Approximately 1 in 10 American Citizens are atheists.
Approximately 1 in 500 Inmates in American Prisons are atheists.
10% total population on the outside, 0.2% total population on the inside.
Approximately 8 in 10 American Citizens are Christian.
Approximately 400 in 500 Inmates in American Prisons are Christian.
80% total population on the outside, 80% total population on the inside.
All of this according to the ARIS 2001 poll. The numbers will do the talking.
Wow! - Interesting - I wonder if the shrinking number has anything to do with me getting shorter as I get older?
__________________
The one great fallacy of fundamentalism is that we actually believe that while we are confessing the sins of others that the Lord will not look as intently on our own.
As I have gotten older, I have tended to become less dogmatic over certain issues: "(1 Cor 2:2 KJV) For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."
Approximately 1 in 10 American Citizens are atheists.
Many of the people who took the poll wouldn’t answer honestly even to themselves, so you can't trust it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KnaverAbounds
Approximately 1 in 500 Inmates in American Prisons are atheists.
10% total population on the outside, 0.2% total population on the inside.
From what I have observed most people believe in something they call God, but most really don’t know anything about Him. Few people feel comfortable admitting to being an atheist because of superstitious reasons and fear of rejection. It’s more like believing in luck than having a real relationship with God, and many want to hedge their bet in case they are wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KnaverAbounds
Approximately 8 in 10 American Citizens are Christian.
Actually I believe there are more Richard Dawkins type Christians out there than real Christians. I believe that most people calling themselves Christian are Christian in name only. http://www.christiantoday.com/articl...tian/15475.htm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KnaverAbounds
Approximately 400 in 500 Inmates in American Prisons are Christian.
80% total population on the outside, 80% total population on the inside.
Go into the prisons and feel the Christian love, especially when the lights go out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KnaverAbounds
All of this according to the ARIS 2001 poll. The numbers will do the talking.
Are you saying that because you don't trust the way the poll was presented, or do you just not like the result?
I see nothing misleading about asking someone "What is your religion?" and besides, if religion is NOT a factor on how likely it is that you're a criminal, and if there's an even distribution of people who'll exaggerate their claims, then why does the ratio of in-prison atheists to theists not match the ratio of out-prison atheists to theists?
Even dropping the status of Christianity, we can look at it like this; 10% of Americans are atheist, which leaves 90% of them to be theist. 0.2% of prison inmates are atheist, which leaves 99.8 % of them to be theist. Now why does the percentage of atheists in the given sample drop by a factor of fifty? There could be several reasons.
1. It could be that criminals are less likely to be atheist.
2. It could be that our judicial system is biased in favor of atheists.
3. It could be that once an atheist goes to prison they're likely to "find God"
4. It could be that atheists (in general) are smart people and are less likely to commit a crime that would get them sent to prison than theists.
If you don't like reason #1, that's fine. It's a terrible blanket statement which I can't back up, so I think it would be fair to drop it if no one objects.
If you don't like reason #2, that's alright as well. I neither like it, nor think it's true. How would an institution which passes judgment on you based on your peers (90% of which are theist) and makes you swear on a Bible to tell the truth "so help you God" be at all biased in an atheist's favor?
If you don't like reason #3, please explain why. I think it would explain why so many atheists haven't found god (he's in prison?) However, it wouldn't explain all the horrible things that happen in prison, sodomy and murder being only at the top of the list, because a building that's full of people who believe in a god can't possibly be a bad place. In fact, the only building I know of that has a higher percentage of theists in attendance would be a church.
If you don't like reason #4, I have numbers to back it up. Mensa started putting an anonymous demographics questionnaire on their aptitude tests, and found that 30% of the applicants were atheist (making 70% theist.) The remarkable thing, is that 80% of those who reached the "Genius" benchmark of the exam were those who identified themselves as atheists. However, it's not fair to assume that the average atheist is to be more intelligent than the average theist, so let's take a look at the reasons why a minority of people constitute the majority of people who reach the highest level of this test.
1. It could be the opposite way around, instead of being intelligent because you're an atheist, it could be that you're an atheist because you're intelligent.
2. It could be that the test was heavily biased in favor of atheists.
3. It could have been that all the atheists cheated on the test.
4. It could be that very smart theists mistakenly checked the box next to "atheist."
5. It could be that those who have a higher level of critical-thinking and reasoning skills are just more likely to be atheist.
Of course, one could shrug this all off and say that people in general aren't "honest" about such things as religion, especially on anonymous demographics questionnaires. It then begs the question; does this mean that intelligent Christians are dishonestly identifying themselves as atheists? Would denying Christianity in this way really make them Christians at all? Or maybe its the other way around; maybe atheists are hiding under the guise of Christians so as not to alienate themselves from the majority of the population... but then that wouldn't account for the discrepancies we've seen in either of the situations I'm given.
Are you saying that because you don't trust the way the poll was presented, or do you just not like the result?
I don’t like the conclusions of data taken by a flawed poll. My argument is in the lumping of so many people together and calling them Christian as if they are all the same. And I do think the figures in the atheist camp would be much higher if people felt free to be honest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KnaverAbounds
3. It could be that once an atheist goes to prison they're likely to "find God"
If you don't like reason #3, please explain why. I think it would explain why so many atheists haven't found god (he's in prison?) However, it wouldn't explain all the horrible things that happen in prison, sodomy and murder being only at the top of the list, because a building that's full of people who believe in a god can't possibly be a bad place. In fact, the only building I know of that has a higher percentage of theists in attendance would be a church.
