Secular leftists and psychogenic illness

The website Marketwatch reported concerning the aftermath of the 2016 presidential race: Donald Trump’s win is causing a surge in demand for mental health services.[1]

A psychogenic illness is one that originates in the mind or in a mental condition. Psychosomatic disorders and mental illness that is not caused by an underlying physical condition are examples of psychogenic illnesses.

Emotional intelligence "refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions."[2] Research indicates that religiosity is positively associated with ability in emotional intelligence.[3][4][5] See also: Atheism and emotional problems and Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence and Atheism and negative emotions/thoughts

There is a considerable amount of scientific evidence that suggests that theism is more conducive to mental and physical health than atheism (See:Atheism and health).[6] In addition, atheists have higher suicide rates (see: Atheism and suicide and Atheism and depression).

Politically, most atheists fall on the left side of the political spectrum (see: Atheism and politics and Secular left).

According to the Pew Forum, in the United States: "About two-thirds of atheists (69%) identify as Democrats (or lean in that direction), and a majority (56%) call themselves political liberals (compared with just one-in-ten who say they are conservatives).[7] A Harris interactive poll found that most American atheists are liberal.[8]

The atheist Gordon Stein wrote: "Atheism has long ceased to be a rare and oft-ignored philosophical outlook...It has transformed itself into an active political programme with clear objectives which, though they vary from state to state, unequivocally include the elimination of state religion, religious education, and the enshrinement of scientism."[9]

Atheists commonly use the political realm to advance their atheistic ideology (see: Political activities of atheists).

## Contents

* 1 Trump's presidential victory, upset secular leftists/liberals and mental illness
* 1.1 Greta Christina, depression and Donald Trump's presidential victory
* 1.2 American mainstream media coverage of Trump
* 1.3 American millennials, secular leftism, Trump's victory and therapy
* 1.4 Psychology and pseudoscience
* 1.4.1 Psychology studies: Major problems with replication and transparency
* 1.4.2 Psychological studies and statistical errors
* 1.4.3 Significant percentage of psychologists having depression and/or suicide ideation
* 1.4.4 Effectiveness of laymen vs. trained psychologists
* 1.4.5 The atheist psychologist Sigmund Freud promoted pseudoscience
* 2 Doctors believe in God more than social scientists. Medical science is often more reliable than social science. Irreligion and the social science of psychology
* 2.1 Physical sciences, social sciences and reliability
* 2.2 Doctors, social scientists and belief in God
* 3 Secular leftists, Brexit and spike in mental health office visits
* 4 Dawkins' disinvitation to speak at a skeptics conference due to a feminism/Islam controversy and subsequent stroke
* 4.1 Richard Dawkins, Charles Darwin and psychogenic illness
* 4.2 Atheist infighting and differences in ideology
* 4.2.1 Journal of Contemporary Religion on schisms within U.S. atheism
* 5 Decline of the secular left
* 6 See also
* 7 Notes

## Trump's presidential victory, upset secular leftists/liberals and mental illness[edit]

See also: Donald Trump and American atheists and American atheism and American liberalism and 21st century political losses

David Kupelian wrote: "Perhaps this is the reason, as I document in my book “The Snapping of the American Mind,” scientific surveys by both Gallup and SurveyMonkey show Democrats are roughly twice as likely as Republicans to be mentally ill.[10]

Many leftists/liberals were extremely upset/angry that Donald Trump won the 2016 U.S presidential race and that anger has lingered (see: Donald Trump and American atheists).[11][12]

At the 2018 American Atheists National Convention, the ex-president of the American Atheists organization David Silverman declared about atheist movement post President Donald Trump's election:

“  |  It is a hard time to be an atheist activist. This has affected us. And it has affected our community...

...it has really affected us. We are suffering a level of defeatism that I have never seen before...

We feel the loss. And we feel like we have lost. We feel like we lost the election]]... We see this cascade of attack coming down at us over and over from all different directions and we feel like it's over. I have heard so many times it makes me sick. It makes me sad. It feels like we lost.

The apathy that follows. It doesn't matter. We can't win anyways. It's useless to fight. This apathy is infecting us. It's hurting us.

And people are reacting to each other now. And so that is causing a division. Lots and lots of division in our movement. Hard, bad division... And that has resulted in a splintering and factioning of the movement that I have never seen before and none of us have.

In other words, we're in a bad situation and it's getting worse.[13]

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Later in 2018, Silverman was fired due to allegations of financial conflicts and sexual assault (see also: Atheism and sexism).[14]

PZ Myers

In January of 2017, the atheist and secular leftist PZ Myers said about Donald Trump's presidential victory:

“  |  This span of time representing the agonizing death of American idealism, decline of liberalism, and collapse into corruption has played out as the background of my life.

