Why don't atheists change faiths very often?

[YmirGF]

/from another thread

Assuming atheists don't change to another faith very often, why is this?

I have faith in both myself and in others. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

I am curious though as to why you keep pretending that atheism is some kind of religion. If we thought you made a good point most of us would likely agree. That no one does agree with your jaundiced perception is telling, in an of itself.

 

[HonestJoe]

Assuming atheists don't change to another faith very often, why is this?

The paperwork is too much of a hassle.

 

[Quintessence]

Why assume when we have data?

Faith in Flux

The unaffiliated (which includes atheists with respect to how PEW does their demographics) don't really change any more or less often than other groups with the exception of those who switch amongst Protestant traditions. This isn't a complete picture of what the OP is getting at, but it is certainly better than making assumptions.

 

[Underhill]

There are actually atheist "faiths," if that means creeds or religions. Some people are agnostic and atheist because they lack belief in a higher power. Some people are hardcore atheists and have a deep conviction that there is no god. There are atheists who believe in supernatural entities like demigods or demons but don't believe in a higher power or anything that can be called a "god." There are atheists with pantheistic tendencies, they feel that the higher power is all or is nature and not separate from creation. There are Positivists and Secular Humanists who profess a creed based on reason and finding a meaning in life through service to other people and consequentialist reason-based ethics. There are Laveyan Satanists who profess to be their own gods and take the Crowleyian dictum "do what thou will" literally, some of them believe in demons or supernatural entities but they don't consider them gods. There is the White Supremacist World Church of the Creator or Creativity Movement that profess worship of the white "master" race (the Creator of all real culture and civilization) to be their religion. There are also atheists who profess ideologies that border on a religion like Rand Objectivism or Marxism.

All of those things might be true. But it's like saying there are christians who are good people and there are christians who are lunatics carrying signs saying "God Hates ****". All true, but the numbers are important. One is mainstream, the rest is the fringe.

Most atheist simply don't think there is a god out there.

 

[Underhill]

Why assume when we have data?

Faith in Flux

The unaffiliated (which includes atheists with respect to how PEW does their demographics) don't really change any more or less often than other groups with the exception of those who switch amongst Protestant traditions. This isn't a complete picture of what the OP is getting at, but it is certainly better than making assumptions.

Even those numbers are somewhat flawed. I have atheist friends who affiliate with a church. Their family goes so they go. They do it to keep the peace. So affiliation does not necessarily equate to belief.

But your point is generally valid.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Science is our religion

Calling Science a religion undermines what it is. You can't live 'Science'. Its a discipline you use to get knowledge, but once you have that knowledge you leave Science and decide what to do with the knowledge.

 

[LuisDantas]

What about the atheists that actually have a faith? And I don't mean any imaginations about them all unknowingly being secret Satanists, secret Catholics or both, but a real adherence to a religion like Buddhism.

Just a guess, but it stands to reason that we do not generally expect too much of scripture or deities, and therefore probably switch beliefs somewhat less often as well.

How significant is that? Probably not much.

 

[Quintessence]

Even those numbers are somewhat flawed. I have atheist friends who affiliate with a church. Their family goes so they go. They do it to keep the peace. So affiliation does not necessarily equate to belief.

No, they aren't really flawed unless you want to claim that the respondents are lying. I would suggest you read the full report. It gets into the reasons for conversion, some of which directly get at what you just said.

Here, I'll even post one of those tables for you because I know most folks will not read the full article:

 

[Underhill]

No, they aren't really flawed unless you want to claim that the respondents are lying. I would suggest you read the full report. It gets into the reasons for conversion, some of which directly get at what you just said.

Here, I'll even post one of those tables for you because I know most folks will not read the full article:

I stand corrected.

It would help if you provided a link. I was simply basing my post on the chart provided.

 

[Muslim-UK]

I've heard of some former atheists who became believers, and vice versa.

I've known many more believers who seemingly change their religion every so often. That's probably even more baffling, when you think about it.

Not really, they accept there's God and a afterlife. They do some research and join a Religion, then the questions start in earnest. I live in a majority christian Country, so if I was starting out, would likely convert to it, but then I would ask, how many Gods do we actually worship?
Father, Son, Holy Spirit doesn't sound like Monotheism.

 

[icehorse]

This isn't the philosophy forum, but I want to dip a toe into philosophy anyway. I would say that the only people who could truly claim to have no faith at all are strict moral relativists (SMRs). Being an SMR is mostly independent of being an atheist, although I'm sure that there are some atheists who are also SMRs.

I'm an atheist who is NOT a SMR and I have to admit that I have "faith" in things like universal human rights. That said, I think most people are not being so pedantic when they use the word "faith", and it's most commonly associated with some belief in the supernatural.

 

[Stevicus]

Not really, they accept there's God and a afterlife. They do some research and join a Religion, then the questions start in earnest. I live in a majority christian Country, so if I was starting out, would likely convert to it, but then I would ask, how many Gods do we actually worship?
Father, Son, Holy Spirit doesn't sound like Monotheism.

I can see your point, although sometimes I wonder whether people's faiths are as strong as some of them would have us believe. Atheists and agnostics are sometimes chided for having no "faith," as if it's extremely important to believe in some form of a "Higher Power," whatever that may be.

