Atheism, divorce, love and poor interpersonal skills

The atheist divorce rate is a steep 37%.

For more information, please see: Atheism and divorce

The atheist divorce rate is a steep 37%. Additionally, 51% of atheists are likely to cohabit and 31% of atheists never actually get married. Christian apologist Michael Caputo wrote: "Recently the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has published its mammoth study on Religion in America based on 35,000 interviews... According to the Pew Forum a whopping 37% of atheists never marry as opposed to 19% of the American population, 17% of Protestants and 17% of Catholics."

According to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) over 50% of all atheists and agnostics don’t get married. See also: Atheism and marriage

Scientific research has demonstrated that active churchgoers are "35% less likely to divorce than those who have no religious preferences".

The fertility rate is significantly lower in the atheist population (see: Atheism and fertility rates).

As far as atheists and divorce, Vox Day wrote in his book The Irrational Atheist about atheist Daniel Dennett's arguments related to divorce:

“

Dennett further claims that “brights” have better family values than born-again Christians based on “the lowest divorce rate in the United States” which depends on the flawed 1999 Barna study instead of the 2001 ARIS study he makes use of later in the book, a much larger study that reaches precisely the opposite conclusion. It is certainly a quixotic assertion, considering that these family value atheists are half as likely to get married, twice as likely to divorce, and have fewer children than any other group in the United States... Barna calculated divorces as a percentage of the entire group, not as a percentage of marriages within that group. Since according to ARIS 2001 more than half of all atheists and agnostics don’t get married, this is an apple-orange comparison. If one correctly excludes the never-married from the calculation, then atheists are 58.7 percent more likely to get divorced than Pentecostals and Baptists, the two born-again Christian groups with the highest rate of divorce, and more than twice as likely to get divorced than Christians in general.

”

Other atheism and divorce statistics

See also: Atheist marriages and Atheism statistics

As far as atheism and divorce, the social researcher and author Shaunti Feldhahn found that those who attend church regularly have a significantly lower divorce rate than those who don’t. Feldhahn conducted eight years of research on divorce statistics and examined U.S. Census data, data from various university centers and relevant books/journals. In addition, Feldhahn interviewed social science researchers about their methodology and to confirm various quotes.

True Freethinker is a Christian apologetics Facebook page run by Ken Ammi which offers many refutations of atheism.

Furthermore, the Christian apologist Ken Ammi wrote in his atheism article at Creation Ministries International:

“

“According to Barna, ‘Forty-two percent of adults who associate with a faith other than Christianity had co-habited, while atheists were the most likely to do so (51%). “It is critical to stress that it is a well known fact that cohabiters experience a very high number of ‘breakups’ before getting married. ‘Millions of people … believe that cohabitation is a prelude to marriage. And for many, it is. However, Smock reports that 45% of cohabitations break up with no marriage. Another 10% continue cohabiting.’ “Barna did not include this enlightening fact in his research. Thus, if 21% of atheists divorce after marriage, and 45 % break up once or more before marriage, what we have is the astounding rate of about 66% of atheist couples experiencing ‘at least’ one break up. If, however, the number is 37%, then we have a shocking figure of 82% … “What needs mentioning is the fact that many atheists do not cohabit as a prelude to marriage. They in fact see cohabitation as ‘equivalent’ to any marriage relationship … These break ups were not included in the Barna research … “The appellation ‘Christian’ a Christian does not make. There are great numbers of people in this world who call themselves ‘Christians’ but have never internalized the teachings of Jesus Christ." …

”

Atheism, divorce and poor interpersonal skills

The new atheist Richard Dawkins was leading figure in the Elevatorgate controversy.

Richard Dawkins has been divorced three times. See: Richard Dawkins and women

Atheists have poor social skills (See: Atheism and social skills). According to an international study done by William Bainbridge, atheism is frequent among people whose interpersonal social obligations are weak and is also linked to lower fertility rates in advanced industrial nations (See also: Atheism and fertility rates). In 2017, the atheist PZ Myers, quoting fellow leftist Alex Nichols, wrote: "...the growing popularity of jibes associating outspoken atheists with fedoras, neckbeards, and virginity, led to an exodus of liberals and leftists from the “atheist” tent. Those who remained for the most part lacked in social skills and self-awareness, and the results were disastrous."