That’s depressing. History is not going to remember me, but I managed to live through a terrible period that will be remembered, unpleasantly. It would be nice to go out on a note of optimism, but that’s probably not going to happen.[15]

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The Religion News Service reported:

“  |  For the last decade, atheists, humanists and others secularists have worked hard to organize a “secular vote” that would counter the political clout of the religious right.

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s victory dealt that movement a body blow when he garnered 81 percent of the white evangelical vote and 60 percent of the white Catholic vote. Mormons, too, voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

Despite Trump’s not being a particularly religious person, his platform was seen as anti-secular in many atheist and humanist circles. He said he would appoint religiously conservative Supreme Court justices, ban Muslim immigrants, favor Christianity and repeal the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits certain tax-exempt organizations from endorsing political candidates — issues antithetical to organized atheism and humanism.[16]

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The website Marketwatch reported concerning the aftermath of the 2016 presidential race: Trump’s win is causing a surge in demand for mental health services[17]

The U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was appointed by Trump, is a judge who has ruled in favor of religious liberty in his past decisions.[18] U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was also nominated to the court by Trump, gave a favorable ruling in the Hobby Lobby case in respect to religious liberty.[19] See also: Morale of the atheist movement

### Greta Christina, depression and Donald Trump's presidential victory[edit]

Greta Christina in 2014.

See also: Atheism and depression

The atheist activist Greta Christina wrote in January of 2017:

“  |  I don’t know how to do this.

A lot of my strategies don’t work anymore. This round of depression isn’t just worse than my previous episodes: it’s different. My symptoms, the things that help, the things that make it worse — they’re different. I’ve spent the last four years learning how to manage depression, and now, at least to some extent, I need to start all over again.

It’s different because the world is genuinely terrible. That’s not the depression talking: that’s a reasonable, evidence-based assessment of reality. You know the joke, “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you?” Well, just because you’re depressed doesn’t mean the world’s not terrible. And just because you’re anxious doesn’t mean the world’s not terrifying. I keep thinking about Reviving the Tribe, Eric Rofes’s book about gay men’s lives in the worst years of the AIDS epidemic, and I keep thinking about the question he kept asking: How do you treat PTSD when the trauma is still ongoing?

Yes, the world was terrible and terrifying and traumatic before the election. I don’t want to ignore that. But it’s a whole lot worse now...

And it’s harder to even want to fight my depression. It’s harder to want to peel back the numbing layers of cotton and fog, and really engage with the world.[20]

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Christina also wrote:

“  |  I do not consent to this.

It’s January 20, 2017. It’s inauguration day. And I do not accept it.

That’s an odd phrase: “I do not accept this.” It can mean denial, refusal to acknowledge reality. Or it can mean resistance. I’ve been doing a bit of both: I’ve been sinking into work and organizing, and I’ve been sinking into escapist distractions. I’ll probably keep doing both. I can’t work all the time, I’ll exhaust myself. And I can’t let myself think too much, or for too long, about the world we’re in now. Especially not when I’m alone. I need my escapes into other worlds: worlds where people mostly treat each other decently, worlds where wrongs are righted.

I think I’ve read too much science fiction. There’s a part of me that keeps looking for the key to the alternate reality.[21]

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### American mainstream media coverage of Trump[edit]

See also: Atheism and the media

In his American Thinker article Mainstream Media’s Trump Derangement Syndrome Epidemic Steve McCann wrote:

“  |  Donald Trump concluded his second week as President of the United States last Friday. Prompted by virtually every utterance and action of the current President, the never-ending demonstrations and delirium of the professional activist Left as well as the Democratic Party hierarchy and much of the mainstream media and entertainment cabal has produced perhaps the most memorable and entertaining fortnight in recent American political history. Judging by their permanent state of hysteria it appears that this assemblage of left-wing factions is unaware that there are, at a minimum, 206 weeks remaining in the Trump presidency. Maintaining the current level of frenzy will be a formidable task.[22] |  ”

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The Media Research Center released a study in 2008 reporting pro-atheism bias by major press outlets in the United States.[23] The study found that 80% of mainstream media coverage of atheism was positive and that 71% of Christian-themed stories had an atheist counterpoint or were written from an atheist perspective.[24] The study is not surprising given the liberal bias that commonly exists in the major media outlets.

### American millennials, secular leftism, Trump's victory and therapy[edit]

See also: American millennials, irreligion, therapy and pseudoscience and Atheist deification of politics

In 2010, the Pew Research Forum reported concerning the millennial generation:

“  |  By some key measures, Americans ages 18 to 29 are considerably less religious than older Americans...

