Are atheists generally more opposed to war than believers?
IMO contemporary atheists represent a spectrum of attitudes towards war and violence which is similar to the kind of spectrum one can find among religious believers.
For example if we look at the war in Iraq in 2003, we see that many secular liberals in Britain and America supported the war (maybe they justified as a fight against Muslim extremism?) while most Christian leaders and most of the international community opposed the war.
Far from encouraging religious believers to take a stand for peace, some secular commentators such as Christopher Hitchens even derided those who were against the war.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.With the exception of the Episcopalians that stood on the corner with me protesting the Iraq Wars, the rest of us were all atheists. The Episcopalians were all very liberal. That means I'm puzzled by the Conservative Christian reference in the original post.
Lorajay
Level 9
June 10, 2019
0
They are not conservatives very liberal do gay marriage and women priests gay clergy
The reasons any individual support or oppose something gets very political very fast, so much so that predicting what a group will most likely support is actually easier than what any individual will support. This creates a dichotomy where there is incomplete correlation, resulting in the spectrum of attitudes you discussed.
Many people supported the war for fear of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, human rights reasons, or general dislike of Saddam Hussein.
Happy_Killbot
Level 7
June 10, 2019
0
It does puzzle many why Christopher Hitchens supported the Iraq invasion but it may be because he was a long time champion of the Kurdish people. Saddam was committing genocide against the Kurds and had used chemical weapons against then several times so Hitchins would be pleased to see Him deposed.
I have no idea how many secular and religious people supported the invasion but the two main instigators, Bush and Blair were certainly practicing Christians.
Moravian
Level 8
June 10, 2019
0
Agnostic or not - no sane person who has seen war would ever want someone else to experience it - but all that is needed for evil to flourish is that good men stand by and do nothing
ShadowAmicus
Level 8
June 10, 2019
0
Atheists tend to be better educated, more intelligent and liberal than religious people. Liberals are more opposed to war than conservatives.
"Self-identified atheists tend to be aligned with the Democratic Party and with political liberalism. About two-thirds of atheists (69%) identify as Democrats (or lean in that direction), and a majority (56%) call themselves political liberals (compared with just one-in-ten who say they are conservatives).
"Atheists overwhelmingly favor same-sex marriage (92%) and legal abortion (87%). In addition, three-quarters (74%) say that government aid to the poor does more good than harm."
LiterateHiker
Level 9
June 10, 2019
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Don't generalize about liberals. As a Democrat, I have been a peace activist my entire adult life.
During the lead up to the Iraq war, I demonstrated with anti-war signs with fellow liberals at a busy corner in downtown Wenatchee. "Citizens for Peace" is the name of our group.
"Fucking traitors!" rednecks in pickup trucks screamed, throwing bottles and beer cans at us. We never gave up.
My personal prejudices are in harmony with your statement, but I didn’t see any mention of intelligence in the articles. I wonder if any studies have been done that compared IQs of religious believers vs non-believers.
Just Google "Are atheists more intelligent?" You will find reams of studies.
Why Atheists are More Intelligent than Religious People
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