It is because they are calling some of the worst criminals in the world Christian, and they are not. A Christian should be someone who believes in and identifies with Christ, fears God, and attempts to be Christ like.
I was thinking earlier of how many people call themselves one religion or other but know nothing about the religion. If they grew in a family calling themselves Baptist, they will most often check the box Baptist when asked what religion they are.
The guy in this YouTube video called himself a Christian, but surely you recognize that he wasn’t Christ like at all.
4. It could be that atheists (in general) are smart people and are less likely to commit a crime that would get them sent to prison than theists.
If you don't like reason #4, I have numbers to back it up. Mensa started putting an anonymous demographics questionnaire on their aptitude tests, and found that 30% of the applicants were atheist (making 70% theist.) The remarkable thing, is that 80% of those who reached the "Genius" benchmark of the exam were those who identified themselves as atheists. However, it's not fair to assume that the average atheist is to be more intelligent than the average theist, so let's take a look at the reasons why a minority of people constitute the majority of people who reach the highest level of this test.
1. It could be the opposite way around, instead of being intelligent because you're an atheist, it could be that you're an atheist because you're intelligent.
2. It could be that the test was heavily biased in favor of atheists.
3. It could have been that all the atheists cheated on the test.
4. It could be that very smart theists mistakenly checked the box next to "atheist."
5. It could be that those who have a higher level of critical-thinking and reasoning skills are just more likely to be atheist.
1. Some of the smartest people in the world are Christian, so being smart doesn’t automatically make a person atheist.
2. I believe the tests are flawed for a lot of reasons, but atheists and non atheists don’t always answer truthfully when taking polls.
3. Reread #2
4. Some of the dumber atheists may have made a lot of mistakes, but that isn’t what skewed the test.
5. Some of the smartest people in the world are atheists, and some of the dumbest people in the world are atheists. It is very much the same with Christianity, so don’t think you are of a higher breed because you are an atheist.
I do believe that institutions of higher learning have begun turning out more atheists because that has become their bias. Atheists have a lot of good questions and really good answers, so when young people are finding their identity a dynamic professor can have a huge impact on them.
But facing the disappointment of mom, dad, family and friends, many people push those feelings down and don’t admit to any religion at all. But when asked they will most often check the believers box because that is the easiest thing to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KnaverAbounds
Or maybe its the other way around; maybe atheists are hiding under the guise of Christians so as not to alienate themselves from the majority of the population... but then that wouldn't account for the discrepancies we've seen in either of the situations I'm given.
That might account for why you wouldn’t like the kind of christian love you find in prison when the lights go out. Don’t you think if you are going to use these polls to make a statement about true Bible believing Christians, there should be some way to determine those like BTK and those who fear God and attend church?
Actually Dennis Rader was active in church, so church attendance doesn’t necessarily mean you are a real God fearing Christian.
When you lump everybody together who claim to believe in some god, you end up with a poll that has no real value.
It seems to me, that it doesn't matter to you what people identify themselves as, theologically. If you don't like them, they're automatically not Christian.
It's a handy defense mechanism for your faith, if someone does something murderous or wicked, you can point at them and say "Well, they weren't a REAL Christian to begin with." I've seen the believers on this site do the same thing to Christian homosexuals, Christians who've become atheists, and Christians who've landed in jail.
It must be great to be able to judge the religious tendencies of people you don't know just through whether or not you like the idea of them.
It seems to me, that it doesn't matter to you what people identify themselves as, theologically. If you don't like them, they're automatically not Christian.
It's a handy defense mechanism for your faith, if someone does something murderous or wicked, you can point at them and say "Well, they weren't a REAL Christian to begin with." I've seen the believers on this site do the same thing to Christian homosexuals, Christians who've become atheists, and Christians who've landed in jail.
It must be great to be able to judge the religious tendencies of people you don't know just through whether or not you like the idea of them.
So are you saying that you believe everyone who is labeled christian is really a Christian?
Does lifestyle make no difference to you when you lump people together and label them? I could agree with the numbers if they are counting atheists and non atheists.
But not all non atheists are Christians and some aren’t anything close. How many will say there has to be something but they don’t know what? How many will say they believe Jesus was a good man but not really the son of God?
What about all the other religions that the poll didn’t seem to consider?
Do you really believe that “Approximately 8 in 10 American Citizens are Christian”?
The poll says; “Approximately 1 in 10 American Citizens are atheists”.
Do you believe that 1 in 10 American Citizens make up all agnostics and all the other religions combined?
How many will say they believe Jesus was a good man but not really the son of God?
For a fact, Jesus was not any "Son of God." As to whether or not he was a good man, he was as any mere mortal: if he even existed at all, he had his faults and his flaws. Jesus was not perfect and he was not "sinless," by any definition of the term.
__________________
__________________
"And God said, you are responsible for the fish of the sea,
and the fowl of the air, and every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
For a fact, Jesus was not any "Son of God." As to whether or not he was a good man, he was as any mere mortal: if he even existed at all, he had his faults and his flaws. Jesus was not perfect and he was not "sinless," by any definition of the term.
__________________
So if they did a poll on how many antichrists we have in America what do you think the percentages would be?
The views and opinions expressed on this web site are not necessarily those of the Fighting Fundamental Forums management. This is an open and unmoderated forum. The content of each post is the sole responsibility of the poster. Participants are expected to follow the simple rules of the forum. Within these wide parameters various views are welcome to be expressed freely.
The college names used on the FundamentalForums.com web site are trademarks of their respective schools. The forums are not officially sanctioned by any of the institutions represented.
Linear Mode