Compared with their elders today, young people are much less likely to affiliate with any religious tradition or to identify themselves as part of a Christian denomination. Fully one-in-four adults under age 30 (25%) are unaffiliated, describing their religion as “atheist,” “agnostic” or “nothing in particular.” This compares with less than one-fifth of people in their 30s (19%), 15% of those in their 40s, 14% of those in their 50s and 10% or less among those 60 and older. About two-thirds of young people (68%) say they are members of a Christian denomination and 43% describe themselves as Protestants, compared with 81% of adults ages 30 and older who associate with Christian faiths and 53% who are Protestants.[25]

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Peter Burfeind's article Millennials Are In Election Hell Because Politics Has Become Their God published in The Federalist indicates:

“  |  According to progressive faith, the “arc of history” always bends Left. Well, history just spawned Donald Trump, and if European political trends are indicative, this is not an isolated incident. For leftists, this is akin to if Christians woke up to find Jesus’ bones had been discovered. It shattered their faith.

The freak-out is especially acute among millennials. These are the “nones” and the “spiritual but not religious” bunch we’ve heard about the past decade. Millennials, we were told, didn’t abandon faith per se—can the human spirit truly live without faith?—they simply redirected it away from “organized religion” toward other things, chief among which was politics. I wonder how that’s working out for them.

As ridiculous and ubiquitous as the pathetically referenced “stages of grief” has become to explain how they feel about losing an election (!), the depth of leftist grief does magnify the essential religiosity they place on politics. Some reflection is in order.[26]

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The ex-atheist Paul C. Vitz

Thomas D. Willliams PH.D. wrote in his article Report: Atheist Millennials Trade Faith for Therapy:

“  |  In the absence of God or religious faith, many millennials are seeking meaning for their lives and an explanation of existence through psychological therapy, a new essay suggests.

Writing for Quartz, self-described atheist millennial Elizabeth King argues that for herself and countless colleagues, “therapy is our new church,” while noting that “many millennials grappling with the big questions in life want to work them out on a psychologist’s couch instead of a church pew.”

“Most of the people I know are in therapy,” she states.

The idea of psychology used as a substitute for religion is nothing new. Already in his groundbreaking 1977 book, Psychology as Religion: The Cult of self-Worship, Dr. Paul C. Vitz offered a stinging critique of the selfism that is central to the most popular psychological schools. The narcissism described by Vitz has reached its apex in the millennial generation, and thoughtful observers will find it unsurprising that many millennials would find psychological therapy to be a natural surrogate for religious faith.[27]

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### Psychology and pseudoscience[edit]

See also: Psychology and pseudoscience and Atheism and science

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior and the practical application of psychological therapy. Unfortunately, the field of psychology is riddled with sloppy work, pseudoscience and scientific fraud (see: Psychology and pseudoscience).

#### Psychology studies: Major problems with replication and transparency[edit]

* Over half of psychology studies fail reproducibility test, Nature, August 27, 2015

* Psychology is not science \- Discusses lack of transparency of Dutch psychologists in terms of their data for their experiments

#### Psychological studies and statistical errors[edit]

In 2011, the New York Times reported:

“  |  Also common is a self-serving statistical sloppiness. In an analysis published this year, Dr. Wicherts and Marjan Bakker, also at the University of Amsterdam, searched a random sample of 281 psychology papers for statistical errors. They found that about half of the papers in high-end journals contained some statistical error.[28] |  ”

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#### Significant percentage of psychologists having depression and/or suicide ideation[edit]

Theodore beale reported:

“  |  This is why therapy is reliably doomed to failure:..

In addition to the 46 percent of psychologists who the NHS reports as being depressed, "out of 800 psychologists sampled, 29 per cent reported suicidal ideation and 4 per cent reported attempting suicide."...

Would you go to a plumber whose toilet is overflowing? Would you hire a computer programmer who didn't know how to use a computer? Then why would you ever talk to one of these nutjobs in order to fix whatever mental issues you might be having?...

There is very little scientific evidence of the benefits of psychology. I read one recent study which showed that neurotic individuals actually stabilize on their own at a higher rate than those who seek therapy. This is no surprise, as the foundations of psychology are literally fiction.[29]

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#### Effectiveness of laymen vs. trained psychologists[edit]

Christian author Todd A. Sinelli wrote in an article entitled To Whom Shall We Go?:

“  |  Psychology is ineffective, impotent, and embarrassingly deceptive. The great humbug is that “the psychological industry has successfully concealed its ineffectiveness from the general public. Pastors, churches, and the laity have been brainwashed into believing that only psychologically trained professional counselors are competent to deal with serious problems.”

