Why Do Atheists Eat Babies?
http://www.atheistrev.com/2017/01/why-do...abies.html
EXCERPT: I've always liked this particular meme. It manages to be silly while simultaneously poking fun at Christians for some of the absurd things they believe about atheists. And yes, that is my take on the primary meaning of this meme: it serves to highlight the absurd lengths to which some Christians will go to demonize atheists....
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An Atheist Tried Finding Love on Various Religious Dating Websites… At Least It Was Entertaining
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyath...ertaining/
EXCERPT: Hana Nobel, writing for The Bold Italic, attempted to meet the man of her dreams by trying various religious dating sites — everything from Christian Mingle to Atheist Passions (which is apparently a thing). It didn’t go well....
Avoiding spiritual struggles and existential questions is linked with poorer mental health
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...111017.htm
RELEASE: Fear of confronting the tensions and conflicts brought on by existential concerns -- the "big questions" of life -- is linked with poorer mental health, including higher levels of depression, anxiety and difficulty regulating emotions, according to a new Case Western Reserve University study. "Religious and spiritual struggles -- conflicts with God or religious people, tough questions about faith, morality, and the meaning of life -- these are often taboo topics, and the temptation to push them away is strong," said Julie Exline, professor of psychological sciences at Case Western Reserve and co-author of the research.
"When people avoid these struggles, anxiety and depression tend to be more intense than if they faced these struggles head-on." People who more fully embrace these struggles with fundamental beliefs and values report better mental health than those who don't, Exline added. The study, based on a survey of 307 adults about recent life experiences, was published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science.
Among the study's findings:
An unwillingness to accept spiritual struggle could contribute to major social ills, leading to lost opportunities to engage with people of different faith beliefs and backgrounds and come to view them as threatening.
"This avoidance may lead to the rejection of whole groups of people based on their religious differences or perceived incongruence between, for example, their sexuality or gender-based identity and religious teachings," Exline said.
Mental health providers may find it useful to help clients with spiritual struggles face their difficulties in a more proactive way.
"People seem to be more emotionally healthy if they're able to accept troubling thoughts," Exline said. "Looking at spiritual doubts in an objective way seems to help. You may or may not work through them, but at least you can tolerate having them."
Avoidance itself is not a problem; rather, the behavior can become problematic when escaping becomes harmful or contrary to personal goals and sets a rigid pattern of experiencing and responding to the world.
"Regular spiritual avoidance can make it difficult to identify, work toward or experience the qualities that lend a sense of purpose to life," she said.
Using emotional and cognitive energy to push thoughts away will not stop them from continuing to intrude over time.
"Continually being re-visited by these thoughts can create strains on emotional health, especially if a person sees this kind of questioning as morally unacceptable and dangerous," Exline said.
Religious actions convey pro-social intent, finds study
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...083443.htm
RELEASE: Religious expression has a central role in societies around the world, but exactly what role it plays isn't always clear. Santa Fe Institute Omidyar Postdoctoral Fellow Eleanor Power has an answer: whether it's walking across hot coals or simply going to church on Sunday, people who participate in religious acts send a potent signal to others that they're ready and willing to contribute to their communities.
Power's study, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, was designed to test whether a model called signaling theory applied to religion. Signaling theory's key prediction is that people will pay a price in time, money, or even physical pain to demonstrate something to others -- in this case, people would engage in religious acts to demonstrate their generosity, devotion, and so on to others.
There's evidence to suggest that regular churchgoers, for example, really are more generous than others. But to demonstrate that signaling theory is part of the answer, it's not enough to prove that people who engage in religious acts also engage in prosocial behavior -- you also have to show that others in the community get the message.
Do religious acts get the message across? Power spent two years living in a pair of Tamil villages in southern India studying the question. Based on interviews, formal surveys, and other observations, Power's answer is "yes." She found that those who engaged in more religious action were perceived as more hardworking, more generous, and even stronger compared to others. Interestingly, dramatic acts in the name of religion, such as being pierced by hooks and swung from a crane didn't send the strongest messages -- instead, the connection was strongest for the simple act of regular worship. "That has often a bigger effect on your reputational standing than big, extreme acts," Power says.
