Does Autism lead to Atheism?

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Does Autism lead to a dis-belief in an Anthropomorphic "God", hence; Atheism, Agnosticism or Deism etc.?


http://magicalthinkingbook.com/2012/05/ ... believers/

I don't think it does.. but I do feel autism encourages more critical thinking about the topic.

A lot seem to be non-believers...but I'm not sure I'd call autism a cause of atheism.

Indirectly. Autism causes people to think more critically about many subjects, including religion. Also, autistic people usually place less weight on the opinions of "experts" such as preachers, and are less subject to herd mentality. So, more atheists.

No, all the terrible suffering in the world lead to it.

I voted Atheist but I think that is misleading. I have and have had internal conflict between my emotional reasoning and rational thinking. I have a very strong feeling that telepathy and other paranormal things exist even though I know rationally that I have no reason to believe in them. I would put my money on them not existing. I would make a decision based on the assumption that they don't. That doesn't make the irrational feelings go away. Sometimes I catch myself starting to agree with my faulty intuition. I might start to feel more confident in a family card game when I'm the dealer because I feel like I'm touching the deck and therefore I'm putting my influence into it through physical contact. I feel more confident so my emotional reasoning has some influence over me but I know that it is irrational at the same time.

I don't consciously believe in anything paranormal. I'm a conscious atheist. Even if I didn't consciously reject my emotional reasoning I would still be an atheist. It never has anything to do with a deity. It's a different kind of magical thinking. I choose to reject it and but it never goes away. The fact that I choose to reject it is why I voted Atheist but it's more complicated than that.

I voted Theist.

After a little bit of a spiritual epiphany, I am becoming a pagan.

However, before that, I was half Atheist, half Agnostic...and trace amounts of whatever religion I wanted to conjure up for the moment (I laugh at my witchy pun).

And before THAT...I was somewhat of a Christian! Surprising to me. I went to church as my family told me to, but I never felt any real connection with Jesus or this god or anyone. I loathed being in that little church room upstairs with all the other teens. I couldn't feel anything. I once tried to write a song about Jesus and his ways (I am considered an excellent writer, and I write poetry and prose) but I put pen down to paper and...absolutely nothing came out. I even went to a Vacation Bible School a few years ago and learned ALL the songs that they had out for us. They're fun to sing, and educational in a Biblical sense, but nothing more. It didn't empower me or make me want to read the Bible like it did with most people.

Yes, autism/AS/PDD(-NOS) makes you think more about the world around you. I had assumed that most Aspies/Auties were actually Agnostic (only believing in what science can prove). Perhaps I am wrong, as most of you are not, in fact, Theists.

My Aspie friend is a Unitarian Universalist, whatever that means. Maybe some of everything? I would love to know.

I'll be checking on this thread soon, I'd love to hear from all of the others!

My autism hasn't turned me away from Christ.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

It's possible that religious feelings of the personification of the universe are the result of our social natures, and that without this social nature, we lack this feeling. But, I have also known autistic people other than myself to believe in a deity. I'm an atheist.

As othre people have statedd, it can only indirctly lead to atheistic stance, whethr by being estrnged to the socity that maintains the religon, promotin critical thinking and scientifc skepticism, etc. I have been a polytheist al my life, mostly becuse the particulur comunity that sustains the religon made suer to include me a great deall in their activitis despite my dificulties and it allows plennty of critical thinking (it mght be close to be regardded as a mysticism rathre than religon becuse it is so encouraging of thinking abuot the metaphysics to it and hiw the rituals and myths relaet to the physicall world), thuogh it is rigid in othre regards, but these othre regards I liek because it gives me the suport and structuer I crave. The questin is then soemwhat superfluous becuse, even if they aer compartively few, there aer indeed autistics who believ in anthropomorphics gods, myself being just one of them.

Maybe.

It could be that my seeming ASD-related resistance to hypnotism, pep talks, and esoteric sales-pitches has better enabled me to examine "Holy Scriptures" without such influences and arrive at my own conclusions without being told what to think.

Then again, it could just be that I am able to think that sets me ahead of believers.

Something else to think about: What reasons could there be that leaders of certain religions are called 'Shepherds' (one of the dictionary definitions of 'Pastor'), and their congregations are referred to as their 'Flock' or their 'Sheep'?

Dunno, but I've been an atheist since childhood. I was raised in a Catholic home, and attended church regularly as a child, but even then, I didn't buy it.

I guess I fall into this category:
" There are also cultural and educational influences—exposure to other skeptics, say—and cognitive style—some people are more likely to use rationality to second-guess superstition."

It has been my belief that theism is fundamentally an emotion based philosophy embraced, in part, as a counter to existential anxiety...
And since autistics are "designed" to function on a more conscious/cognitive/intellectual basis, rather than from an emotional/intuitive orientation, there is a greater attraction towards having an atheistic outlook...

Could you explain what you mean by "emotional reasoning"?

For the past year I have now classified myself as agnostic. I see religion as people who follow fables and fairy tales, but sadly take these fables and fairy tales as truth and hijack secular government to enforce their beliefs on others. I bought the Richard Dawkins book "The God Delusion" as an Easter present for myself and found it informative. I wouldn't say I go as far into athesim as he, I'm more moderate. I do really like magic and science fiction.

Thats a fairly imature view of religon, caling it merely "fables" and "faiiry tales," both of which moer properly fall into the cateory of folklore. Mythology genraly serves as a manifesto of a particulur culture or peple's way of viewing the worlld and the rituals and magick sensiblities that defined thm along with their history (albeit in soem a glorified or exagerated history), and therfore is a valuable tool bothh for the outsidre to learn of the folower of the mytholgy and to give a sense of stablity and meaning to the world of the insider wher othrwise depresive realism might set in (to say the least of its importance) - it therefore wasnt until relativly recntly then that mytholgy and the religon/rites that went along with it was uterly seperated frim government (and it may be argued taht it stil plays large role in "secular" governments), as the religon defined the peple and their unique ethnic identity (at least until christianty destroyed much of the natiev religous identity of European peoples - your book in my openion suonds like a criticism of christinity only, which is thhe only religon [that I know fairly well abuot and so I am in a positon to assert anythng about] that has/had a vigorous policyy of conversion and atempting to control govrnments). maybe islam too but Im not prepare to say anythng abuot it since I dont know the history very well.