Article - Women, religion and atheism

http://secularist10.hubpages.com/hub/Women-and-Atheism


Part of the message is hidden for the guests. Please log in or register to see it.

very interesting study...

In my experience women are a bit more social then men seemingly. I can understand how religion as a social opportunity would be more useful then atheism. The author agrees too by the looks of it;

In addition, as non-belief evolves in society, it will necessarily come to encompass deeper and more rewarding emotional experiences, potentially enabling it to compete more effectively with established religions for female attention. The social interaction components of religion are some of its most powerful and most valuable influences in followers' lives, and this is often enjoyed by women more than men.

So it begs the question what can atheism, secularism or humanism uniquely offer besides anti-religion activity?

Some evolutionary psychologists suggest that it stems from sex differences in risk aversion. In general, the theory goes, men are programmed to have a greater appetite for risk than women because taking risks benefits men, especially reproductively, far more than women. Women on average are more risk averse.

What I immediately thought of when i saw the graph. Women like their comfort more than men do.

As the great Charlie Brown said, "Good grief."

One, my stats professor always said to take statistical analyses with a grain of salt until you can see all the information yourself.

Two,

"Women are the majority in all American religious traditions according to the American Religious Identification Survey of 2008, with the exception of eastern religions, Islam and new religious movements. The greatest proportion of men is in the category of no religious affiliation (including atheists and agnostics), where 60% are male, the highest of any of the belief groups.

The majority of men in eastern religions and Islam is largely a function of the greater number of male immigrants from regions where these faiths are practiced. Both new religious movements and nonbelief constitute unusual, antiestablishment, counter-traditional or otherwise socially and culturally risky positions.

In a recent Pew study of American religions similar results are seen, with the exception that Judaism is one of the groups with a majority of men. After Hinduism (61%), the "unaffiliated" category is the most masculine of the categories, at 59%. The most feminine groups are historically black churches and Jehovah's Witnesses (both 60% female)."

Women are the most religious...except in Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism a few of the biggest religions in the world! Not to forget those eastern and new religious movements. :whistle:

This article was interesting, but it struck me as silly and untruthful. How many people participated in the Pew study? How many churches in how many states were polled? Why are we always so quick to point out men’s and women’s differences?

'Y'know, as a guy with a major in working with numbers...' James began, only to be interrupted by Tensora-san,

'Lock-kun, you're an accounting major.'

'...A major WORKING WITH NUMBERS... the magic words with anything statistics related are: On average.' James continued, as though the interruption hadn't happened, 'Meaning, generalizations don't apply to everyone. On average, women might trend towards religion for the reasons stated, but that doesn't apply to all women -- or, for that matter, it might not even mean a MAJORITY of women, depending on how the range is defined. Like the chart that shows the percentages by varying degrees, from just being associated to being very seriously, intimately dedicated and involved. Not to mention, there can be such variables as extreme outliers -- women who become nuns, women who join cults, that sort of stuff.'

'And, let us not forget the human element -- people lie, consider their own definitions, such things as that...' Tensora-san agreed.

'Oh well. To each, her own, I guess.'

Women are the most religious...except in Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism a few of the biggest religions in the world! Not to forget those eastern and new religious movements.

The majority of men in eastern religions and Islam is largely a function of the greater number of male immigrants from regions where these faiths are practiced.

Basically they're saying men don't appear less religious than women for eastern religions and islam because men are over-represented in those categories. You should listen to that stats professor more

looking at totjo though, I'd say men definitely are more into NRMs. There again, can be put down to the "danger" factor of NRMs as opposed to more tradtional churches.

'And, let us not forget the human element -- people lie, consider their own definitions, such things as that...' Tensora-san agreed.

That's why statistics based on people's answers tend to be unreliable and should be avoided.
Did you guys know Jediism is the fourth largest religion in the UK? We're bigger than Judaism.

ren, I had read that part too.

However, that doesn't make the article any more valid. The polls may or may not be valid. The reasoning behind these findings may or may not be valid. Maybe there are more women participating in certain religions because the men in those groups migrated too. Or I’ve heard women out number men in the USA, if that’s true then maybe that’s why there are more religious women. And the groups with more women than men are supposedly the older generations which may be more religious.

Maybe men have bigger egos which makes them unable to believe in religion? Who knows? I wonder, did they include science with religion, because if so I bet men and women would turn out equally religious. How did they define religion? Did they include pagan religions? The questions could be endless.

Interesting to know, but the article was written by somebody named Justin. Is that a man's name perhaps? Maybe it would be more enlightening to speak with these women and find out why religion speaks to them instead of writing an article about how religion hurts them. Just an idea.

Or maybe these are just some words from some dumb woman who doesn’t know any better. Then again, I’m not religious so there may be hope for me yet.

To add to that, women tend to live longer then men (As far as I know?) and the older someone is the more probable is that, that someone is religious.

But I would have to agree with this statistics based on my subjective observations. I have not personally met many women that were atheists. (Only two? And they were both not very femimine.) A dwarfing majority either is religious, or even if they see the falacy of religions still claim "There must be something... or something... I don't know but I belive that someone is watching over me."
I've heard it many times.

And this opinion does not revolve around (anti/)feminism. I remember a study in which it was proved that a certain part of the brain is responcible for religious tendencies, that feeling of unidentified presence. So that might be simple biology. Makes sense given the evolutionary role that woman plays. During pregnancy women are voulnerable and have to rely on men to defend them and attend their needs, so such "trust" adventage would be usefull, wouldn't you say?

Pakislav, that trust thing is an interesting idea.

I've actually met more athiest women than men. Maybe it's a location thing. Then again, most the people I meet believe in something be it God, gods, mother nature, or just plain old energy. It's, I'd say, pretty rare to find someone who believes in absolutely nothing.