A lot of believers act like they're so certain that their beliefs are correct, but then they change them every so often. If they changed them, then they're admitting that their previous beliefs were wrong, even though they were once "certain" they were right. Of course, everyone changes their mind; people have every right to change their beliefs. But this is why I always take it with a grain of salt when someone expresses "absolute certainty" about something.

"Faith" strikes me as the stubborn refusal to admit that there's even the slightest possibility that one might be wrong.

 

[LuisDantas]

Not really, they accept there's God and a afterlife. They do some research and join a Religion, then the questions start in earnest. I live in a majority christian Country, so if I was starting out, would likely convert to it, but then I would ask, how many Gods do we actually worship?
Father, Son, Holy Spirit doesn't sound like Monotheism.

That is a very Muslim view. Not all that accurate when it attempts to describe religion as a whole.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

/from another thread

Assuming atheists don't change to another faith very often, why is this?

How often do adults go back to believing in Santa once they stop believing as a child?

 

[Corvus]

I'm an atheist who is NOT a SMR and I have to admit that I have "faith" in things like universal human rights.

I believe human rights should be universally and unconditionally applied to all humans everywhere and a modified version applied to all other Hominidae. I also think all sentient animals should have some basic universal rights. Human rights, as guaranteed by law, may be conventional, like any other laws, but they are constitutional laws and as such are the highest law, to be taken into account as a matter of paramount importance, in any court case where they might be relevant, in any nation. However I do believe that morality is still entirely a relative and subjective product of human evolution and cultural development, that does vary considerably, between peoples in time and space.

 

[Muslim-UK]

Atheists and agnostics are sometimes chided for having no "faith," as if it's extremely important to believe in some form of a "Higher Power," whatever that may be.

That would be the One GOD who created the Earth Billions of years ago. Over the ages He has been known by different names, and given different attributes. You met Him before you were born, and deep down know there is a higher purpose to this life. You just need the right connection to be made before you recall your meeting.

A lot of believers act like they're so certain that their beliefs are correct, but then they change them every so often. If they changed them, then they're admitting that their previous beliefs were wrong, even though they were once "certain" they were right. Of course, everyone changes their mind; people have every right to change their beliefs. But this is why I always take it with a grain of salt when someone expresses "absolute certainty" about something.

The alternative is to study until one is 100% certain they're on the right path, but does anyone have unlimited time? Nope. In fact, I could walk to the shops later and get mugged, run over, or even suffer a heart attack right now etc. This is why believers should accept God exists and He is One, to gain the absolute minimum chance of entering Paradise, thereafter study and move around until they find something that can answer the important questions.

"Faith" strikes me as the stubborn refusal to admit that there's even the slightest possibility that one might be wrong.

That for me would mean the Qur'an is not from God, which is impossible to comprehend. btw once we accept a truth, God then sends clear signs to strengthen us along the way. God also talks about a creation like mankind, which also dwells here on Earth in a parallel World. Believers myself included have seen these beings with our own eyes. Lots of new age spiritualists work with these entities, thinking them to be good spirit guides and even deities.

 

[Bob the Unbeliever]

Calling Science a religion undermines what it is. You can't live 'Science'. Its a discipline you use to get knowledge, but once you have that knowledge you leave Science and decide what to do with the knowledge.

Well said. Very well said. I would also add that 'atheism' is a conclusion, and therefore? Not a way of life, nor a behavior guide or anything but a conclusion.

Those things require something beyond mere belief or dis-belief.

I would also like to point out that someone saying "I believe in god" is also a conclusion. Again, that isn't a way of life, nor a creed nor a guide or anything else.

Again, one must move onto something beyond this conclusion, to be of any use.

I suppose that is why you hear/read theists calling themselves "chrisitan" or "hindu" or "druid" or some other systematic collection of beliefs-- something that does, indeed, contain life-guides etc.

In a similar way, I see many atheists who call themselves "humanists" or similar.

 

[Corvus]

That no one does agree with your jaundiced perception is telling, in an of itself.

Yet this will not matter to such individuals. All that matters is the narrative.

 

[YmirGF]

Yet this will not matter to such individuals. All that matters is the narrative.

Reminds me of a conversation I was having with a person so far to the political left that she made Joseph Stalin look like Churchill. I was babbling merrily along and kept talking about her narrative this, her narrative that, etc. Finally, she looked perplexed at me and said, "Why are you calling it a narrative? A narrative is a storyline." I looked at her thoughtfully as a cat might look at a delicious mouse and said, "And?" It was surprising to me that such a well educated woman didn't understand that nature of her own narrative. She was seduced by her worldview that it was totally real and beyond question. I found that greatly amusing.

 

[Bob the Unbeliever]

That would be the One GOD who created the Earth Billions of years ago. Over the ages He has been known by different names, and given different attributes. You met Him before you were born, and deep down know there is a higher purpose to this life. You just need the right connection to be made before you recall your meeting.

What sort of "divine being" deliberately and with purpose, goes out of it's way to hide or obscure this before-birth "meeting"?

I would think, that such a being was shirking it's responsibilities! A newborn ought to be born with this knowledge intact, so that it would be immune from false teaching!

The fact that no child ever demonstrates such knowledge, to me, says with high certainty that there is no such deity as you described here.