Aspies and religious faith

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone know if Aspies have a higher or lower percentage of religious faith than NT's, or is the same?

Aspergers are either all hot for god or arent. i dont know what the percentages are but i'm shure its about the same as NTs.
i'm still practice taoism but dont really consider it a religion because i dont worship god.
I try to stay in the center of the circle, holding on to the white, yet embracing the black.

I think that the majority of aspies are not religious. Aspies tend to apply a very rigid logic to everything, including things that cannot be explained by human logic.

I believe im in the minority, i have a very strong belief in Jesus Christ, i believe the ONLY way to heaven is by Him. I know others will disagree with me, its happened before it will happen again.

If you want to see some religious and political vitriol, stop by the politics philosophy and religion subforum, regardless of your beliefs, be ready to be offended. Ive been in debates before that got the thread locked. I will not be ashamed and i will not apologize for my beliefs.

Good question. I've been wondering that myself since I've joined only to experience a wide array of religious opinions from others.

I'm a Christian, but I like to think my AS has helped me with this. Going to church and helping out with the youth group has been part of my routine ever since I've been old enough to go to youth group. I'll be the last person to tell you I'm a perfect Christian, but I'm pretty consistant in following moral and unwritten rules. I'll still play GTA at home and watch R-rated films, but I know better than to bring them to a church social event. (the exception being my adult learning film class, where I can show R-rated films as long as there's a connection with the lesson of the class)

Ha yeah, I bet a lot of people go at it. I was simply curious how Aspies compare to NT's on it, I don't care to argue or debate it, so I posted it here. I figured if I posted it there, some people would be 'waiting' to pounce it.

I'm gonna be slightly controversial here and say I think the percentage is the same.

The difference is that autistic people are more likely to choose their faith for themselves, because they do not "soak up" the culture around them. That means that you will find more autistics in Christian countries who are atheist or pagan or whatever, and more autistics in primarily atheist environments who are Christian or religious in some other way.

But I do not think that actually makes a difference. If your faith is your own, then it's true faith. Habits you pick up from your culture are not faith--including habits like saying you believe in God when you have never thought about it, or saying you don't believe in God because you've never thought about it.

When an NT is not sure about religion, they will be more likely to just profess to whatever those around them believe. When an autistic is not sure, they will admit to not being sure and either make up their own minds about it or put themselves in the "agnostic" category.

So I do not think there is a difference in actual beliefs, just in whether people sitting on the fence are assimilated into the culture of those around them.

I think that it's the same in all human populations.

IMO, I think the percentages would probably be about the same. It is said that Aspies are logical and rational (well, yes we are), but Aspies also thrive on structure, and that's exactly what religion provides. I am atheist. I do not feel that I need rules from something larger than myself to survive in this world. The laws of the universe work just fine for me. But for people like my mom (I don't know if she is on the spectrum or not, but she could be), the sets of rules and morals that go along with religion are essential for them to continue in society (at least they believe it is essential).

Do we really need to ask the same question every week? The answer is maybe slightly lower, but we don't really know for sure.

Personally, I'm an atheist. But so are my parents, so religious values were never forced upon me. I still know the difference between right and wrong though.

i think the higher up the spectrum you go, the more your emotional side opens up, so you are more open to (and see need for) religion

higher functioning or higher autism intensity?

higher functioning; ie more towards NT