Empirical research indicates that this is not so. In his study conducted in 1979 and entitled "Comparative Effectiveness of Paraprofessional and Professional Helpers", J.A. Durlack writes, “The research reviewed forty-two studies that compared professional counselors with untrained helpers. The findings were ‘consistent and provocative.’ Paraprofessionals achieve clinical outcomes equal to or significantly better than those obtained by professionals (...) The study, on the whole, lent no support to the major hypothesis that (...) the technical skills of professional psychotherapists produce measurably better therapeutic change.”

At the conclusion of this study, psychologist Gary Collins reluctantly admitted, “Clearly there is evidence that for most people, laypeople can counsel as well as or better than professionals.”

Again, the bottom line is that Christians are not to turn to psychologist for guidance. Primarily because the Word of God instructs us not to and God has given us the ability to counsel one another through His Word.[30]

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See also: Abstract - Comparative effectiveness of paraprofessional and professional helpers and PubMed citation - Comparative effectiveness of paraprofessional and professional helpers

A 1985 paper entitled Does professional training make a therapist more effective? which was published by the University of Texas reported there was no substantial difference in between the results that laymen and trained psychologists are able to achieve.[31][32]

#### The atheist psychologist Sigmund Freud promoted pseudoscience[edit]

See also: Sigmund Freud's view of religion and Atheism and depression and Atheism and suicide

Sigmund Freud in his laboratory

Psychologists are the least religious of American professors.[33]

Sigmund Freud and the atheistic and pseudoscientific Freudian psychoanalysis has had a cultish following.[34][35] See also: Atheist cults

Freud was a proponent of the notion that theism was detrimental to mental health.[36] Oxford Professor Alister McGrath, author of the book The Twilight of Atheism, stated the following regarding Freud:

“  |  One of the most important criticisms that Sigmund Freud directed against religion was that it encourages unhealthy and dysfunctional outlooks on life. Having dismissed religion as an illusion, Freud went on to argue that it is a negative factor in personal development. At times, Freud's influence has been such that the elimination of a person's religious beliefs has been seen as a precondition for mental health.

Freud is now a fallen idol, the fall having been all the heavier for its postponement. There is now growing awareness of the importance of spirituality in health care, both as a positive factor in relation to well-being and as an issue to which patients have a right. The "Spirituality and Healing in Medicine" conference sponsored by Harvard Medical School in 1998 brought reports that 86 percent of Americans as a whole, 99 percent of family physicians, and 94 percent of HMO professionals believe that prayer, meditation, and other spiritual and religious practices exercise a major positive role within the healing process.[36]

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The prestigious Mayo Clinic reported on December 11, 2001:

“  |  In an article also published in this issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic researchers reviewed published studies, meta-analyses, systematic reviews and subject reviews that examined the association between religious involvement and spirituality and physical health, mental health, health-related quality of life and other health outcomes.

The authors report a majority of the nearly 350 studies of physical health and 850 studies of mental health that have used religious and spiritual variables have found that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes.[37]

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## Doctors believe in God more than social scientists. Medical science is often more reliable than social science. Irreligion and the social science of psychology[edit]

Few, if any, political scientists predicted early on that Donald Trump would win the Republican primary and then would subsequently be elected president of the United States. Furthermore, most pollsters indicated that Trump would lose the election.

27 percent of American political scientists believe in the existence of God while 76 percent of American doctors said they believe in God.[38]

Compared to medical science which has many effective medicines and surgical procedures, the social science of political science is often unreliable.

See also: Atheism and health and Atheism and science

Psychology is a social science.

### Physical sciences, social sciences and reliability[edit]

In an article entitled How reliable are the social sciences?, Cary Cutting wrote in the New York Times:

“  |  While the physical sciences produce many detailed and precise predictions, the social sciences do not. The reason is that such predictions almost always require randomized controlled experiments, which are seldom possible when people are involved. For one thing, we are too complex: our behavior depends on an enormous number of tightly interconnected variables that are extraordinarily difficult to distinguish and study separately. Also, moral considerations forbid manipulating humans the way we do inanimate objects. As a result, most social science research falls far short of the natural sciences’ standard of controlled experiments.[39] |  ”

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### Doctors, social scientists and belief in God[edit]

NBC News reported: "In the survey of 1,044 doctors nationwide, 76 percent said they believe in God, 59 percent said they believe in some sort of afterlife, and 55 percent said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine."[40]

On the other hand, according to Livescience.com, 31 percent of social scientists believe in God. 27 percent of political scientists, who are social scientists, believe in the existence of God.[41]

Compared to medical science which has many effective medicines and surgical procedures, social science is often unreliable. For example, few economists (economics is a social science) in academia predicted the Great Depression or the 1987 financial crisis. Ludwig von Mises was snubbed by economists worldwide when he warned of a credit crisis in the 1920s.[42] Few, if any, political scientists predicted early on that Donald Trump would win the Republican primary and the would subsequently win the 2016 presidential election.

