Atheism has lowest retention rate according to study

[_Stormy Waters]

http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-atheists-have-lowest-retention-rate-compared-to-religious-groups-78029/

I guess we need to do a better job in instructing our children in our atheistic ways...

[_Cylon]

That's not too surprising to me. Like it or not, we humans seem to be hard-wired for religion. On one hand it's amazing that people can be aware of the thousands of different religions that have sprung up over the course of human history and still be absolutely convinced that they managed to be born into/converted to the right one. On the other hand it's also pretty remarkable that anyone can overcome the myriad cognitive biases and evolutionary pressures that cause us to relate to external causative agents (gods) as explanations for our perceived reality.

[_Tarski]

http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-atheists-have-lowest-retention-rate-compared-to-religious-groups-78029/

I guess we need to do a better job in instructing our children in our atheistic ways...

I expect to be more suseptable to religous notions as I approach death. I think this is natural and I am not as guarded against this a Hitchens was.
Humans are hard wired to think about the future, about deciding, intending etc. What will it be like when I am in one of those end of life homes weeks or days from death unable to get out of bed on my own? Might I prefer to starting thinking in terms of an afterlife just so my mind can continue to function?
For some people, severe life troubles or depression might have a similar ability to make evidence based thinking a lower priority.
Drug addicts seem to be able to use God notions to help with recovery.

No one I know has promised that an evidence based view of life will necessarily be the most stable or comfortable. I just can't help it right now. I want the facts if I can get them.

[_palerobber]

well, growing up in an atheist household is not the same as being "raised atheist," which implies indoctrination.

but in any case, can someone make sense of these numbers?

Only about 30 percent of those who grow up in an atheist household remain atheists as adults. [...] 30% are now affiliated with a Protestant denomination, 10% are Catholic, 2% are Jewish, 1% are Mormon, and 1% are Pagan.

so where did the other 26% go?

[_Chap]

well, growing up in an atheist household is not the same as being "raised atheist," which implies indoctrination.

but in any case, can someone make sense of these numbers?

Only about 30 percent of those who grow up in an atheist household remain atheists as adults. [...] 30% are now affiliated with a Protestant denomination, 10% are Catholic, 2% are Jewish, 1% are Mormon, and 1% are Pagan.

so where did the other 26% go?

In the US, given the religious majority, atheists are quite likely to find their partner is a protestant of some kind. Many atheists are not very militant about such things (there is no atheist deity to offend) so I would expect they would frequently fit in with their spouse's religious affiliation for family purposes.

And most atheists don't see themselves as a faith community that needs to indoctrinate its children so as to 'retain' them as atheists. I have no more problem about my children belonging to any reasonably uncultlike religion than I do about their coming out as gay if they feel that is the right way for them.

[_Themis]

so where did the other 26% go?

Agnostic.

[_palerobber]

so where did the other 26% go?

Agnostic. :biggrin:

i'm still trying to unpack the original dataset, but right off i see that "atheist", "agnostic", and "nothing in particular" are treated as seperate categories, so you may be right on about that.

[_lulu]

I'm still trying to unpack the original dataset, but right off i see that "atheist", "agnostic", and "nothing in particular" are treated as seperate categories, so you may be right on about that.

It would be interesting to see the study. Mormons have a 70% retention rate? How are they defining retention? How was the sample drawn?

[_palerobber]

from the Pew report based on the same raw data:

the overall retention rate of the unaffiliated population is relatively low (46%)

so the article linked in the OP that gave a "retention rate" of 30% for atheists is clearly misleading -- they must be treating sideways moves within the "no religion" camp as defections. still, it would not be surprising -- for reasons others have pointed out -- that "retention" would be lower for atheists.

[_palerobber]

by the way, we should also remember that while belief/disbelief in god(s) is strongly correlated with atheist self-identification, the two things are far from being synonymous.

from Pew, these percentages are NOT "absolutely" or "fairly" certain of the existence of "God or a universal spirit":
4% of Protestants
7% of Catholics
17% of Hindus
28% of Jews
33% of Buddhists
60% of Agnostics
85% of Atheists