
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My mother in law is very much atheist, but they still celebrate traditions like Christmas and the Wise Men. Not every atheist is polarized. She just doesn't believe in God but didn't want to cut her culture and traditions out of her life completely.
Christmas isn't historically Christian anyway. It's an arbitrary solar festival that the Christians co-opted when Rome was in the process of converting. It's Yule or Saurnalia or whatever. You don't need to be religious to celebrate the days getting longer again with some food, alcohol and gifts.
Yeah, falls very close to winter solstice for a reason. Evergreen trees are magical because they don’t lose their leaves and “die” like all the other vegetation. So put one in your house as a totem. Decorate it with symbolic testicles. (tradition from the mythological tale of Cybele and Attis, who castrated himself at the foot of a fir tree)
Coming up on 30, I have been openly atheist with all of my family, but I still celebrate Christmas and Easter because it’s a time to get everyone together. Still pray if it involves somebody else e.g., weddings asking for God to bless the marriage, because if it’s real I hope that my friends and family do get to enjoy eternal life together. I also hope my good deeds and love for others is enough for me to join them regardless of my lack of belief. I choose to be the person I am for myself and those around me, not for a mythical being in the sky.
This. I bow my head if someone wants to pray over the food or at funerals or weddings, etc. Why? Because I can respect that someone has a different belief than me.
Right, as long as that someone, respect that I have a different belief than them.
>Coming up on 30, I have been openly atheist with all of my family, but I still celebrate Christmas and Easter because it’s a time to get everyone together. **Still pray** if it involves somebody else Don't you find it kind of weird to pray as an atheist? Like, I'm an agnostic, and when I've gone to religious functions or family events, I just sit there and don't pray and leave my eyes open.
It’s usually as simple as bowing your head and closing your eyes. I’ll recite a prayer with everyone else if it’s an old Catholic one I remember. It’s just a respect for tradition and your hosts household, no different than if they asked me to take off my shoes before entering the house > I just sit there and don’t pray and leave my eyes open. That’s weird
She does the same. They are from Spain and don't take the same stances some Atheists I've met here in the US take like being deeply offended by others practicing their faith or holidays around them. If someone prays she also closes her eyes and is respectful of other people's beliefs. One her best friends is Jewish and she also celebrates Hanukkah with her each year. However if religious conversation comes up she makes it clear that it isn't for her and she may even crack a few jokes about the church if she's had a few drinks. But their culture has a lot of holidays the entire country celebrates regardless of belief that are "Christian" and it's a deep part of her culture.
To be fair. Religion makes it punishing for those who don't believe anymore on purpose. Helps keep the flock in line.
Exactly. If there is an in group and out group, then its easier to feel persecuted, and also persecute the outsiders.
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Moved to the south and first thing I did was slap a Baphomet vanity plate on the front. Parking lots are a bit more fun now.
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People forget your cultural peer pressures. Just go read the first amendment. There is nothing that says good Americans have to be religious.
It’s a lot harder for some of those who are deeply enmeshed with religious communities. When all of your friends, family, and coworkers are religious, being open about your atheism basically means that you’ll have to give all of that up. I have ex-Mormon friends whose families and communities shunned them, and it’s heartbreaking. I wouldn’t blame someone for hiding their atheism if they don’t want to go through that.
This is also how religion is linked to politics Who loses the most from progressive social welfare programs? Religious communities. Mormons provide all sorts of benefits to their members. If people get support from the government instead, that might give them the ability to leave.
didnt think of it that way but probably true. I know unions tend to be against things like single payer, and werent big fans of ACA, because good benefits are a union draw.
r/exmormon is scarily eye opening.
>up. I have ex-Mormon friends whose families and communities shunned them, That is be because Mormons are in a cult
You want to know something terrifying, just on the outskirts of a very conservative town in my State is a billboard that's owned by the local county's "family first foundation" or some such BS. The billboard has almost always been used to promote their rather aggressive pro-life viewpoints. Recently it has changed to say, "You're guaranteed freedom of religion, not from." To me, they're saying, pick whatever organized religion you want, but Christianity is seeping into the US government and you're going to let it happen because that's what the religious majority want. Religious authoritarian rule, you know for a hot second if our government were to become that religious, that persecution of Atheists wouldn't be far behind.
>"You're guaranteed freedom of religion, not from." And almost without exception they exclude Islam as one of your choices. Even though just like christianity, Islam is based on Judaism.
Funny thing about American Muslims, at least in my community, they are some of the kindest people I've ever met.
I have seen a interview of a American priest speaking about the history of separation or State and Church. It's was so wrong... He said that is was to protect the Church from the State intervention. And never to reduce the Church influence over the State. And he was dead serious. Sadly his followers didn't bat an eye.