The abstract for the journal article Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research which was published in The American Political Science Review indicated "Scholars routinely make claims that presuppose the validity of the observations and measurements that operationalize their concepts. Yet, despite recent advances in political science methods, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to measurement validity."[43]

The political scientist Emily Thorson wrote at the Politico website:

“  |  Late last semester, a student showed up during my office hours. She sat down across from me, looking worried. I assumed she wanted to discuss her upcoming paper, but she had something else in mind. “Professor,” she said. “How did Donald Trump happen?”

This is the question everyone seems to be asking these days. Trump’s rise has defied the predictions of pundits and pollsters, repeatedly embarrassing those who swore that he would flame out. I’m a political scientist, and I count myself among that number. In September, I offered my students a $500 bet that he wouldn’t become the Republican nominee — a wager I’m increasingly glad that none of them took me up on.[44]

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## Secular leftists, Brexit and spike in mental health office visits[edit]

Brexit results. Blue-shaded areas stand for council areas that voted "Leave". Orange stand for "Remain".

See also: Brexit

Brexit is a campaign slogan for 'Britain's Exit' from the European Union.

The new atheist Richard Dawkins was against Brexit.[45] Dawkins is a liberal/leftist.[46] Most leftists were against Brexit.

A Eurobarometer poll in 2010 reported that 37% of UK citizens "believed there is a God", 33% believe there is "some sort of spirit or life force" and 25% answered "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force".[47] See also: British atheism

The Guardian reported about Brexit:

“  |  In shrinks’ offices across the country, just as in homes, pubs and offices, people are trying to come to terms with the surprise and shock of the Brexit result. Strangers gather together to talk of how “the world is falling apart”.

Many people feel transported into a dystopian Britain that they “do not recognise, cannot understand”. Thousands are hatching plans to leave the country. Social media are full of suddenly violent flaming between former friends.

Therapists everywhere are reporting shockingly elevated levels of anxiety and despair, with few patients wishing to talk about anything else. Mental health referrals have already begun to mushroom. Why is the Brexit vote affecting us so personally? And, what does this tell us about the make-up of our psyches?[48]

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The columnist Patrick West wrote in his article The Post-Brexit Ugliness of the left:

“  |  The liberal-left couldn’t understand why people would vote in the name of abstract principles such as ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom’ or ‘self-determination’, because they view everything in terms of their own money and their own public image.

There was a time when it was Tories who sneered at the poor, who deplored them as stupid and feckless. This was in the loadsamoney era of the 1980s, during which the market ruled and we were beholden to the whims of capitalists and the sainted market. There was even a time, many years ago, when the left spoke of principles, of democracy and liberty. How the roles have been reversed. How strange that it’s mostly conservatives who now talk in abstractions, and it’s the left that obsesses about the markets and worry about the FTSE 100, about their own money.[49]

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## Dawkins' disinvitation to speak at a skeptics conference due to a feminism/Islam controversy and subsequent stroke[edit]

See also: Richard Dawkins' health and Richard Dawkins, Darwin and psychogenic illness and Richard Dawkins and medical science

Richard Dawkins

The new atheist Richard Dawkins has a reputation for being an angry, aggressive and abrasive man (see: Richard Dawkins and anger and Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins).

Although he has had a number of political disputes with his fellow liberals, Dawkins is a liberal/leftist as noted above.[50]

Due to his chronic high blood pressure, Richard Dawkins has been repeatedly warned by his doctors to avoid controversies.[51]

According to Glenn Gandelman, MD, "A recent study indicates that angry men have higher blood pressure and increased risk of heart disease.[52] PubMed has numerous studies relating to anger and high blood pressure.[53][54]

Despite the medical advice of his team of doctors, Dawkins had a very active Twitter presence before his minor stroke (with a number of Twitter controversies) and numerous public controversies (see: Richard Dawkins and women and Elevatorgate and Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations).[55]

