[[File:Vox Day.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] wrote about '''atheism and bitterness''': "...the age at which most people become [[atheism|atheists]] indicates that it is almost never an intellectual decision, but an emotional one."<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/01/answering-atheists-question.html Answering an atheist's question]</ref>]]
On a [[society|societal]] level, there is generally an inverse relationship between '''atheism and suffering'''. In third world countries, for example, where there is a lot of poverty, individuals adopting atheism is rare/infrequent. On the other hand, in [[communism|communist]] [[China]], where there was (and still is) [[atheist indoctrination]], atheism was common even when there was poverty in post 1949 China. On a personal level, some people turn to God/religion during times of adversity while some people become embittered by adversity and forsake religious belief (see: [[Atheism and bitterness]]).