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Originally Posted by uke_master
That makes sense. The fact that religion utterly fails to provide any evidence or rational to justify its made up fairy tales is best explained not because some people are able to use the standard of reason and evidence, but because of some vague allusion about hormones. I would probably be insulted if it wasn't so ridiculous.
You can read Barrett's chapter on atheism in his book Born Believers.
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Effect on Brain
Testosterone has many effects on the male brain--some are prenatal and others occur at puberty. In their book, "You: Having A Baby,"
Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz note that early testosterone production by a male embryo has a profound effect on the brain. The hormone causes atrophy of communication centers in the brain, and proliferation of aggression centers. This predisposes males to less potential for development of communication skills, and increased potential for development of aggressive behavior as adults, though influences throughout life continue to affect brain development, and may either augment or ameliorate early effects of testosterone. At puberty, testosterone again begins to affect the brain, heightening sex drive and increasing instances of aggression.
Read more:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/20...#ixzz1zHnHFgMd
Population attributes of atheists in the US
Overall, U.S. Americans who profess no religion or self-identify as atheist or agnostic are more likely to be white or Asian and less likely to be African American or Hispanic, as compared to the general adult population in U.S.[47]
In the U.S., 55 percent of atheists are under age 35, while 30 percent are 50 and over (compared to 37 percent of the total population). As a group agnostics are older than atheists, though still younger than the general population.[47] Comparing this 2001 data with the 1990 National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI) provides evidence of a trend towards secularization among the younger American population.[47][48]
In the US men are more likely to be atheists than women, and also rate lower on various other measures of religiosity such as frequency of prayer.[49]
"The analyses of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Study 1) and the General Social Surveys (Study 2) show that adolescent and adult intelligence significantly increases adult liberalism, atheism, and men's (but not women's) value on sexual exclusivity."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism
Personality profiles
Luke Galen is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who uses the Big Five personality model. Galen says that he researches demographics of non-religious communities directly, rather than as a byproduct of investigating religious groups.
One of Galen's studies attempted to control for demographics and church attendance; he found that members of secular organizations (like the international Center for Inquiry) have similar personality profiles to members of religious groups. Galen describes how members of secular organizations are very likely to label themselves primarily as "atheists", but also very likely to consider themselves humanists.[2] Galen explains that secular group members show no significant differences in their negative or positive affect - meaning they are no more or less happy (in line with other research on religion and happiness). These members also have similar profiles for conscientiousness (discipline or impulse control, and acting on values like "pursuit of truth").
On the other hand, secular group members do tend to be less agreeable (e.g. more likely to hold unpopular, socially challenging views), as well as more open minded (e.g. more likely to consider new ideas) than members of religious groups. Galen writes "Many previously reported characteristics associated with religiosity are a function not of belief itself, but of strong convictions and group identification."
Oh and there are theists who argue from evidence. Try reading one instead of arguing on message boards that give a false impression that theism has no evidence.
Try Geisler and Zukeran's The Apologetics of Jesus for starters. It's a reader friendly book.