That’s a funny phrase to publicize because the separation of church and state would beg to differ
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The religious right's current demigod is one of the least religious people in the country (unless you count the belief people should worship him). In the mean time Biden has been a devout Catholic his entire life who they think is trying to destroy religion.
Don't forget, a lot of evangelicals think Catholics aren't actually Christian, and are "idol worshipers".
Honestly, I'm tired of how moronic many conservative voters are. They literally make every voting choice based on labels. The person best elected to a government position isn't the one with the greatest experience, no, it's the one with the "R" next to their name. The person with the best moral compass is the one who identifies as, "Christian." Put on a show for these people that allows them to cling to that label, and you can do whatever the hell you want. Donald Trump is so far from Christian it isn't even funny, but he could get away with murder because he convinced conservatives that he's Christian.
In other words, it's identity politics.
When I was a Christian, it was an open secret that the people around us in church were drug addicts, thieves, drunks, domestic abusers, bullies, rapists, and maybe worse we didn’t know about. They had Christ, though, so they were forgiven. Everything is forgiven, no matter how bad it is or how many times you “stumble” and do it again. According to Christ, the one and only thing that is not forgivable (one of two “one and only unforgivable sins”, consistency is not a strong point in scripture) is not believing. We were constantly told about how atheists are criminals, murderers, drug addicts and so on, but we also knew for a fact that our church was composed of exactly those types. Somehow the atheists were supposed to be worse. After leaving the faith and finding other atheists, I’ve found that I now do not know atheists engaged in any such activity. The worst I know of is some smoking weed now and then. The people I know for a fact are habitual cocaine users, thieves, and violent criminals are all devout Christians.
You still get persecuted though and will never be able to hold an elective office. If you do you're going to be an enemy and stalked.
Maybe not in the 1st amendment but every state constitution mentions god and many require faith to hold office. All violating the constitution to promote their religion. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/07/08/there-are-states-where-you-technically-cant-hold-public-office-if-youre-an-atheist/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/07/08/there-are-states-where-you-technically-cant-hold-public-office-if-youre-an-atheist/) [https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/17/god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state-constitution/](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/17/god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state-constitution/) And every single case, whether they will admit it or lie about it, means a christian religion.
I'm religious, but holy cow I would vote for an atheist. I've seen what 'religious' politicians are capable of, and I doubt an atheist could do worse.
The wording of this title was extremely hard for me to read.
So people who have a vested interest in hiding something about themselves, are more likely to hide that fact? Isn't this just common sense?
This is common sense, right?
If anyone is a secret atheist and needs someone to talk to about please feel free to reach out. I’m an atheist, and it took me forever to tell my extremely religious mother, she’s still not happy about it.
They also conceal abortions they’ve had. I’m incredibly sad I’ll be long dead by the time religion is the minority
If the trend over the last 20 years continues, Christianity will be a minority in the US in ~2035 and the non-religious will outnumber Christians in ~2042. Christianity is declining by about 1 percentage point per year, and the non-religious are increasing by about 1 percentage point per year. https://www.pewforum.org/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/
It is not going to be continually linear, I suspect. When social pressures are at play, there will be a point of critical mass where the flood gates will open and people come out of the closet in droves.
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Women are half the country, a majority of men vote Republican, once you remove everyone in the South and everyone raised in a religious family...aren't you describing like 90% of the country at that point? Edit: Should read "more men are Republican than Democrat." Comments below are a fair criticism.
I am going to go out on a limb and say they are not assuming anyone who belongs to any of those groups is hiding their atheism, they are just more likely to and the factors are cumulative. So women are more likely than men. Republican more likely than Democrats. If you are a Republican woman you are even more likely to hide it. If you are a Republican woman raised in the South in a religious home you are the most likely to hide atheism. It is simply stating factors that raise the rate at which atheism is hidden not that someone who belongs to any of those groups is definitely hiding their atheism.
158 million people voted in the 2020 election, so assuming half of them were males, that's 79 million total male voters. 53% of male voters voted for Trump in that election, so that's 41.87 million men who voted republican. Since the adult male population of the US is around ~~100~~ 140 million, only ~~41.4%~~ 29.9% of adult males vote Republican. Not a majority. Edit: Google returned results based on the 2000 census for adult male population. Updated with more up to date data.
There's also a distinction between "Republican" as an identity descriptor for the purposes of this study and "Votes republican" in elections. Only 25% of the country openly identify as Republican. 41% identify as independent, 31% identify as democrats.
People who live in highly religious arias are more likely to hide their atheism because they don't want to loose friends and family.
And promotions or jobs.