Atheism and divorce

From Conservapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The atheist divorce rate is a steep 37%.[1]

For more information, please see: Atheism, divorce, love and poor interpersonal skills

The atheist divorce rate is a steep 37%.[1] Additionally, 51% of atheists are likely to cohabit and 31% of atheists never actually get married.[1] 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."[2]

Scientific research has demonstrated that active churchgoers are "35% less likely to divorce than those who have no religious preferences".[3]

According to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) over 50% of all atheists and agnostics don’t get married.[4] See also: Atheism and marriage

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

In relation to atheism and divorce, Theodore Beale 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.[5]

Other atheism and divorce statistics

See also: Atheist marriages and Atheism statistics

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

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

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.[6][7] Feldhahn conducted eight years of research on divorce statistics and examined U.S. Census data, data from various university centers and relevant books/journals.[8] In addition, Feldhahn interviewed social science researchers about their methodology and to confirm various quotes.[9]

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." … [10]

Atheism, divorce, love and poor interpersonal skills

Atheist killer Devin Patrick Kelley

The atheist PZ Myers, quoting fellow leftist Alex Nichols, said that jibes associating outspoken atheists with neckbeards (among other things) caused many liberals/leftists to leave the atheist tent and those who remained for the most part lacked in social skills and self-awareness.[11] See also: Atheism and social outcasts

See also: Atheism, divorce, love and poor interpersonal skills

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).[12] 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."[13]

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[14]

For more information, please see: Atheism, divorce, love and poor interpersonal skills

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

See also: Atheism, divorce, addiction, sexual satisfaction, social skills, dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes, and irrationality and Divorce and alcoholism and Atheism, alcoholism and personality disorders

Studies indicate that religious individuals are less likely to engage in illegal drug use than atheists/nonreligious.[15][16][17]

According to the abstraction for the journal article The Relationship between Dysfunctional Attitudes and Communication Skills of Women with an Addicted Husband on the Verge of Divorce published in the journal Addiction and Health:

Divorce and addiction are the source of numerous social damages. The main reasons for divorce include spouse addiction, sexual dissatisfaction, low living and communication skills of couples, dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes, and irrational expectations of marriage. The present study was carried out with the aim to investigate the relationship between dysfunctional attitudes and communication skills among women with an addicted husband on the verge of divorce referring to the forensic medicine and family court.[18]

As far as atheism and addiction, please see: Atheism and alcoholism and Atheism and drug addiction

Research indicates that atheists have less sexual satisfaction than Christians (See: Atheism and sexuality).

Some of the irrational expectations in marriage are reflected in statements such as[19]:

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry”. (See: Atheism and forgiveness and Atheism and arrogance).

“You shouldn’t have to work at marriage.” (See: Atheism and sloth and Atheism and apathy and Atheism and amotivational syndrome)

“Personal happiness is more important than staying in a ‘love-less’ marriage.” (See also: Atheism and hedonism and Atheism and happiness and Atheism and love)

For information relation to atheism and these causes of divorce, please see:

Atheist Vladmir Lenin and no-fault divorce

See also: Atheism and communism and Atheism and politics and Secular left

According to the University of Cambridge, historically, the "most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power."[20] See: Atheism and communism

The Christian writer Joe Carter writes about the atheist Vladimir Lenin and no-fault divorce:

In the last few months of 1917, leftist revolutionaries led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin launched a coup d’état against the provisional government. As History.com notes, Lenin became the dictator of first Marxist state in the world and “set in motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union.” One of the most profound changes was an attempt to abolish marriage using divorce as the hammer and sickle that would destroy and sweep away the institution.

No-fault divorce is the term for the dissolution of a marriage on a finding that the relationship is no longer viable, without any need to show “fault” or marital misconduct. Because no-fault divorce was birthed in the USSR, it is worth examining how and why it was instituted in that country and comparing how it mirrors the outcomes in the U.S.[21]

Mao, communist China, family and divorce

The article The Chinese Family Under Mao states regarding the atheist Mao Zedong and marriage:

Mao saw the clan and the family as institutions that kept the peasants oppressed so he issued several policies to break down the family structure. Families were made to eat in cafeterias; which meant no home needed a kitchen, children were raised in daycare centers instead of being looked after by relatives, parents were cremated instead of buried, and the ancestor tablets (family records) and ancestral halls were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.

