Changes

In the United States, the [[Republican Party]] has a large segment of religious conservatives and they are influential within the party.<ref>[https://www.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/182210/highly-religious-conservative-republicans.aspx How Many Highly Religious Conservative Republicans Are There?], Gallup Organization statistics</ref> ABC News reported that "More Republicans Satisfied With Sex Lives Than [[Democrat]]s".<ref>[httphttps://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/News/story?id=180291 More Republicans Satisfied With Sex Lives Than Democrats], ABC News</ref>

{{cquote|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.<ref name="creation.com">httphttps://creation.com/atheism</ref>}}

[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] declared that according to the 2001 [[American Religious Identification Survey]] (ARIS) "more than half of all atheists and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] don’t get married."<ref name="creation.com">httphttps://creation.com/atheism</ref>

<ref>[httphttps://creation.com/atheism Atheism = Mario Grinbank - Creation Ministries International]</ref>}}

{{cquote|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.<ref name="ncbi.nlm.nih.gov">doi: 10.1177/1077801207308259 [httphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17951587 ''Violence Against Women'', ''Race/Ethnicity, Religious Involvement, and Domestic Violence''], November 2007 vol. 13 no. 11 1094-1112</ref>}}

{{cquote|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.<ref name="ncbi.nlm.nih.gov">doi: 10.1177/1077801207308259 [httphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17951587 ''Violence Against Women'', ''Race/Ethnicity, Religious Involvement, and Domestic Violence''], November 2007 vol. 13 no. 11 1094-1112</ref>}}

*[httphttps://creation.com/the-basis-of-a-christian-worldview The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International]*[httphttps://creation.com/answer-to-philosophy-religion-professor-on-biblical-exegesis-and-the-problem-of-evil CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil]

* Batten, Dr. Don (December 1997). [httphttps://creation.com/a-whos-who-of-evolutionists "A ''Who’s Who'' of evolutionists"]. Creation Ministries International. Originally published in ''Creation'' 20(1):32. Retrieved July 17, 2014.* Sarfati, Jonathan, Ph.D., F.M. (1999). [httphttps://creation.com/refuting-evolution-chapter-1-evolution-creation-science-religion-facts-bias "Chapter 1: Facts and bias", ''Refuting Evolution'']. Retrieved July 17, 2014.

In identifying the primary factors determining these differences in community attitudes, the author of the research report, Dr Jonathan Kelley, said: ‘The single most important influence after church attendance is the theory of evolution.’<ref>[httphttps://creation.com/morals-decline-linked-to-belief-in-evolution Morals decline linked to evolution]</ref>}}

In the journal article ''Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: Associations, explanations, and implications'', psychologists McCullough and Willoughby theorize that many of the positive links of religiousness with health and social behavior may be caused by religion's beneficial influences on [[self-control]]/self-regulation.<ref>[http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/mmccullough/Papers/Relig_self_control_bulletin.pdf Religion, Self-Regulation, and Self-Control: Associations, Explanations, and Implications]</ref><ref>[httphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19210054 Religion, Self-Regulation, and Self-Control: Associations, Explanations, and Implications]</ref> Furthermore, a 2012 Queen's University study published in ''Psychological Science'' found that religion replenishes self-control.<ref>[http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/05/02/0956797611431987.abstract ''Religion Replenishes Self-Control'', ''Psychological Science'', June 2012 vol. 23 no. 6 635-642, Kevin Rounding, Albert Lee, Jill A. Jacobson and Li-Jun Ji at Queen’s University]</ref><ref>[http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/qu-qsf012412.php Study finds religion helps us gain self-control]</ref> Also, numerous studies indicate that those who engage in regular spiritual practices have lower mortality rates.<ref>[httphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10868765 Religious involvement and mortality: a meta-analytic review. McCullough ME, Hoyt WT, Larson DB, Koenig HG, Thoresen C., Health Psychol. 2000 May;19(3):211-22.]</ref><ref>[httphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1305900/ ''The role of spirituality in health care'', roc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2001 October; 14(4): 352–357.]</ref> See also: [[Atheism and hedonism]]

*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/23/a-surprising-map-of-where-the-worlds-atheists-live/ A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live], ''Washington Post'' By Max Fisher and Caitlin Dewey May 23, 2013</ref> In 2014, the British medical journal'' Lancet'' reported that the Chinese now have the second highest obesity rate in the world.<ref>[httphttps://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/05/29/as-obesity-rises-chinese-kids-are-almost-as-fat-as-americans/ As Obesity Rises, Chinese Kids Are Almost as Fat as Americans], ''Wall Street Journal'' Chinarealtime, May 29, 2014</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgJvV62yD2E Chubby China: Nation of 300 Million Overweight People]</ref>

Within the feminist movement, there a branch of feminism called fat feminism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willett |first=Julie |title=TheAmerican Beauty Industry Encyclopedia |year=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=0313359490 |page=114 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CljLw4sH2DMC&dq=fat+feminism&source=gbs_navlinks_s |archiveurl=httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20131112202126/http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kxvlP_3AH40C&pg=PA138&dq=fat+feminism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Q-97UZeYO4HbPcCCgOgK&ved=0CC8Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=fat%20feminism&f=false |archivedate=21 November 2013 |deadurl=no}}, page 14</ref> The lesbian population in the [[Western World]] has a significantly higher rate of obesity (see: [[Lesbianism and obesity]]). For more information please see: [[Atheism and the fat acceptance movement]] and [[Atheism and obesity]]

[[File:Depressed man.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Atheists have higher rates of suicide than the general population.<ref>httphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20602903</ref><ref>http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html</ref><ref>http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/161/12/2303</ref> Please see: [[Atheism and suicide]] ]]

There are preliminary studies indicating that individuals who reject [[Christianity]] in Western cultures have lower self-esteem than the Christian population.<ref>[http://atheistwatch.blogspot.com/2010/10/rejection-of-christianity-and-self.html Rejection of atheism and self-esteem]</ref><ref>[http://atheistwatch.blogspot.com/2010/10/atheists-and-self-esteem-part-2.html Atheism and self-esteem - part 2]</ref> There are also studies indicating that lower self-esteem is associated with suicidality.<ref>[httphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21190929 The suicidal process and self-esteem], PUbMed</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">[httphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20602903 Risk factors found in suicide attempters], PubMed</ref> Atheists have [[Atheism and suicide|higher rates of suicide than the general population.]]<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>[http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html Atheism and suicide], Adhreents.com</ref><ref>[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.161.12.2303 Religious Affiliation and Suicide Attempt], ''American Journal of Psychiatry''</ref> Individuals with lower self-esteem have lower levels of sexual satisfaction.<ref name="livescience.com">[http://www.livescience.com/14498-emerging-adults-empathy-sexual-health-satisfaction.html Key to Better Sex Revealed in New Study] by Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience.com, June 08, 2011 12:18pm ET</ref>