Religion
In reply to the discussion: We Neglect Religious Education At Our Peril [View all]AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Sorry, that logic doesn't wash. It applies ONLY to anti-theists, at best.
I am actually a fairly rare creature in atheist circles. I never believed. Not for a minute. I rejected, of my own recognizance, the pledge of allegiance in kindergarten, based on those two extra little words added in 1957. (I did not know, and was not told at the time that the two words had not always been there)
My parents did not teach me this. My father was, unbeknownst to me, an actively believing catholic until he died. Meaning, he would say his prayers at bedside every night, etc. I actually didn't know that. Mom was a protestant. My parents were not atheists. Yet I grew up, from day one, 100% a non-believer. That's incredibly rare. Most atheists are people who were believers of some sort or another, at one point.
I would love to see a hard study on it, but in my estimation, most formerly religious atheists I have met (and they constitute most atheists, and I do 'get around' with secular groups quite often, at least as often as I do with motorcycle groups) got there through, or, rather escaped from religion. And most delved too deeply into their religious dogma, and found it logically wanting.
I will look for some study or data to supply you with, I'm not sure if any exists, but in my experience, that poster's comment is dead-on.