Dawkins has accumulated over 30,000 Twitter tweets.[56] The Independent reported, "Dawkins also admitted he wasn't very good at managing Twitter and the strong reactions his posts tend to provoke. 'Twitter is very difficult medium to handle,' he said. 'I’m not much of a diplomat.'"[57] However, after his stroke, in May 2016, Dawkins gave up posting on Twitter for awhile and the tweets that appeared in his name were done by his staff.[58] See: Richard Dawkins and Twitter

Hemant Mehta

In 2013, Martin Robbins wrote in the New Statesman concerning the public persona of Dawkins: "Increasingly though, his public output resembles that of a man desperately grasping for attention and relevance..."[59]

Atheist Hemant Mehta reported about Dawkins' stroke and Dawkins' report that he had been once again invited to the conference:

“  |  It was the result of stress-related higher blood pressure, which he says he may have had as a result of recent controversy, including being booted from the NECSS conference. He added, however, that on February 5, he received a letter from conference organizers apologizing for disinviting him and asking him back to the conference.[60] |  ”

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In December of 2016, Dawkins appears to have started to Tweet again despite his doctors warnings to avoid controversy (For example, he tweeted that Britain had become a "nasty little backwater" after the Brexit vote and his Tweet drew fierce criticism).[61][62][63]

### Richard Dawkins, Charles Darwin and psychogenic illness[edit]

See: Richard Dawkins, Darwin and psychogenic illness

### Atheist infighting and differences in ideology[edit]

See also: Atheist factions and Definition of atheism and Atheism and love and Atheism and intolerance

David Silverman took feminist Rebecca Watson off the speakers list for the Reason Rally after Richard Dawkins objected to her speaking at the event.[64] See: Elevatorgate

Jacques Rousseau wrote in the Daily Maverick: "Elevatorgate..has resulted in three weeks of infighting in the secular community. Some might observe that we indulge in these squabbles fairly frequently."[65] See: Atheist factions

An ex-atheist wrote: "As an Atheist for 40 years, I noticed that there is not just a wide variety of Atheist positions, but there exists an actual battle between certain Atheist factions."[66]

The atheist Neil Carter wrote:

“  |  Friends of mine have noted lately how biting and critical the atheist community can be, not only toward outsiders, but even toward its own members. Has there ever been a subculture more prone to eating its own than this one? I really don’t know.[67] |  ”

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The American atheist activist Eddie Tabash said in a speech to the Michigan Atheists State Convention, "Since we are a bit of a cantankerous, opinionated lot...".[68]

One of the reasons for the disharmony within the atheist community is the inability of most atheists to keep together for a uniform belief. While there are differences within other religions, such as Christianity, other religions' adherents all share a common belief. In the case of Christianity, some of the basic beliefs Christians share is the deity of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the trinity. Contrastly, atheists are unable to even create a coherent definition of their beliefs.[69] See: Definition of atheism.

The atheist and secular leftist PZ Myers, who frequently champions feminism (see also: atheist feminism), wrote in 2016: "We are fractured because there are deep disagreements about how to address serious social issues. Worse, because some people won’t even accept the dehumanization of fellow human beings as something more substantial than ridiculousness."[70]

The American atheist Adam Lee declared:

“  |  The atheist community, which once seemed gloriously unified, has become riven in the last few years with ugly fractures and one-step-forward-two-steps-back infighting about what kind of movement we want to be. I’ve lost friends over it, and many of the people I used to idolize have publicly tumbled from their pedestals. Some incomparable friends and activists have burned out or quit the movement in disgust, and each one was a loss I felt keenly.[71] |  ”

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#### Journal of Contemporary Religion on schisms within U.S. atheism[edit]

See also: American atheism and Atheist movement

The Journal of Contemporary Religion says about schisms within atheism: "The persistence of internal schisms and regular outbreaks of in-fighting within the atheist movement also ensure that much energy is effectively wasted on parochial concerns and further undermine attempts to establish a genuine sense of group cohesion."[72]

The Journal of Contemporary Religion say that internal divisions within the American atheist movement have to do with: "Internal divisions within the movement around issues relating to goals, strategies, and direction. These can be seen most notably in debates about the formation of a collective ‘atheist’ identity, in disputes about the effectiveness of confrontationalism and accommodationism, and in concerns about the movement’s ethnic, racial, and gender profile."[72]

See also: Atheism and women and Western atheism and race

## Decline of the secular left[edit]

See: Decline of the secular left

## See also[edit]

* Atheism and anxiety

* Atheism and mental toughness

* Atheism and mental illness

* Atheism and emotional intelligence

* Atheism and negative emotions/thoughts

* Atheist fear of conservative Christians

* Atheism and social skills

* Decline of the atheist movement

* Atheism, agnosticism and pessimism

* Atheism and happiness

* Atheism and loneliness

* Atheism and hatred of God

* Trump derangement syndrome

* Militant atheism vs. Christianity, Islam and right-wing ideology

* Atheism and sociopathy

Essay:

