Atheist nerds
| “ | If we're going to expand our base and we're going to draw in more people to recognize the virtues of living in a secular world, we need to appeal to more than just that geek and nerd subset of the population. We need to have a wider base. ...I seriously believe that we're on the cusp of a crisis. We're not there yet but it's looming in front of us. Will we adapt and thrive and change the world? Or will we remain an avocation for a prosperous and largely irrelevant subset of the population? Will we become something more than a scattered society of internet nerds? That's what we have to do.[1] | ” |
In response, David Klinghoffer at Evolution News and Views wrote:
| “ | A crisis looms, in Myers's view, because he looks around himself and sees a not very promising basis for a mass movement. He's right. There is indeed a quality of geeky isolation from reality, common sense, and the fullness of life that I see as a motif in atheist and Darwin activism alike.[2] | ” |
PZ Myers wrote about himself:
| “ | I’m a nerd. A colossal, boring, asocial nerd, and a homely one at that, and I always have been. You might also be surprised to learn that I totally lack all confidence in myself and my appearance, and it only takes a little bit to impress me.[3] | ” |
YouTube atheist Dusty Smith says atheist nerds are driving away women from considering the possibility of becoming atheists and this is a very upsetting situation to him.[4] Dusty Smith also stated that the atheist community needs to be more "cool".[5]
- See also: Atheism and social skills
Atheists as social outcasts in cultures unreceptive to atheism
See also: Atheism and social outcasts
The 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.[6] | ” |
Vox Day declared that according to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) "more than half of all atheists and agnostics don’t get married."(see also: Atheism and marriage).[7]
The American contrarian blog Half Sigma declared:
| “ | ...atheists are most likely to live alone.
This is not surprising. Atheists are less desirable...partners. I observed this once when I was living in Washington, DC, and I wandered by an atheist convention happening on the mall. The atheist were predominately male, and significantly uglier than average. This is because ugly people become social outcasts, and social outcasts are more likely to be attracted to outcast movements like atheism, libertarianism, communism, etc. Jay Fink writes: If you are attractive and have a good social life you will generally not be interested in out of the mainstream groups or ideas. Why buck the status quo when it's working in your interests?[8] |
” |
In 2011, only two of the Miss USA contestants thought evolution should be taught in schools.[9] Since World War II a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the theory of evolution which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists or agnostics.[10]
The Audacious Epigone blog, which specializes in collecting data relative to stereotypes, writes about atheists having an above average propensity to live in single person households:
| “ | The low rates of multiple person households is part of the explanation, but the high number of lone wolves among their ranks illustrates their social marginality in another way relative to the cognitive endowments they enjoy. This does little to dispel stereotype I hold of atheists as cynical, single white guys who live in apartments downtown, work at used record stores, love George Carlin, and watch Adult Swim.[11] | ” |
For more information please see: Views on atheists and Unattractiveness of atheism
See also
References
- ↑ in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency
- ↑ in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency
- ↑ 1-800-FLOWERS, for when you absolutely don’t care about getting a terrific experience by PZ Myers
- ↑ Atheism needs women
- ↑ Atheism needs women
- ↑ Atheism
- ↑ Atheism
- ↑ Atheism is lonely religion
- ↑ Miss USA 2011 One Of Only 2 Contestants Who Believe In Evolution
- ↑
- Dr. Don Batten,A Who’s Who of evolutionists Creation 20(1):32, December 1997.
- Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D.,F.M., Refuting Evolution, Chapter 1, Facts and Bias
- ↑ Religious denominations ranked by making most of what is given
