Atheists Shouldn’t Get That Excited About That New Study About Atheism – Patheos (blog)

Vincent and Jules are in Mr. Wolfes classroom.

Im sure if there was a national poll of the Russian populace before Lenin and his crew of Bolsheviks took over that country asking if a free society was desirable, the results would be a resounding YES! The devil, of course, would be in how you asked the questions. If you phrased the queries like Would you like your standard of living to rise due to the liberalization of the economy that comes with a free society? then only the most ardent fans of authoritarianism would say no. However, if you were going to gauge the sentiment of the people by asking, Are you against the Czar and all of the earthly powers God gave him? then youd get another totally different answer.

The newest thing you have to read on the internet is the piece on FiveThirtyEight Way More Americans May Be Atheists Than We Thought. The researchers came up with some creative ways of asking people how they thought about God as against to simply asking Are you an atheist?

The authors of the study, published earlier this year, adopted a novel way to measure atheist identity. Instead of asking about belief in God directly, they provided a list of seemingly innocuous statements and then asked: How many of these statements are true of you? Respondents in a control group were given a list of nine statements, such as I own a dog and I am a vegetarian. The test group received all the same statements plus one that read, I do not believe in God. The totals from the test group were then compared to those from the control group, allowing researchers to estimate the number of people who identify as atheists without requiring any of the respondents to directly state that they dont believe in God.1 The study concludes that roughly one-quarter (26 percent) of Americans likely do not believe in God.2

Wow, thats cause for some celebration, right?

Mr. Wolfe in the movie Pulp Fiction is a skeptic and a fixer. The man talks thinks and acts fast. What would he have to say about the latest study?

Before taking a look at a clip, heres some background on the scene.

Here is Mr. Wolfe (HarveyKeitel) inspecting a freshly cleaned car. A little while ago it was nothing but human brains and blood. Now, the vehicle looks like its safe to drive the city streets.

Its a victory.

But, you gotta put it in perspective.

Sixteen seconds in Mr. Wolfe drops some wisdom that should make it into the 10 Skeptical Commandments:

Well, lets not start sucking each othersdicks just yet.

What does that have to do with czarist Russia, Lenin, and this new study?

Everything, thats all.

Most Americans want sane gun laws.

Do we have them?

No.

Right Wing lunatics dont represent the will of the majority of Americans.

Donald Trump and George W. Bush didnt win the popular vote.

I say you could have sixty percent of Americans being atheists and it will just not mean a lick of good. If were not organized and since pastbehavior is the best predictor of future behavior thats a safe bet then the theists will continue to kick our collective godless butts.

Many of you are thinking, Were all getting together to fight Donald Trump and stuff!

Yeaaaaahhhh, no.

Not all of us. Not all atheists.

AND

once the wolf at the door is gone, we will go back to being complacent. Thats what we do as a species. Our default setting is stupid and complacent. Atheists as a group are no different.

After dropping the truth-bomb ofWell, lets not start sucking each others dicks just yet, Mr. Wolfe continued executing a plan to get them all out of the shit, so to speak.

In our case, hed probably say the way to long-term survival is creating local institutions where humanists/atheists go about the business of assisting the less fortunate and in doing so win hearts and minds. Thats what our faith-based competitors do, and its been a winning strategy for them.

But atheists arent going to do that.

Its too hard. It takes too much money and time. Were happy for the government to do the heavy lifting regarding feeding the sick and educating the poor.

And thats why 25% of Americans may just be atheists, but that doesnt mean we should be throwing a party.

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Atheists Shouldn't Get That Excited About That New Study About Atheism - Patheos (blog)