Atheism and children

In Japan, researchers found that Japanese children see the world as designed.[1]

Researchers at Oxford University have reported finding children who, when questioned, express their understanding that there is a Creator, without having had any such teaching from parents or teachers about this matter.[2]

According to Dr. Olivera Petrovich who lectures at Oxford University, there is now a “preponderance of scientific evidence” indicating that “children believe in God even when religious teachings are withheld from them”.[3]

In Japan, researchers found that Japanese children see the natural world as designed and purposeful and believe some kind of intelligent being is behind that purpose.[4]

Related quotes:

" “A slew of cognitive traits predisposes us to faith.” - Pascal Boyer, in the British science journal Nature [5]

“Atheism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think. … They point to studies showing, for example, that even people who claim to be committed atheists tacitly hold religious beliefs, such as the existence of an immortal soul.” - Graham Lawton in the New Scientist science magazine [6]

See also:

* Atheism and purpose

* Intelligent design

* Argument from beauty

## Contents

* 1 Atheism and its retention rates in individuals
* 2 Atheist indoctrination
* 3 Periods of life people adopt atheism and leave atheism
* 4 Religion, irreligion, children and mental illness
* 5 Atheism and sub-replacement fertility rates
* 6 Atheism and abortion
* 6.1 Atheistic China, one child policy, abortion and gender imbalance
* 7 Atheism and infanticide
* 7.1 Atheism, evolutionism and infanticide
* 8 Atheism and child pornography
* 9 Atheism, pedophilia and NAMBLA
* 10 Atheists harass an orphanage that refused to agree to accept a donation with a stipulation attached to it
* 11 Atheism, children and cannibalism
* 12 Weak atheists and claims about babies being atheists
* 13 See also
* 14 External links
* 15 References

## Atheism and its retention rates in individuals[edit]

See also: Atheism and its retention rate in individuals

In 2012, a Georgetown University study was published indicating that about 30 percent of those who grow up in an atheist household in the United States remain atheists as adults.[7]

In 2012, a Georgetown University study was published indicating that in the United States only about 30 percent of those who grow up in an atheist household remain atheists as adults.[8] According to Dr. Mark Gray, "of those raised as atheists, 30% are now affiliated with a Protestant denomination, 10% are Catholic, 2% are Jewish, 1% are Mormon, and 1% are Pagan."[9]

Theodore Beale wrote about the Pew Research Forum's examination data involving individuals raised as atheists:

“  |  ...the example of various former atheists such as C.S. Lewis and Anthony Flew indicates that atheism is nothing more than a transitive state for many individuals...

The retention rate is even worse for the full blown atheist population. 60% of those raised atheist abandon atheism; 0.5% of the population was raised atheist and 0.3% of it left atheism. And while 1.4% of the population became atheist, the fact that nearly all of the nation is not atheist means that the non-atheist population has a retention rate of 98.6%, which is nearly 2.5 times better than the atheist retention rate of 40%. Therefore, the perceived rapid growth of atheism is nothing more than an artifact of the atheist population's statistical insignificance. Even the dying Episcopalian church has a better retention rate than atheism...[10]

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See also:

* Desecularization and social conformity

* Ex-atheists

* Atheists doubting the validity of atheism

## Atheist indoctrination[edit]

See also: Atheist indoctrination

Dennis Prager

Jewish columnist Dennis Prager has stated that a causal factor of atheism is the "secular indoctrination of a generation."[11] Prager stated that "From elementary school through graduate school, only one way of looking at the world – the secular – is presented. The typical individual in the Western world receives as secular an indoctrination as the typical European received a religious one in the Middle Ages."[12] See also: Atheism and critical thinking

Atheists have focused considerable efforts on the public schools in order to indoctrinate young people into atheistic beliefs.[13][14]

## Periods of life people adopt atheism and leave atheism[edit]

See also: Atheism and poor relationships with parents

In the United States, the ages 14–17 are very influential in terms of an individual adopting atheism.[15] Of those who do embrace unbelief in the United States, many do so in their high school years.[16]

In 2012, a study by the General Social Survey of the social science research organization NORC at the University of Chicago found that belief in God rises with age, even in atheistic nations [17] (For more information, please see: Atheism and immaturity).