* Secular leftism, future shock and the acceleration of 21st desecularization

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ Trump’s win is causing a surge in demand for mental health services, Marketwatch 2016
2. ↑ Emotional intelligence
3. ↑ Divine Emotions: On the Link Between Emotional Intelligence and Religious Belief, Journal of Religion and Health, December 2017, Volume 56, Issue 6, pp 1998–2009
4. ↑ THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE WITH RELIGIOUS COPING AND GENERAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS by Masoumeh Bagheri Nesami, Amir Hossein Goudarzian, Houman Zarei, Pedram Esameili, Milad Dehghan Pour, and Hesam Mirani, Materia Sociomedica. 2015 Dec; 27(6): 412–416. doi: 10.5455/msm.2015.27.412-416
5. ↑ Religiosity and perceived emotional intelligence among Christians, Personality and Individual Differences 41(3):479-490 · August 2006, DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2006.01.016
6. ↑ Multiple references:
* Mueller, Dr. Paul S. et al. (December 2001). "Religious involvement, spirituality, and medicine: implications for clinical practice". Mayo Clinic Proceedings vol. 76:12, pp. 1225-1235. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic Proceedings website on July 20, 2014.
* "Research library". Duke University Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health. Retrieved on July 24, 2014.
* McCullough, Michael E. et al. (2000). "Religious involvement and mortality: a meta-analytic review". Health Psychology. vol. 19:3. pp. 211-222. Retrieved from University of Miami, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology website on July 24, 2014.
* Casey, Professor Patricia (April 3, 2009). "The psycho-social benefits of religious practise" [executive summary]. Iona Institute for Religion and Society [Ireland] website. Retrieved on July 24, 2014.
* McCullough, Michael E. and Willoughby, Brian L. B. (2009). "Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: associations, explanations, and implications". Psychological Bulletin, vol. 135: 1, pp. 69–93. Retrieved from University of Miami, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology website on July 24, 2014.
* University of Colorado at Boulder (May 17, 1999). "Research shows religion plays a major role in health, longevity". ScienceDaily. Retrieved on July 24, 2014.
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* University of Warwick (December 2003). "Psychology researcher [Dr. Stephen Joseph] says spiritual meaning of Christmas brings more happiness than materialism". Scienceblog. Retrieved on July 24, 2014.
7. ↑ 7 facts about atheists, Pew Forum
8. ↑ Atheists & Agnostics in America Tend to be Politically Liberal
9. ↑ Gordon Stein, Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion, 74.
10. ↑ UNDERSTANDING TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME by David Kupelian
11. ↑ The Shocking Intolerance of Anti-Trump Liberals by Katrina Trinko, November 10, 2016, The Daily Signal
12. ↑ The Crazy Left’s 4-Step Strategy To Ensure Trump’s Re-Election In 2020, By Daniel Payne JANUARY 20, 2017, The Federalist
13. ↑ David Silverman - How the Mighty Get Back Up
14. ↑ This Firebrand Atheist Was Just Fired After Allegations Of Financial Conflicts And Sexual Assault
15. ↑ Stop tolerating the intolerable by PZ Myers, January 2017
16. ↑ Dealt a body blow, atheists and humanists regroup by Kimberly Winston, Religion News Service, November 9, 2016
17. ↑ Trump’s win is causing a surge in demand for mental health services, Marketwatch 2016
18. ↑ These 6 Cases Show How Brett Kavanaugh Might Rule on Religious Freedom, Daily Signal, 2018
19. ↑ Neil Gorsuch Has a Record of Protecting Religious Minorities, Time magazine, 2017
20. ↑ Depression in a Fascist Regime by Greta Christina
21. ↑ January 20, 2017: Refusing My Consent, and Grieving the World by Greta Christina
22. ↑ Mainstream Media’s Trump Derangement Syndrome Epidemic by Steve McCann, American Thinker
23. ↑ "Smoking gun proof that there is an atheist media bias" (July 17, 2008). YouTube video, 2:56, posted by Atheism Sucks! Retrieved on July 25, 2014.
24. ↑ "Smoking gun proof that there is an atheist media bias" (July 17, 2008). YouTube video, 2:56, posted by Atheism Sucks! Retrieved on July 25, 2014.
25. ↑ Religion among the millenials, Pew Research Center
