tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051713021757781960.post5049239856146889581..comments2023-10-31T10:57:37.652+00:00Comments on Epiphenom: Three puzzles of non-religion in BritainEpiphenomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05420404206189437710noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051713021757781960.post-50418795739179439212012-02-25T19:07:01.211+00:002012-02-25T19:07:01.211+00:00You may be onto something there Tom.You may be onto something there Tom.ReasonBeinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07069408274720666142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051713021757781960.post-12747779337205778242012-02-22T20:16:44.626+00:002012-02-22T20:16:44.626+00:00I suspect that the US is just at an earlier part o...I suspect that the US is just at an earlier part of the curve - where Britain was earlier in the century. To be nonreligious in the US at the moment is an active stance - something that only accurs if you think deeply about these issues. In contrast, many non-religious in the UK today are simply 'don't cares'.Epiphenomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05420404206189437710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051713021757781960.post-56692772861320947812012-02-22T02:41:59.855+00:002012-02-22T02:41:59.855+00:00The second puzzle is the one I find most interesti...The second puzzle is the one I find most interesting. I have obviously not conducted a study here in the U.S., but feel it safe to say that the opposite trend would pan out. It seems the largest clusters of atheists are in the heavily populated northeast and west coast--the areas known for their universities and general "academic" snootiness. The areas that are most religious tend to be in the south/rust belt, an area that is more economically depressed and where there are less university grads. I would be very curious to see a study explaining the differences between the U.K and U.S.---the good news is that if Santorum wins the election here, I now know to add Brighton as potential place to live...ReasonBeinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07069408274720666142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051713021757781960.post-28881942076750535462012-02-20T19:17:07.658+00:002012-02-20T19:17:07.658+00:00Does anyone remember this post: The difference bet...Does anyone remember this post: <a href="http://epiphenom.fieldofscience.com/2010/09/difference-between-being-religous-and.html" rel="nofollow">The difference between being religious and being a believer</a><br /><br />The first anon comment is mine.<br /><br />It was about the US, which seems to display different behaviour: less educated people are more affiliated.<br /><br />My explanation was that church was used as a source of welfare; but in the UK the state had been a very good welfare provider (at least, until the Blair's third way). So, for the point of view of uneducated people, being member of the church had not provided substantial benefit (unlike the US). Futher, in the UK there's a peculiar problem with placing kids on good schools, which are usually religiuos. But giving a kid a good place in school is usually a high-middle-class problem, so this may explain why educated people seem to retain religiuos affiliation.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see if Cameron's big society will give an US style outcome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051713021757781960.post-47507605609715192012-02-20T01:02:13.436+00:002012-02-20T01:02:13.436+00:00The difference between graduates and non graduates...The difference between graduates and non graduates has to do with the lower suggestive power of less intelligent individuals. People that are less intelligent are less able to think for themselves and are therefore a lot more likely to be swept up by popular trends. More intelligent people are more able to think for themselves and are less impressionable, they are also probably more aware that the "New Atheist" dialogue is not any more intellectually honest than a lot of the religious gibberish they condemn.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com