doubtingthomas wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:47 pm
Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 12:36 am
But none of that tells us whether, if religion vanished right now, whether we'd have more or fewer people starting gunfights.
I think atheists are more likely to avoid a dangerous situation.
"Only about 8,000 out of 1.4 million active duty members in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force identify themselves as atheists, and another 1,800 say they are agnostic, according to the Defense Departmen"
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... 9P20120401
You're ignoring context again. The whole article addresses how non-believers are stigmatized in the armed forces.
Organizers said they hoped the “Rock Beyond Belief” event at Fort Bragg would spur equal treatment toward nonbelievers in the armed forces and help lift the stigma for approximately 295,000 active duty personnel who consider themselves atheist, agnostic or without a religious preference.
Defense Department policy holds that all service members have the right to believe in any or no religion. But those gathered at the event described being ostracized and harassed in the military community for not believing in God and worried about getting passed over for promotions if their secularist stances were widely known.
Griffith is a born-again Christian creationist-turned-atheist who dreamed up the “Rock Beyond Belief” festival to protest an evangelical event held at Fort Bragg in September 2010. Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the “Rock the Fort” event featured Christian musicians and speakers who shared an evangelical message with the military community.
Griffith, 29, tried to get “Rock the Fort” canceled, arguing it was aimed at converting soldiers and violated the constitutional separation of church and state. Fort Bragg officials refused to call it off but said the base would offer the same level of support to other groups seeking a similar gathering.
Though some Christian groups asked the Defense Department not to allow the non-theist event and other critics groused about it through social media, the gathering Saturday had a peaceful vibe without a protester in sight. The crowd included many families with children, some of them part of the military community and others civilians who came out to show support.
“This is very cool,” said Brenda Germain, whose husband retired from the Air Force. “So many times the atheists feel like they’re alone in their community.”
Several military members and their spouses echoed Germain’s feelings but didn’t want their names used out of concern about possible repercussions. One Army wife said her home in a town near Fort Bragg was vandalized after her children told their friends they did not believe in God. Her family ended up moving, she said.
Two service members said they put “no religious preference” rather than atheist on their dog tags to avoid having their beliefs influence how they are treated or viewed by their colleagues.
“We’re good people, we’re serving in the military,” said an Army sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg who did not want to be identified. Atheism “hasn’t changed how I serve.”
This is an especially notorious problem within the Air Force.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-air-fo ... or-get-out You can find lots of other references online.
So, given this stigma, there is no reason to expect that the religious identification that soldiers make publicly during their service reflects their actual stances toward religion.
You have to make a case that atheists avoid military service because it's dangerous, as opposed to numerous other factors that could correlate with military service. You haven't come close.