Theodore Beale declared:

“  |  ...the age at which most people become atheists indicates that it is almost never an intellectual decision, but an emotional one. (This is why most self-identified atheists are angry, bitter, and immature. The anger, bitterness, and immaturity are usually the cause of the atheism, they are not, as many Christians erroneously suppose, the effects.)[18] |  ”

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The Christian apologist Ken Ammi concurs in his essay The Argument for Atheism from Immaturity and writes: "It is widely known that some atheists rejected God in their childhood, based on child like reasons, have not matured beyond these childish notions and thus, maintain childish-emotional reactions toward the idea of God."[19]

A notable example of a person raised in an atheistic household who later became a Christian is William J. Murray. Mr. Murray is the son of the late atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair who founded the organization American Atheists. In 1982, William J. Murray founded the Religious Freedom Coalition.

## Religion, irreligion, children and mental illness[edit]

See also: Atheism and mental illness

Global News reported:

“  |  Children who are raised with religious or spiritual beliefs tend to have better mental health into their adulthood, a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found.

According to the study’s findings, people who attended weekly religious services or prayed or meditated daily in their childhood reported greater life satisfaction in their 20s. People who grew up in a religious household also reported fewer symptoms of depression and lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder.[20]

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See also: Atheism and depression

## Atheism and sub-replacement fertility rates[edit]

See: Atheism and sub-replacement fertility rates

## Atheism and abortion[edit]

See also: Abortion and atheism and Atheist feminism

The perverse and cruel atheist Marquis de Sade advocated induced abortion.[21]

The father of medicine, Hippocrates, expressly prohibited abortion in his ethical Oath long before Christianity.

The Journal of Medical Ethics article declared concerning the atheist and sadist Marquis de Sade:

“  |  In 1795 the Marquis de Sade published his La Philosophic dans le boudoir, in which he proposed the use of induced abortion for social reasons and as a means of population control. It is from this time that medical and social acceptance of abortion can be dated, although previously the subject had not been discussed in public in modern times. It is suggested that it was largely due to de Sade's writing that induced abortion received the impetus which resulted in its subsequent spread in western society.[22] |  ”

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### Atheistic China, one child policy, abortion and gender imbalance[edit]

See also: Atheism and women

With its large population, China has the largest population of atheists.[23] Yang Fenggang of Purdue University, in Indiana, says the Christian church in China has grown by an average of 10% a year since 1980. He reckons that on current trends there will be 250m Christians by around 2030, making China’s Christian population the largest in the world.[24]

China has the largest atheist population in the world.[25] The current atheist population mostly resides in East Asia (particularly China) and in secular Europe/Australia primarily among whites.[26] See: Western atheism and race

Due to sex-selection abortion and female infantcide, there is a gender imbalance within the Chinese population.

According to 2012 figures from the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China, China’s sex ratio at birth (the number of boys born for every 100 girls) was as high as 118, while the sex ratio amongst the total population was about 105.[27] The statistical data from China indicates that the gap between male and female at birth is far larger than the biologically benchmark ratio (a sex ratio at birth of around 105 males per 100 females).[28]

The Washington Post declares in an article entitled Horrors of one-child policy leave deep scars in Chinese society:

“  |  In 2012, 6.7 million women in China were forced to have abortions under the one-child policy, according to official statistics. Rates in previous decades often topped 10 million a year. As a result, experts say, suicide rates among women in China are significantly higher than among men, in contrast to global norms.

Unimaginable numbers of girls are secretly aborted or killed in infancy every year by parents seeking boys, skewing the sex ratio dramatically.

In the past four decades, hundreds of millions of men and women have been forcibly sterilized or had intrauterine devices inserted, per Chinese family-planning policies.

The vast majority of people are still scared to speak out, but many, including some of the cadres involved in enforcing the policy, say they feel bitter to this day.[29]

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## Atheism and infanticide[edit]

See also: Atheism and infanticide

The atheist philosopher Peter Singer defends the practice of bestiality (as well as abortion, infanticide and euthanasia).