Also surprising: just how much of an effect religious acts had on others. "These are people who know each other well and have many lines of evidence to draw on, of which religion is just one." Power says. "Given all those other opportunities for observing one another, the fact that there are such strong relationships -- it's pretty telling."
http://www.atheistrev.com/2017/01/why-do...abies.html
EXCERPT: I've always liked this particular meme. It manages to be silly while simultaneously poking fun at Christians for some of the absurd things they believe about atheists. And yes, that is my take on the primary meaning of this meme: it serves to highlight the absurd lengths to which some Christians will go to demonize atheists....
- - - - - - - - -
An Atheist Tried Finding Love on Various Religious Dating Websites… At Least It Was Entertaining
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyath...ertaining/
EXCERPT: Hana Nobel, writing for The Bold Italic, attempted to meet the man of her dreams by trying various religious dating sites — everything from Christian Mingle to Atheist Passions (which is apparently a thing). It didn’t go well....
Avoiding spiritual struggles and existential questions is linked with poorer mental health
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...111017.htm
RELEASE: Fear of confronting the tensions and conflicts brought on by existential concerns -- the "big questions" of life -- is linked with poorer mental health, including higher levels of depression, anxiety and difficulty regulating emotions, according to a new Case Western Reserve University study. "Religious and spiritual struggles -- conflicts with God or religious people, tough questions about faith, morality, and the meaning of life -- these are often taboo topics, and the temptation to push them away is strong," said Julie Exline, professor of psychological sciences at Case Western Reserve and co-author of the research.
"When people avoid these struggles, anxiety and depression tend to be more intense than if they faced these struggles head-on." People who more fully embrace these struggles with fundamental beliefs and values report better mental health than those who don't, Exline added. The study, based on a survey of 307 adults about recent life experiences, was published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science.
Among the study's findings:
An unwillingness to accept spiritual struggle could contribute to major social ills, leading to lost opportunities to engage with people of different faith beliefs and backgrounds and come to view them as threatening.
"This avoidance may lead to the rejection of whole groups of people based on their religious differences or perceived incongruence between, for example, their sexuality or gender-based identity and religious teachings," Exline said.
Mental health providers may find it useful to help clients with spiritual struggles face their difficulties in a more proactive way.
"People seem to be more emotionally healthy if they're able to accept troubling thoughts," Exline said. "Looking at spiritual doubts in an objective way seems to help. You may or may not work through them, but at least you can tolerate having them."
Avoidance itself is not a problem; rather, the behavior can become problematic when escaping becomes harmful or contrary to personal goals and sets a rigid pattern of experiencing and responding to the world.
"Regular spiritual avoidance can make it difficult to identify, work toward or experience the qualities that lend a sense of purpose to life," she said.
Using emotional and cognitive energy to push thoughts away will not stop them from continuing to intrude over time.
"Continually being re-visited by these thoughts can create strains on emotional health, especially if a person sees this kind of questioning as morally unacceptable and dangerous," Exline said.
Religious actions convey pro-social intent, finds study
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...083443.htm
RELEASE: Religious expression has a central role in societies around the world, but exactly what role it plays isn't always clear. Santa Fe Institute Omidyar Postdoctoral Fellow Eleanor Power has an answer: whether it's walking across hot coals or simply going to church on Sunday, people who participate in religious acts send a potent signal to others that they're ready and willing to contribute to their communities.
Power's study, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, was designed to test whether a model called signaling theory applied to religion. Signaling theory's key prediction is that people will pay a price in time, money, or even physical pain to demonstrate something to others -- in this case, people would engage in religious acts to demonstrate their generosity, devotion, and so on to others.
There's evidence to suggest that regular churchgoers, for example, really are more generous than others. But to demonstrate that signaling theory is part of the answer, it's not enough to prove that people who engage in religious acts also engage in prosocial behavior -- you also have to show that others in the community get the message.
Do religious acts get the message across? Power spent two years living in a pair of Tamil villages in southern India studying the question. Based on interviews, formal surveys, and other observations, Power's answer is "yes." She found that those who engaged in more religious action were perceived as more hardworking, more generous, and even stronger compared to others. Interestingly, dramatic acts in the name of religion, such as being pierced by hooks and swung from a crane didn't send the strongest messages -- instead, the connection was strongest for the simple act of regular worship. "That has often a bigger effect on your reputational standing than big, extreme acts," Power says.
Also surprising: just how much of an effect religious acts had on others. "These are people who know each other well and have many lines of evidence to draw on, of which religion is just one." Power says. "Given all those other opportunities for observing one another, the fact that there are such strong relationships -- it's pretty telling."