Do aspies tend to be atheists?

[Sabertooth]

Theodynamic evolution lacks a literal Adam & Eve. That is a big plot hole...

 

[ToHoldNothing]

Only if you think that Genesis must be taken literally to get all the important doctrinal or spiritual truths from it. Fewer and fewer people of any degree of intelligence seem to think we HAVE to interpret it literally. As an Aspie, I don't think I was so strict in my interpretation of the Bible that I insisted there had to be a literal Adam and Eve and a literal talking snake, etc. In fact, I was quite skeptical of these things. That's the rub, in that aspies are literal moreso in everyday social situations, whereas in terms of bigger issues like religion or philosophy they seem less inclined to just take it at face value and ask questions, which I didn't do in Sunday School mostly for fear of ostracism. But I honestly don't think my questioning people who were basically laypeople for the most part would've made a difference, since I'm for the most part estranged from those I went to church with as children, so it's not as if I genuinely miss their company or even found it a motivating factor to go to church, being something of an unsociable Aspie, lol

 

[BenB]

I'm a Christian and I have Asperger's!

 

[joris]

Only if you think that Genesis must be taken literally to get all the important doctrinal or spiritual truths from it. Fewer and fewer people of any degree of intelligence seem to think we HAVE to interpret it literally.

I believe genesis must be taken literally, as Jesus did, as well as the apostles (and because, if one is to 'drop' the first genesis chapters, the question of sin, really becomes an open question)

 

[dayhiker]

I like there being a literal Adam and Eve. Otherwise, what is human becomes very fussy. If we evolved from some other creature then why isn't that creature also human. Just small changes in the human genome results in some pretty severe problems. So for the human race to continue we have to stay in a pretty narrowly defined gene pool. So seems to me this idea of humans coming from some undefined origin doesn't fit either science or the Bible.

 

[Autocannibal]

I have Asperger's, and I'm Christian. I do think that people with Asperger's in general are more likely to be Atheists, though. Many NTs believe in God but don't reflect that in their lives and don't think it's important - a highly illogical viewpoint. As such, Aspies in that position will tend to default to atheism rather than to Christianity. Christianity only makes sense if God really real, and then it should be followed passionately.

 

[Sabertooth]

I have Asperger's, and I'm Christian. I do think that people with Asperger's in general are more likely to be Atheists, though. Many NTs believe in God but don't reflect that in their lives and don't think it's important - a highly illogical viewpoint. As such, Aspies in that position will tend to default to atheism rather than to Christianity. Christianity only makes sense if God really real, and then it should be followed passionately.

If there was ever a subject worthy of Aspie special interest,...!

And, unlike other special interests, this one is inexhaustible! With [lesser] special interests, I chase them down until I know all there is to know on the subject, or until the "law of diminishing returns" kicks in --whichever comes first-- and then move on to the next item of interest. But that has never happened with my walk with God.

I would surmise that the former topic can be reduced to a mechanical system, whereas God cannot be. His perfection makes Him highly desirable (analogous to "elegance" in engineering), but His sentience combined with His infinite qualities resists apprehension! Yet, He continues to draw us forward. He is addicting in the best sense of the word.


JN 6:66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
JN 6:67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
JN 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

 

[ContraMundum]

From my experience with people that have aspies they are strictly logical, rational and analytical. Those three features are the bane of religion. I could see them being atheist that would make sense.

I don't think so. Some of us tend to like the logical, rational and analytical aspects of Christian theology.

Atheism is attractive to rational people too. But, once God calls you, He calls you. Things that seem vague and without logic to the atheist suddenly make sense. In fact, things only make full sense when you bring God into the equation.

The difference is not our ASD, but what God does with it.

 

[IDKFA]

I have Asperger's and I'm a Christian. It often gets me into hot water though because I am rational. The rational side of my Asperger's can't take (what I interpret) more "emotional-fueled" denominations like Pentecostal and Baptist. The overload of sensory input in terms of movement (dancing, for example) and sound drives me away. At the same time, I have a hard time with (and bare with me here since I can't find the right words; no offense is meant) having to go through a middle man in order to speak to God as found in Catholicism. If I were to take Protestantism and Orthodoxy in Christianity and place them on a continuum, about as far Protestant as I can tolerate is Methodism and about as far Orthodoxy as I can tolerate is Anglicanism.

Even then, I seem to rub typical Christians the wrong way. I'm not completely Conservative nor am I completely Liberal. On some things, I do take a conservative stance. On others, I'm more liberal. I feel like I have to be shoehorned into one group or the other else I risk being ostracized, which eventually happens because I'm dead set on my convictions.

Even as someone with Asperger's - as someone who's logical, rational, and analytical - I realize that not everything is as such and probably will never be as such. I believe we weren't meant to know and understand everything about the universe. I believe there's potential for ruin of humanity when things are too rational, logical, and analytical. All one has to do is look to the events of WWII, specifically Nazi Germany and the extermination of 6+ million Jews to see what happens when logic, analysis, and rational thought is taken to an extreme. People are reduced to numbers, labels, and statistical data. People are dehumanized and tools that come from rational, logical, and analytical works turn genocide into an easy assembly line process. There has to be a balance as well as awareness of extremism, not just in religion, but even in rational/logical/analytical thought and application.

Sorry about that long-winded post. I kind of get into tl;dr territory when it comes to religion and Asperger's, two fields of study I plan on focusing on when I go either to grad school or seminary. :>

 

[Sabertooth]

To IDKFA,

1CO 6:12 "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything.

1CO 10:23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

 

[joris]

I believe there's potential for ruin of humanity when things are too rational, logical, and analytical. All one has to do is look to the events of WWII, specifically Nazi Germany and the extermination of 6+ million Jews to see what happens when logic, analysis, and rational thought is taken to an extreme. People are reduced to numbers, labels, and statistical data. People are dehumanized and tools that come from rational, logical, and analytical works turn genocide into an easy assembly line process.

The problem in Nazi Germany was not so much being 'too rational, logical', but that the core 'belief' was all wrong - that of superiority / inferiority. I think many people really believed this, because a slaughter of innocent human lives should be hard to execute to anyone -- unless you genuinely see them as a thread or somehow as 'not truly human'.

Two things are necessary to break down their 'logic':
- One has to agree all people are human, and do away with the (imaginary) distinction between 'races'. This we can easily conclude from bible.
- You view human life the way God sees it: as very valuable (and it being a major sin to take someones life). This is also obvious from bible.