Despite holding these immoral views, Princeton University rewarded him with a bioethics chair.[30] See also: Atheism and bestiality

Infanticide is the practice of killing very young children. An infant has been medically defined as a child too young to speak.[31]

Below are articles on atheism and infanticide:

* Atheism and infanticide

* The Infanticide-Atheist Connection

### Atheism, evolutionism and infanticide[edit]

Since World War II a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the evolutionary position which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists and agnostics.[32]

Below are articles on atheism, evolutionism and infanticide:

* Abortion ‘after birth’? Medical ‘ethicists’ promote infanticide by Jonathan Sarfati

* Blurring the line between abortion and infanticide? by Lita Cosner

## Atheism and child pornography[edit]

See: Atheism and child pornography

## Atheism, pedophilia and NAMBLA[edit]

See: Atheism, pedophilia and NAMBLA

## Atheists harass an orphanage that refused to agree to accept a donation with a stipulation attached to it[edit]

* Atheists harass an orphanage that refused to agree to accept a donation with a stipulation attached to it

## Atheism, children and cannibalism[edit]

* Atheists eat babies meme (Cases of eating babies/children in the atheistic cultures of China, North Korea and the Soviet Union)

* Soviet Union, famine and individuals eating children

* North Korea, famine and a father eating his children

## Weak atheists and claims about babies being atheists[edit]

Weak atheism is an individual merely lacking a belief in God/gods. Using this broad definition of definition of atheism, there are atheists who argue that babies are atheists.[33]

## See also[edit]

* Atheism, women and children
* Atheism and incest
* Atheists eat babies meme

## External links[edit]

* Atheism and Child Abuse

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Children see the world as designed
2. ↑ Children as designed.
3. ↑ Children as designed.
4. ↑ Children as designed.
5. ↑ Graham Lawton in the New Scientist
6. ↑ Graham Lawton in the New Scientist
7. ↑ Nazworth, Nap (July 11, 2012). "Study: atheists have lowest 'retention rate' compared to religious groups". christianpost.com.
8. ↑ Study: Atheists Have Lowest 'Retention Rate' Compared to Religious Groups
9. ↑ Study: Atheists Have Lowest 'Retention Rate' Compared to Religious Groups
10. ↑ Another atheist myth
11. ↑ How atheism is being sold in America
12. ↑ How atheism is being sold in America
13. ↑ The atheist indoctrination project
14. ↑ [Atheists to do religious education in schools] by Dr. Don Batten
15. ↑
* Listening to Young Atheists: Lessons for a Stronger Christianity by Larry Taunton, The Atlantic
* Chapter 1 - Already Gone
16. ↑
* Listening to Young Atheists: Lessons for a Stronger Christianity by Larry Taunton, The Atlantic
* Chapter 1 - Already Gone
* What Led You To Become An Atheist? Some Surprising Answers
17. ↑ Belief in God rises with age, even in atheist nations
18. ↑ Answering an atheist's question
19. ↑ [1]
20. ↑ Religion can help improve children’s mental health, new study finds, Global News, 2018
21. ↑ https://jme.bmj.com/content/6/1/7.abstract
22. ↑ The Marquis de Sade and induced abortion
23. ↑ "The largest atheist/agnostic populations". Chris & Terri Chapman. Countries with the largest atheist populations.
24. ↑ Cracks in the atheist edifice, The Economist, November 1, 2014
25. ↑ *Top 50 Countries With Highest Proportion of Atheists / Agnostics (Zuckerman, 2005)
* A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live, Washington Post By Max Fisher and Caitlin Dewey May 23, 2013
26. ↑ Fisher, Max and Dewey, Caitlin (May 23, 2013). "A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live". The Washington Post website.
27. ↑ National Bureau of Statistics of China, Beijing, China
28. ↑ Poston, L. D., & Glover, S. K., Too many males: marriage market implications of gender imbalances in China, 2005
29. ↑ Horrors of one-child policy leave deep scars in Chinese society, Washington Post
30. ↑
* The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International
* CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil
* The Dangerous Mind by Joe Carter, First Things
31. ↑ MedicineNet.com http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3966.
32. ↑
* Dr. Don Batten, A Who’s Who of evolutionists Creation 20(1):32, December 1997.
* Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D.,F.M., Refuting Evolution, Chapter 1, Facts and Bias
33. ↑ Are babies born atheists? by Matt Slick