26. ↑ Millennials Are In Election Hell Because Politics Has Become Their God by Peter Burfeind, The Federalist
27. ↑ Report: Atheist Millennials Trade Faith for Therapy by Thomas D. Willliams PH.D. Breitbart News, 1 Oct 2016
28. ↑ Fraud Case Seen as a Red Flag for Psychology Research
29. ↑ Psychologist, heal thyself
30. ↑ http://littorch.com/articles/to-whom-shall-we-go/
31. ↑ http://www.psych.umn.edu/courses/fall07/brunnquelld/psy8542/Session 07/Berman session 7_1986-02211-001.pdf
32. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3901068
33. ↑ Psychologists are the least religious of American Professors
34. ↑ The Freudian psychoanalysis cult by Kevin MacDonald, Ph.D.
35. ↑ The pretensions of the Freudian cult by Thomas Szasz, The Spectator, 4 OCTOBER 1985, Page 32
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 McGrath, Alister (February 28, 2005). "The twilight of atheism". Christianity Today website. Retrieved on May 23, 2015.
37. ↑ Mueller, Dr. Paul S. et al. (December 2001). "Religious involvement, spirituality, and medicine: implications for clinical practice". Mayo Clinic Proceedings vol. 76:12, pp. 1225-1235. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic Proceedings website on July 20, 2014.
38. ↑
* Scientists belief in God varies starkly by discipline, Livescience.com
* Most doctors believe in God, NBC News
39. ↑ How reliable are the social sciences? by Cary Cutting, New York Times
40. ↑ Most doctors believe in God, NBC News
41. ↑ Scientists belief in God varies starkly by discipline, Livescience.com
42. ↑ The man who predicted the depression, Wall Street Journal
43. ↑ Adcock, Robert, and David Collier. 2001. “Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research.” The American Political Science Review 95(3): 529-546.
44. ↑ 5 Political Myths Trump Is Exploding by Emily Thorson, Politico
45. ↑ Richard Dawkins: Brits have not spoken on Brexit, BBC
46. ↑ Religion and Politics, Richard Dawkins' website
47. ↑ Special Eurobarometer, biotechnology, p. 204". Fieldwork: Jan-Feb 2010.
48. ↑ The EU referendum has caused a mental health crisis by Jay Watts, The Guardian
49. ↑ The Post-Brexit Ugliness of the left by Patrick West
50. ↑ Religion and Politics, Richard Dawkins' website
51. ↑ Richard Dawkins says stroke caused by stress over controversy, Religion New Service
52. ↑ Anger, Stress and High Blood Pressure, Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH
53. ↑ PubMed - Anger and hypertension
54. ↑ PubMed: Anger and high blood pressure
55. ↑
* Richard Dawkins says stroke caused by stress over controversy, Religion New Service
* The 12-Stage 'Evolution' Of A Richard Dawkins Twitter Scandal by Paul Vale, The Huffington Post UK, Posted: 22/08/2014 02:06 BST
* Richard Dawkins, delete your account: The prominent atheist implodes on Twitter (again), Salon
* 15 Of Richard Dawkins' Most Controversial Tweets, Huffington Post
56. ↑ Richard Dawkins Twitter
57. ↑ Richard Dawkins defends Ahmed Mohamed comments and dismisses Islamophobia as a 'non-word'
58. ↑ Dawkins: I’ve Given Up Twitter.
59. ↑ Atheism is maturing, and it will leave Richard Dawkins behind
60. ↑ Richard Dawkins Gives Update on His Health in Audio Message
61. ↑ Richard Dawkins: England becoming a 'nasty little backwater' after Brexit vote, The Telegraph, March 2017
62. ↑ SHOCK RANT: Richard Dawkins mocks Christians for 'pretending' there's WAR on Christianity, Express, December of 2016
63. ↑ What British Scientist Dawkins Thinks Of Islam, Swaraya, June 7, 2017
64. ↑ My Time With Richard Dawkins (Or, Why You Should Never Meet Your Idols) by Sarah at Skepchick, September 5, 2013
65. ↑ Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can rip my soul
66. ↑ The atheist community and internet atheism is still a hostile wasteland
67. ↑ It’s Past Time for Atheism to Grow Up by Neil Carter
68. ↑ Atheists Speak Up - Eddie Tabash - Part 2 of 4
69. ↑ http://atheism.about.com/od/definitionofatheism/Definition_of_Atheism_Dictionaries_Atheists_Others_Define_Atheism.htm
70. ↑ What if the atheist movement needs to die by PZ Myers
71. ↑ Daylight Atheism Is 10 Years Old by Adam Lee
72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 Divided We Stand: The Politics of the Atheist Movement in the United States by Steven KettellJournal of Contemporary Religion, Volume 29, Issue 3, 2014