In 2021, Sandra Aponte, MA, RMHCI wrote the article The 4 Communication Styles That Lead To Divorce With 90% Accuracy which indicated:

“

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are considered metaphorical figures in the New Testament’s final book of Revelation. Written down by John of Patmos after receiving a vision from God, they detail pestilence, war, famine, and death — kicking off a divine countdown for the end of the world and the Last Judgement. Inspired by the ominous signs of this biblical vision, Dr. John Gottman describes his divorce-predicting research by the same name. More specifically, the communication styles that predicted the end of a relationship with 90% accuracy. His incredible research was completed with the assistance of 3,000 couples — who he followed and studied for over 20 years. As such, he was able to predict which couples would stay together, and which ones would end up divorcing within 6 years of the wedding. The four communication styles were: Criticism: when you attack or criticize the character of your partner Defensiveness: a response to criticism — it is when you come up with excuses and play the victim Contempt: when you make your partner feel worthless through disrespect and non-verbal cues Stonewalling: a response to contempt — it is when you shut down, stop responding to your partner and completely withdraw

”

Irreligion and domestic violence

Research suggests that irreligiousity is a causal factor for domestic violence.

See also: Irreligion and domestic violence

The abstract for the 2007 article in the journal Violence Against Women entitled Race/Ethnicity, Religious Involvement, and Domestic Violence indicated:

“

The authors explored the relationship between religious involvement and intimate partner violence by analyzing data from the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households. They found that: (a) religious involvement is correlated with reduced levels of domestic violence; (b) levels of domestic violence vary by race/ethnicity; (c) the effects of religious involvement on domestic violence vary by race/ethnicity; and (d) religious involvement, specifically church attendance, protects against domestic violence, and this protective effect is stronger for African American men and women and for Hispanic men, groups that, for a variety of reasons, experience elevated risk for this type of violence.

”

Also, a quote from the journal article Race/Ethnicity, Religious Involvement, and Domestic Violence:

“

Another line of thought suggests that religious people may be less likely to perpe- trate domestic violence (Fergusson, Horwood, Kershaw, & Shannon, 1986). A 1999 study of U.S. couples found that both men and women who attend religious services regularly are less likely to commit acts of domestic violence than those who attend rarely or not at all (Ellison et al., 1999). A follow-up study identified three pathways through which religious involvement may operate; namely, increasing levels of social integration and social support, reducing the likelihood of alcohol or substance abuse, and decreasing the risk of psychological problems (Ellison & Anderson, 2001). However, even after considering such indirect effects of religion through the use of sta- tistical controls, that study found that regular religious involvement still had a protec- tive effect against the perpetration of domestic violence by both men and women (Ellison & Anderson, 2001). In addition, that study showed that evidence of such pro- tective religious effects persisted regardless of whether domestic violence was measured using data from self reports or partner reports, which makes it difficult to attribute these observed religious effects to simple social desirability or other response bias.

”

Secular Europe and domestic violence

See: Secular Europe and domestic violence

Atheism, divorce and unforgiveness

See also: Atheism and forgiveness

According to the psychologist Terry Gaspard, MSW, LICSW: "Recent studies have shown that forgiveness is an essential component of successful romantic relationships. In fact, the capacity to seek and grant forgiveness is one of the most significant factors contributing to marital satisfaction and a lifetime of love."

Jesus Christ and his apostles taught a gospel of love.

Christian theology emphasizes the importance of love and forgiveness. As adults, children who attended religious services regularly are 87 percent more likely to possess high levels of forgiveness and are also 47 percent more likely to have a high sense of mission and purpose. On the other hand, the atheistic worldview provides no basis for forgiveness (see: Atheism and forgiveness). Within the Western atheist population, there is very high levels of division/infighting (see: Atheist factions).

The atheist Neil Carter wrote:

“

Friends of mine have noted lately how biting and critical the atheist community can be, not only toward outsiders, but even toward its own members. Has there ever been a subculture more prone to eating its own than this one? I really don’t know... At least Christians have to pay lipservice to forgiveness because they believe it’s what God wants from them. Do atheists have any such compunction? I fear that we have no mechanism which compels us as a community to be kind to each other, to speak to one another with respect

”

Atheist Todd Steifel, a donor to atheist organizations, admits theists are "much more more able to forgive sin" and says that the atheist movement is weak. See also: Decline of the atheist movement

Jesus Christ and Christendom have emphasized the importance of forgiveness and in the last few decades mental health specialists have increasingly seen the importance of forgiveness to alleviate bitterness and other emotional problems within individuals.