Mao’s attempts to remove the family from the center of Chinese life ultimately failed, but not before destroying a few aspects of traditional culture.[22]

John D. Clares states about Mao's 1950 marriage law and divorce:

Traditionally, women were regarded as inferior to men. Girls had to be obedient to their fathers, wives to their husbands and old women to their sons (the Marriage Law abolished this)...

Mao Zedong declared that 'women hold up half the sky'. The Marriage Law abolished the supremacy of man over woman, and also concubinage and child-marriage. It allowed a wife to divorce her husband, but forbade a husband to divorce his wife if she had a child less than one year old...

The CCP actively tried to destroy the family; in some communes men and women lived in single-sex barracks...

So many women asked for a divorce that Party officials started refusing permission, despite a re-issuing of the Marriage Law in 1953.[23]

Modern communist China and divorce

China has the world's largest atheist population.[24][25]

The current atheist population mostly resides in East Asia (particularly China) and in secular Europe/Australia among whites.[26] See: Asian atheism and Secular Europe and Western atheism and race

Below is an article on modern China and divorce:

Divorce in atheistic North Korea

Kim Jong-un is the communist dictator of North Korea.

North Korea practices state atheism and belief in God is actively discouraged.[27] It is a communist country. Open Doors, an organization based in the United States, has put North Korea at the very top of its list of countries where Christians face significant persecution - for 12 years in a row.[28]

Below are some articles on North Korea and divorce:

Atheistic Vietnam and divorce

Vietnam is a communist country.

Officially, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an atheist state.[29]

Below are some articles on Vietnam and divorce:

French Revolution, atheism and divorce

See also: French atheism

On July 14, 1789, the Bastille was stormed by a mob and its prisoners freed, which is regarded as the start of the French Revolution.

The University of Cambridge reports the following historical relationship between atheism and the French Revolution:

Between 1700 and 1750 thousands of atheistic clandestine manuscripts circulated across Europe (although still only read by a very small minority)...

The French Revolution (1789-94) would dramatically transform the power relationship between belief and unbelief in Europe: whereas before atheism had been 'high brow', discussed in the cafes and salons of Paris, henceforth it would set itself down among the people. A strident unbelief became a real political factor in public life, as the anticlerical 'dechristianisation' period following the revolution would demonstrate. The impact of the French Revolution in inspiring people to put the irreligious ideas of the Enlightenment into practice would extend beyond France to other European countries, and to the American colonies (although in the latter it would take a deistic rather than atheistic form).[30]

According to Brandeis University:

On September 20, 1792, the French National Assembly passed a decree regulating divorce, which for the first time in France opened the possibility of completely severing marital relationships. For the authors of the decree, divorce was inextricably linked to the concept of liberty: it was “a consequence of individual liberty which an indissoluble engagement would destroy”.[31]

New atheist Richard Dawkins and divorce

See also: Richard Dawkins and women and Elevatorgate

Richard Dawkins
The new atheist Richard Dawkins has been divorced three times and he is presently not married.

The new atheist Richard Dawkins has been divorced three times and is he currently not married.

Theodore Beale wrote in the his book The Irrational Atheist about Dawkins's claim that teaching children about Hell is more harmful to children than "mild child abuse":

Richard Dawkins is perhaps one of the last men on Earth who should be discussing what is the right and proper way to raise children, given that the number of his wives outnumber his offspring.

In his letter to his daughter Juliet, addressed to her at the age of ten and published in A Devil’s Chaplain, there is little mention of love, no admission of regret, and no paternal promises. As one British journalist noted, the letter is “coldly impersonal” and “authoritarian.” There is no expression of interest in what might be important to her.[32]

Atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair and divorce

Eric Lyons at Apologetics Press indicates about the prominent atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair:

Madalyn Elizabeth Mays was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 13, 1919. In her late 20s, after already having been married and divorced, she began referring to herself as Madalyn Murray—taking the last name of William Murray, with whom she had an adulterous relationship, and never married. At the age of 46, Madalyn married Richard O’Hair and became forevermore known at Madalyn Murray O’Hair—the poster-child of atheism in America during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.[33]

Atheist Richard Carrier, adultery, divorce and polyamory

See also: Atheism, polyamory and other immoral relationships and Atheism and marriage

The atheist Richard Carrier divorced his wife and now practices polyamory.[34] Before divorcing his wife, he was involved in adulterous affairs[35]

The Christtian apologist Jason Engwar at the Christian blog Triablogue wrote:

