Atheism

I'll alter this thought -

"I agree with Thomas in that I'm not interested in movements in general and less for a movement that revolves around what I don't believe in."

I'm interested, for sure, in the nature of movements. It's just that I rarely get into it myself.

I participate rarely and even then locally, though a short time woman in black (which just involved standing facing the highway in concord with trucks and cars going by and tooting or yelling or annoyed, back re Iraq start up days). I've been engaged in local politics by driving people to vote and all that. Not much of a joiner in the larger sense.
As they said in the SF Chronicle today: where are the protesters?
(maybe we are all tired)

This time I've no bright ideas, but that's another topic, other threads.

It is accurate and well documented. It's even one of the constitutive acts of the French Republic, a founding stone.

The Jules Ferry Laws are a set of French Laws which established free education (1881), then mandatory and laic (secular) education (1882). Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern Republican school (l'école républicaine). The dual system of state and church schools that were largely staffed by religious officials was replaced by state schools and lay school teachers. The educational reforms enacted by Jules Ferry are often attributed to a broader anti-clerical campaign in France.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Ferry_laws

As a result, we're probably one of the most atheist people in the world. There are few countries where a picture like this is regular, almost mainstream journalistic fare:



("Free at last" says Ratzinger after his resignation)

PS: in the upper-right insert: Special issue -- The Life of Mohammad in cartoon

It's been so long since i've seen a copy of Charlie Hebdo that i had forgotten about it all together.

To refresh your memory:

Great magazine.

A bit too leftist for my taste, but in a market saturated with competition (Canard Enchaine, Guignols de l'Info, etc.) their cartoons remain the raunchiest.

Been reading a bit on the issue of gender x atheism.

Long story short: there is apparently a gender gap among American atheists but not at the global level.

The most atheist countries are China, Japan, and the Scandinavian countries. France is somewhere like 6th or 7th. About half (43-54%) of French self-identifies as agnostic or atheist (Japan: 65%, US: estimated around 15% in a survey posted upthread).

World nonreligious population by percentage
Dentsu Institute (2006) and Zuckerman (2005) [largest value taken]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_by_country

I haven't found data desegregated by country and gender, only a global gender estimate in a recent survey (Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism 2012, August 6, 2012, Table 8, page 20). When asked, “Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person or a convinced atheist?”, 12% of men and 14% of women said “A convinced atheist.” No significant difference.

However, American men are less religious than women, and have been so for as long as Gallup has cared to measure (1957).

What explains this divide? It must be cultural, given that it's local and not universal. Found some interesting ideas here (the social ones, not the physical ones), some of which have been mentioned here already:
http://secularist10.hubpages.com/hub/Women-and-Atheism

But Gallup suggests that religious institutions don't know how to reach out to men...

Veddy interesting. Will look at your link in a bit.

This brings up a personal story -
I've a long time woman friend who was born in Estonia (dark on the map, and her family members were scientists) and was in a DP camp in Sweden as a child before landing for good in Los Angeles. I was a bridesmaid in her wedding; the wedding was in a church. At that time, I was still a catholic but less so as the days rolled by, would blanket stop a year or two later.
Again the word fifty comes up - that was 1963.

My point - she and I, still close friends, have never talked about religion. Politics, art, men, children, dogs, cats, gardens, travel, food. Zip on religion. I'd not even noticed that before seeing that map.

Clue or not - she decorates like mad for Christmas, but does that mean anything? She's very craft oriented and a good painter and is keen to make holidays for children. (I probably won't ask now either)

On the Gallup poll, it may be the question - re convinced atheist. Plenty of agnostics around, or "weak" atheists (what an annoying term).

Yes, that global poll's answer is for hard-core atheists. No way from that poll to gauge agnostics or other "softies". The other answers available were simply: "A religious person": global males 60%, global females 57% / "Not a religious person": males 23%, females 23%. Again no difference.

It's only ONE poll, though.

I wonder if the US atheist gender gap is not linked with scientific education. There's a known gender gap there too, and many of the A2K atheists have an interest in sciences.

First, you're assuming a gender gap, and then you're assuming that it's related to atheism. As i've already pointed out more than once now, gender bias is alive and well in just about every field of human endeavor.

Personally, I have never read a poll on atheism I would give the slightest credence to. People hide, they lie, whatever, to avoid the consequence of sharing that information. Also, many are possibly too confused, because they don't spend any time thinking about it prior to being asked.

Gallup has surveyed differences in religiosity among American men and women for years. If you believe their surveys, there is a gap there, not huge by any mean but apparently significant and stable over time. The following charts are about the relevance of religion in today's world:





PS: the second chart is from a 2014 survey.

Believers and non believers... Someone has to be wrong. No wonder things are testy. We gotta love or get lost for the best of the pack. That settles it. No love, no community. Believe that.

Nobody is testy here except for the Jesus freaks who show up to rant at the atheists. Must be all the love you're always on about.

I just want people to be good, buddy. Believers and not believers have their thorns. My message indeed is faith, but virtue moreover. Oh, and knowledge. You need to know faith, from a bad faith. If I believe in God, and you believe God doesn't exist, then one of the faiths won't register as true.

First, i'm not your buddy. Second, i don't believe that these is no god, i just don't believe that there is a god. I understand that from your simplistic point of view, there is no difference in those statements. But there is. The important point being that my position is not a matter of faith. In fact, it is quite the opposite. I don't believe because i know of no evidence. Faith is accepting something without evidence, and theism is blind faith, believing despite a complete lack of evidence. Apples and oranges, "Buddy."

MWal should read the opening post of this thread and then be quiet
http://able2know.org/topic/141106-1

and go away and pick one of the many other atheism threads to talk in.

There are 133 of them.

http://able2know.org/forum/atheism/

Faith is trusting certain things to come through; like love, respect, peace, and reason. If you don't believe what so ever your just gonna fall behind. I have love in my life for one reason, I believe in it.

No, faith is believing something with little or no evidence. You get to have your own opinions--you don't get to have your own definitions of words.