As adults, children who attended religious services regularly are 87 percent more likely to possess high levels of forgiveness. See also: Atheism and emotional problems

John Lennox on atheism having no basis for forgiveness

John Lennox

Miriam Diez Bosch, who interviewed Christian apologist John Lennox wrote:

“

Where creation has become dehumanized, the core concepts of faith — mercy and forgiveness — become meaningless and irrelevant, says Lennox. “It is one of the reasons why I am a Christian, because atheism has no forgiveness, of course, and no ultimate justice. The genius of Christianity is that the acceptance does not come after the final Judgment, it comes at the start, because God has done something in Christ that deals with my central problem of guilt. I live my life not to gain God’s acceptance, but because I have got it as a free gift.” This acquaintance with mercy begets mercy, “always. I want every day and every year to be a Year of Mercy and I am glad to see that emphasis because this is the Christian Gospel: God in his grace has shown mercy to us. It is not something I deserve, it is something God offers.”

”

James S. Spiegal and unforgiveness as a cause of atheism

See also: Causes of atheism and Atheism and bitterness and Atheism and love

The Apostle Paul taught about love that "it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered.." (1 Corinthians 13:5 NASB). See: Atheism and love

The Christian Post reports about the Christian philosopher James S. Spiegel's book The Making of an Atheist: "Spiegel, who converted to Christianity in 1980, has witnessed the pattern among several of his friends. Their path from Christianity to atheism involved: moral slippage (such as infidelity, resentment or unforgiveness); followed by withdrawal from contact with fellow believers; followed by growing doubts about their faith, accompanied by continued indulgence in the respective sin; and culminating in a conscious rejection of God."

Atheism and love

See also: Atheism and love

Most atheists likely live in East Asia (see: Asian atheism).

A beggar in Cambodia. In Cambodia, the vast majority of the population adheres to a nontheistic form of Buddhism called the Theravada school of Buddhism.

A comprehensive study by Harvard University professor Robert Putnam found that religious people are more charitable than their irreligious counterparts.

From a moral, metaphysical and spiritual perspective, atheists have an inability to satisfactorily explain the existence of love.

From a moral, metaphysical and spiritual perspective, atheists have an inability to satisfactorily explain the existence of love. See also: Atheism and morality

Dr. Taylor Marshall wrote about atheism and love:

“

All my atheist friends and family members believe in “love.” But what is love? Here’s a question: If humans have no soul, and are merely evolutionary advanced animals, is ‘love’ anything more than instinct or hormones? ....if love is not exclusively religious, then what is it? Let's explore the two most basic forms of love: love of a parent for a child and the nuptial love between husband and wife. When mommy says to her one year old, “I love you,” the atheist says she is not expressing anything metaphysical or spiritual. In fact, says the atheist, the mother is verbalizing the instinct to preserve her species, just as a mommy zebra protects and fosters the growth of the baby zebra. That’s it. Nothing more. It is instinct combined with verbal tags. When a parent “loves” her child, she is just adding a verbal cue to an advanced evolutionary instinct to carry on the species. The same empirical reality is true between two lovers. For the atheist, nothing sacramental, metaphysical, or spiritual is happening in a loving relationship. The two don’t “become one flesh” as we say in Biblical and matrimonial language any more than a rooster and a hen “become one flesh.” When a man says, “I love you,” to his wife, he is simply expressing something about his hormonal levels toward her as a mate. What he is really saying is, “My hormones surge for you,” not “You are my soul mate,” because the atheist doesn’t believe in souls or metaphysical connections between humans. Incidentally, a man’s hormones might start surging for another woman (or several women) at some point. The same man might also be ready to say, “I love you,” to these new women, too.

”

A Christian apologist wrote about atheism and love:

“

It seems that atheist naturalism struggles to present an adequate account of ‘love’. It is certainly difficult to describe love from a purely ‘scientific’ perspective. i.e. it is not something we can see, measure,taste or touch. Tepper presented a couple of atheist attempts at describing what love is (from sources such as asktheatheist,com and daylightatheism). They proposed that love is an abstraction, it is a subjective feeling, it doesn’t have any physical manifestation, it speaks of an internal state of the mind – perhaps it isn’t rational? According to the atheist it seems that love is simply chemical reactions. But is love simply chemical reactions? I wonder if this is too reductionistic? Yet if we accept this, that love is simply chemical feelings, the outcome becomes unsatisfactory. Tepper went on to suggest that if love is only a feeling it leads to a consumerist attitude – ‘love’ becomes what I can get out of it. Hence relationships only last as we benefit from them. ‘Love’ only lasts as long as the feelings. Yet humans hunger for more, humans want love to go beyond the transient. True love transcends the feelings and in some cases when we feel true ‘love’ we sense an aspect of the spiritual that atheism can’t explain. Tepper argued that the best source of this ‘love’ is God. 1 John 4 describes ‘God as love’. She said that love comes in relationship (we can’t love being alone) and God is love because God is Trinity. She went on to propose that love is never self-centred, in fact love is sustained through self-sacrifice (we wouldn’t have many friends if love is all about me).