Richard Carrier has a post up announcing that he's "polyamorous", which he calls his "sexual orientation". He's been adulterous in his relationship with his wife, and they decided to get a divorce after having tried polyamory for a while. In the thread, he refers to how he has "sympathy for people who cheat on their spouses", how he's come across "many" polyamorists, and how he's become more convinced that "monogamy is the actual problem". So far, most of the responses at his blog are positive.[36]

Carrier advocates the crank notion that Jesus never existed and is merely a myth which is a baseless, extreme minority position among historians and contrary to abundant historical evidence pointing to Jesus being a historical figure (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, a parcel of the propaganda of the atheistic, communist Soviet Union, is the only encyclopedia to ever advocate the Christ myth. See also: Historicity of Jesus).[37][38]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Post Scriptum to Original Article, "Atheism and Divorce.". Atheism Exposed (2008).
  2. https://creation.com/atheism
  3. Is the divorce rate among Christians truly the same as among non-Christians?. GotQuestions.org.
  4. https://creation.com/atheism
  5. The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, And Hitchens by Theodore Beale (Vox Day), ASIN: ‎ 1933771364, Publisher: BenBella Books (March 11, 2008)
  6. Go to church
  7. The Good News About Marriage
  8. About this Book - The Good News about Marriage
  9. About this Book - The Good News about Marriage
  10. Atheism = Mario Grinbank - Creation Ministries International
  11. Poisoning of a movement by PZ Myers
  12. Bainbridge, William (2005). "Atheism" (PDF). Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. 1 (Article 2): 1–26.
  13. Poisoning of a movement by PZ Myers
  14. The 4 Communication Styles That Lead To Divorce With 90% Accuracy by Sandra Aponte, MA, RMHCI
  15. Believers Consume Fewer Drugs Than Atheists, Christian Post, By Jim Denison, Christian Post Columnist, October 9, 2013|9:47 am
  16. Believers consume fewer drugs than atheists, Science Daily, Date:October 3, 2013, Source: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Foerderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung]
  17. Multiple references:
  18. [The Relationship between Dysfunctional Attitudes and Communication Skills of Women with an Addicted Husband on the Verge of Divorce] by Ghodratollah Rajabizadeh, Zohre Rajabizadeh, Solmaz Shokouhi Moghadam, and Zahra Vafadoost, Addiction and Health. 2019 Jan; 11(1): 51–57. doi: 10.22122/ahj.v11i1.221
  19. Unrealistic Expectations About Love and Marriage, Mentalhelp.net
  20. Investigating atheism: Marxism. University of Cambridge (2008). Retrieved on July 17, 2014. “The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.”
  21. The Communist Roots of No-Fault Divorce by Joe Carter
  22. The Chinese Family Under Mao. Chinachange.org
  23. The impact of the Communists’ reforms 1949-63
  24. Top 50 Countries With Highest Proportion of Atheists / Agnostics (Zuckerman, 2005)
  25. A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live, Washington Post By Max Fisher and Caitlin Dewey May 23, 2013
  26. A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live, By Max Fisher and Caitlin Dewey, Washington Post, May 23, 2013
  27. Elizabeth Raum. North Korea. Series: Countries Around the World. Heinemann, 2012. ISBN 1432961330. p. 28: «North Korea is an atheist state. This means that people do not pray in public or attend places of worship. Buddhist temples exist from earlier times. They are now preserved as historic buildings, but they are not used for worship. A few Christian churches exist, but few people attend services. North Koreans do not celebrate religious holidays.»
  28. Repressive, atheist North Korea has a surprising relationship with Christian missionaries
  29. Jan Dodd, Mark Lewis, Ron Emmons. The Rough Guide to Vietnam, Vol. 4, 2003. p. 509: "After 1975, the Marxist-Leninist government of reunified Vietnam declared the state atheism while theoretically allowing people the right to practice their religion under the constitution."
  30. The material was formerly at the University of Cambridge's Investigation Atheism website. A website which closed down. The material has been transferred to 18th Century History, Investigating Atheism
  31. Rethinking the Limits of Revolution: Family and the French Revolution
  32. The Irrational Atheist. Chapter VIII DARWIN’S JUDAS by Vox Day (Theodore Beale)
  33. Madalyn Murray O’Hair,Eric Lyons at Apologetics Press
  34. Coming Out Poly + A Change of Life Venue
  35. Coming Out Poly + A Change of Life Venue
  36. Atheism, Adultery, Polyamory, And Shifting Morals
  37. A Response to "Why I Don't Buy the Resurrection Story" by JP Holding
  38. Scholarly opinions on the Jesus Myth by Christopher Price