Is there a higher rate of atheism among people with AS?

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it seems to me that they are the logical type which try and disprove anything metaphysical. I know one person he was treated badly by the church when he was a child because they didn't know about the condition (or whatever y'guys call it) back than, after that he just hated the church.

There is a big difference between simply having a distaste for organized religion and being an atheist, and I have seen atheists here that seem to enjoy pondering the metaphysical. To answer your subject line, I would say, yes.

I believe people, wether they are aspies or not would tend to question many things based on their personal experiences, if they are negative their perception would differ from those who have a positive experience of the same thing or if the same experience would have been different they would probably have a different view about it, which comes to be a very subjective position given that, though that wouldn't be necessarily the whole thing I suppose, but it seems to play a big role.

I grew up atheist in an atheist family and I figured, as a child, that I might get to understand the weird logic of faithful people when I grew up. It never happened.

Aspies tend to think more and analyze deeper. Atheism and religious distaste is more often than not a result of that.

And I am another atheist that very much enjoys pondering the metaphysical, whether I believe in it or not

Religious people tend to just be conforming to their family/society.
I feel different enough already and wouldn't bother trying to get accepted. I see myself as more of a nonconformist.
And as a logical person, atheism seems logical.
Also, my dad is atheist. He's not diagnosed but shows obvious autistic traits.
My mom is still kind of christian and is totally NT.
I see a pattern;)

I'd say yes. I know there are theistic aspies, but overall there is a larger trend towards atheism.

To answer the topic: no, I don't think so.

I'm an atheist just because I am and it's got nothing to do whether I have a disorder or not. I find the topic a bit silly.

I agree, aspies tend to analyise more than NTs. I went from Islam to atheism, to anti-hadith Islam, and finally, the Baha'i faith. I believe that what men call "God" is what is known as energy.

Hello everyone, this is my first post on this site. This seems like an interesting subject.

I am intrigued by how many people seem to think that having AS makes you more likely to be an athiest. Personally, I often think the opposite; tendencies like believing in solid, inflexible things (such as the concept of absolute truth, maybe) and having very black-and-white attitudes about certain things, seems to be something that religious people and autistic people have in common.

A very common autistic character trait is being unable to see other people's points of view: "I am right, anyone who disagrees with me is wrong, and that's just the way it is." I'm not trying to criticise any particular groups of people here, but a very common attitude for religious people is basically: "My religion is the right one, therefore I will go to Heaven. If your religion is different from mine, or if you have no religion, you will go to Hell. There is no way you can convince me otherwise." I know I'm making a sweeping generalisation based on a simple statement here, but doesn't there seem to be a definite similarity between autistic people in general and anyone who happens to believe in a deity (or more than one?)

I think my religious beliefs (Christian) and my AS are the two most important things about me; they are the core of the type of person I am, so I find this subject interesting as both a Christian and an autistic person. I have always had a keen sense of honesty and strong ideals of right and wrong, but I always thought that was simply because I had a Christian upbringing, so those ideals were part of the way my parents raised me. A few years ago, when I learned I had Asperger's, I realised that some of my personality traits may be at least partly due to this condition.

By the way, regarding some comments that various people have made; religious people are no less likely to want to analyse something logically than atheistic people are. As I'm sure most people realise, both sides of the debate can make certain assumptions and conclusions that are not entirely logical. I respect athiests' opinions, I think they can have some very logical and intelligent reasons for their points of view, so I will say no bad things about them.

As has been said, religious people tend to be conformists, whereas people like us are somehow "different". And yet, a desire for order, routine, and doing everything by the book is a common AS symptom.

the following is only applicable to the original topic question and i have not read any ones responses yet.....

because i can not understand religious things in the slightest, it does not mean i discount that there is god.

i realize i have not one iota of capacity to reason it to myself in any way that i am comfortable with, but i still think there are better and higher things in the universe than me.

i can not understand for example, how i have already been dead forever but i never experienced any of that time at all. "forever" passed instantaneously for me before i was born. there was no beginning of time (in my solid belief) and so i was dead forever (ie not alive) before i was born. so i have already been dead for as long as i will be dead after i die this time around, and yet here i am talking about it. it seems like a miracle to me.

i will not pass any judgement of my own about god in this lifetime of mine.

I am definitely not an atheist.

But if any female Aspie is interested in me, and they're not a Christian, they must convert.

Last edited by Tim_Tex on 03 Mar 2009, 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

Kinetic or Potential? And is it measured on the SI scale as Joules?

ruveyn

I'm one of them

Spent my life pondering such things. The word "belief" is a swear word to me now. It is just an acknowledgement of embracing ignorance as a virtue.

Too many people tend to swallow what their peers, parents and authority figures tell them, or accept as true some old book without looking for themselves and asking deep and pertinent questions on the subject.

I think the majority of people either don't care about religion / spirituality / metaphysics or are too afraid to ask questions that may unsettle them, so they cling to organised religious beliefs as a psychological crutch.

I agree that aspies are more pre-disposed towards atheism. But more specifically I suspect we much more skeptical then NTs, and based on what I've seen posted here and from people I've met irl, even theistic aspies tend to fall strongly in the reform/liberalized camp of their respected faith's. I've yet to meet an aspie that is fully aware of their condition that considers themselves a fundamentalist.

As far as I go, I was a happy, but somewhat skeptical Christian until I turned 18, when I discovered the works of Nietzsche and Hume. A few months later there was an ugly incident with some people from my family's church that led to me being outed as bisexual and an atheist, which led me to hold quite a bitter grudge against religion that I've only recently started to get over.

i dnt see y they shoulde b. theres no point blaming God wtever happens in ur life. (this goes 2 Aspies and NTs)