”

The Christian website Good to those who love God declares:

“

Atheists believe in the evolutionary theory that everything a person does can be linked to either the drive to survive or the drive to reproduce. And they do mean everything. They believe that a child loves his mother because the mother is needed for survival; a man loves a woman because she can help him reproduce; people do good deeds because it keeps them from being killed by those who might otherwise dislike them; etc. Christians, on the other hand, do good deeds through the compassion that is taught in the Bible. Going to heaven is simply the icing on the cake.

”

Atheism and romantic love

See: Atheism and romance and Atheism and marriage and Atheist marriages

British study finds atheists and scientists to be the least enthusiastic about Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine's Day cake.

An study done by the British website Freedating.co.uk reported about attitudes regarding Valentine's Day:

“

Both Tory and Labour voters are about as unromantic as you can get, beaten only by atheists and scientists... So says our latest survey, which looked our users' attitudes to Valentine's Day - 6,878 of them in all. We asked them to rate how important they thought the most romantic day of the year was, and combined their answer with anonymised data from their dating profiles. Our statistician crunched the numbers, and pulled out any links between the kind of information you find in a typical dating profile, and whether or not those people were enthusiastic fans of Valentine's Day. - Women overall are significantly more enthusiastic than men, nearly 10% so. - A strong interest in any political party, other than the Liberal Democrats, is linked to a decreasing interest in this international day of romance. - Whether or not men are religious is highly polarizing, with Christians and Catholics being amongst the most positive, and Atheists and Agnostics being amongst the most negative.

”

Atheism, divorce, dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes, sexual satisfaction, addiction and irrationality

See: Atheism, divorce, addiction, sexual satisfaction, social skills, dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes, and irrationality

Atheism, divorce and its effect on children

See also: Divorce, single-parent households and its negative effects on children

The prestigious Mayo Clinic found that that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better physical health, mental health, health-related quality of life and other health outcomes.

MedcineNet.com's article What are the effects of single parenting on a child? notes:

“

Developmental Problems Many developmental problems for children of single parents revolve around their progress in school. They tend to get lower grades, and their dropout rate is higher than their counterparts from two-parent families. Single parents are more likely to work more hours to make ends meet. They often don't have enough time to assist the child with their schoolwork. Children who have to work to help pay expenses have less time to focus on their schoolwork. Economic Hardships Plentiful economic resources allow parents to meet their children's economic needs. When there are two parents in the home, they can pool resources and are less likely to struggle with insufficient income. Single-parent families are more likely to experience financial problems because they only have one earner. Single-parent children can feel frightened, stressed, and frustrated by the difference between their lives and their friends'. Psychological Effects Children of single parents are more prone to various psychiatric illnesses, alcohol abuse, and suicide attempts than children from homes with two parents. One of the common reasons for single parenting is divorce. It's not uncommon for children to be exposed and even drawn to the conflicts between the parents during and even after divorce, which may leave children feeling lonely, abandoned, and even guilty. Single parents are more likely to experience disruptions such as moves and remarriage. Major changes can affect the children. Kids do well in a controlled environment. Any emotional turmoil and uncertainty may lead to increased psychological problems.

”

As an atheist, the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer engaged in cannibalism. See also: Atheism and cannibalism

Atheism and mental illness is an increasingly important topic of study in light of the growing list of atheist shooters and serial killers.

The abstract for the journal article Health and Well-Being Among the Non-religious: Atheists, Agnostics, and No Preference Compared with Religious Group Members published in the Journal of Religion and Health indicates: "On dimensions related to psychological well-being, atheists and agnostics tended to have worse outcomes than either those with religious affiliation or those with no religious preference."

Global News reported:

“

Children who are raised with religious or spiritual beliefs tend to have better mental health into their adulthood, a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found. According to the study’s findings, people who attended weekly religious services or prayed or meditated daily in their childhood reported greater life satisfaction in their 20s. People who grew up in a religious household also reported fewer symptoms of depression and lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder.

”

Atheists and negative emotions/thoughts:

• Atheism and emotional problems

• Atheism and depression

• Atheism and suicide

• Atheism and negative emotions/thoughts

• Atheism and anxiety

See also

• Atheist marriages