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Why so many Atheists White males?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Chuck., Aug 21, 2011.

  1. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    PZ Myers within the atheist community wonders why so few of them are people of color or women
    The problem of the oblivious white male atheist : Pharyngula

    95% of the Freedom from Religion Foundation members (4,000) are white - mostly male.

    Also > Atheists’ Diversity Woes Have No Black-and-White Answers - Beliefnet News

    Alexa the Web Information Company does web analytics on all sites and notes not many women lurk at:

    New Humanist Magazine
    Internet Infidels
    Atheist Ireland
    Samharris.org
    richarddawkins.net​


    Don't think any of the links sourced could be accused of being heavily biased, such as Alexa or BeliefNet.
     
  2. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    We apparently have the ability to spot a sham when we see one!
     
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  3. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

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    If women generally have the same attitude to religion that they have to cars, they're probably agnostics or atheists who don't frequent religious websites. (Like my wife).
     
  4. striker308

    striker308 Three time Prius owner

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    white males are the only one board enough to surf the web to find idotic surveys that gather this type of info.

    That or they just got tired of surfing porn, and decided a religous or anti religious site sounded good.
     
  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I would suggest looking for statistics to determine there is an educational and cultural demographic bias.

    If someone grew up in a very religious culture/community and lacks higher education then I would think they are more likely to remain religious. With education some may become atheist or agnostic. It really depends on the individual and how fearful they are about the repercussions of their beliefs. This is the opposite of how I grew up and with enough time spent studying religion I decided it was a just a human derived belief system meant to keep a community together. Too bad it doesn't work well.
     
  6. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    ^^ Yep.

    "White Male" is an association, not a cause. The largest 'white mail' sub-category is Jewish by the way, but I presume that is the same underlying cause -- education attainment.

    I wonder how what fraction of PhDs in science are atheists. My WAG is the majority, particularly if agnostics are included.
     
  7. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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  8. Southern Dad

    Southern Dad Active Member

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    As a white, male atheist I guess I resemble the statistic.


    ---
    - iPad ?
     
  9. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    I match the profile too:

    Professional education
    White Male
    Jew
    Atheist

    My wife and children are atheists too though, so they (for now) break the stereotype
     
  10. Maine Pilot

    Maine Pilot Senior Member

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    You might also ask why is it that more women than men believe in astrology or in fortune telling? I've heard that women are more "spiritual;" but why???

    As far as being religious, if you're a "boomer" or older, you'll probably remember that we were all subjected to "going to church" at an early , (read "influental"), stage of our lives. If we can accept the supposition that girls were more obedient to their parents than boys, it was only natural they would adhere to the tennents of their church.

    OK, that's my theory--go ahead and bash it, I can take it!
     
  11. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Or maybe they pretend to be, at least in sight of their parents. ;)
     
  12. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    Don't you think your belief would be received by all - not just white males?

    That's what is embarrassing PZ Myers.
     
  13. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    Oh, look! Another Atheist-bashing post from Chuck! Next: Somebody posts video on YouTube of cute cat.
     
  14. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    Just an observation: Wouldn't a valid belief approximate the demographics of the general population?
     
  15. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    According to the second article you linked to, 72% of nonbelievers are white. According to Wikipedia, whites make up 63.7% of the U.S. population (source: Demographics of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. That's about an eight percent difference. Big whoop.

    8% of nonbelievers, according to the article, are black. Compared with 12.6% total U.S. population that's black. Again, a 4.6% difference is negligible.

    11% of nonbelievers are Hispanic. 16.3% of U.S. population is. Only a 4.3 percent difference!

    Now, what was the question? Why are so few Republicans non-white? I don't know. You tell me.
     
  16. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    Stev0,

    In your cool, dispassionate logic, explain why predominately white Europe is secular but little atheism exists in Africa, Latin America, much of Asia.
     
  17. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    Because of the Christian missionaries who invaded Africa and Latin America and said "become Christian or die, heathen scum!"

    Yeah, they were in Europe first, which means Europe had more time to shake it off.

    As for Asia, they have a totally different concept of Religion. I would link to the article where I found that, but I like you so I'll make you happy by linking to this instead: [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_against_atheists]Discrimination against atheists - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame].

    See? You're not alone in your frothing-at-the-mouth blind hatred of nonreligious people!
     
  18. davesrose

    davesrose Active Member

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    It could be that more white males are atheists because they're more likely to be Swedish (one of the most atheist countries). Anecdotaly, many fundamentally Muslim countries have few atheists. What I think is interesting to see is some Catholic countries are more atheist then others....

    [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism]Demographics of atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

    [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups]Major religious groups - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
     
  19. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    Wow - just do some demographics and gender and ethnicity, and Stev0 reacts as if it were personal, mean-spirited, etc, like some of his ridicule posts in the Bible Quotes thread.

    He dodges the question of why atheism isn't more appealing in Latin America, Africa, much of Asia in a fit. Last I checked colonialism is long gone.
     
  20. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    He answered it exactly. Send missionaries over who tell them to believe X and in return get food, they will do whatever to get food. If you told them to believe they were alien spawn, they would say so to get food.

    Colonialism is not long gone and as education rises it becomes easier to accept life without magic. The sad reality is that most of these places can barely afford food let alone educating the masses.
     
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