In prison, why do Christians vastly outnumber atheists?

[TomC]

He didn't agree with the number showing very few atheists in prison saying that there are actually a lot of atheists in prison.

I pretty much agree with the whole post. This why I brought up "apatheist" earlier in the thread.

Identifying as Christian, in prison, is all upside. The perks might be small, but it costs nothing at all. I'm confident that the prison inmate demographic is about as low as they get when it comes to honesty and introspection.

If I went to prison I'd identify as Catholic. I'm familiar and comfortable with it. Why not?
Tom

 

[TomC]

In a way, this thread puts me in mind of an old pop song I like, "Walking in Memphis"
Two lines went,
"She said, Tell me are you a Christian child?
And I said, Ma'am I am tonight!"
Tom

 

[Unknown Soldier]

He didn't agree with the number showing very few atheists in prison saying that there are actually a lot of atheists in prison.

I pretty much agree with the whole post. This why I brought up "apatheist" earlier in the thread.

Identifying as Christian, in prison, is all upside. The perks might be small, but it costs nothing at all. I'm confident that the prison inmate demographic is about as low as they get when it comes to honesty and introspection.

If I went to prison I'd identify as Catholic. I'm familiar and comfortable with it. Why not?

The text I highlighted in bold is about all you posted that makes sense.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

He didn't agree with the number showing very few atheists in prison saying that there are actually a lot of atheists in prison.

I pretty much agree with the whole post. This why I brought up "apatheist" earlier in the thread.

Identifying as Christian, in prison, is all upside. The perks might be small, but it costs nothing at all. I'm confident that the prison inmate demographic is about as low as they get when it comes to honesty and introspection.

If I went to prison I'd identify as Catholic. I'm familiar and comfortable with it. Why not?

The text I highlighted in bold is about all you posted that makes sense.

I've highlighted interesting text in red and italicized it.

This is because you are claiming only the black bolded sentences could be made sense of by you. It's very interesting that you didn't make sense of the first sentence I have highlighted in red. It reads "I pretty much agree with the whole post" i.e., your post.

One wonders that you thought it makes no sense to agree with you.

 

[Lion IRC]

Some atheists pretend to be Christians.
eg. atheists masquerading as clergy.
clergyproject dot org

 

[Politesse]

Some atheists pretend to be Christians.
eg. atheists masquerading as clergy.
clergyproject dot org

Masquerading? If they were ordained, they're clergy, no?

The church doesn't just let its priests go no questions asked, neither a parish community. Part of the reason for the organization you cite is to provide support for what is usually a very difficult time of transition that very few can understand unless they've been there.

 

[TomC]

Some atheists pretend to be Christians.
eg. atheists masquerading as clergy.
clergyproject dot org

Welcome back.
It's been awhile. Good to see you.


En garde
Tom

 

[Lion IRC]

Some atheists pretend to be Christians.
eg. atheists masquerading as clergy.
clergyproject dot org

Masquerading? If they were ordained, they're clergy, no?

The church doesn't just let its priests go no questions asked, neither a parish community. Part of the reason for the organization you cite is to provide support for what is usually a very difficult time of transition that very few can understand unless they've been there.

The clergy project shows it's not impossible for atheists to masquerade as clergy.

 

[Learner]

Great to see you Lion.

 

[Elixir]

In prison, why do Christians vastly outnumber atheists?​

It’s because God likes atheists more than He likes Christians.

Prove me wrong.

 

[laughing dog]

First, as we have been shown elsewhere, there really are no atheists.

Second, in prison, there are conversion efforts.

Third, whether the statistics are accurate begs the question of “Why does it matte?”

 

[Lion IRC]

Prison is exactly where you would expect atheists to convert.
Repentance. Reflection. Realising that life is short.

 

[Politesse]

Some atheists pretend to be Christians.
eg. atheists masquerading as clergy.
clergyproject dot org

Masquerading? If they were ordained, they're clergy, no?

The church doesn't just let its priests go no questions asked, neither a parish community. Part of the reason for the organization you cite is to provide support for what is usually a very difficult time of transition that very few can understand unless they've been there.

The clergy project shows it's not impossible for atheists to masquerade as clergy.

It shows it is not impossible for clergy to be atheists. The "masquerade" part is your contribution.

 

[Lion IRC]

You don't like that word?
Find another synonym and I'll use it.
Pretend? Fake? Impersonate?

 

[Politesse]

You don't like that word?
Find another synonym and I'll use it.
Pretend? Fake? Impersonate?

A person who has taken holy orders is clergy. There is no way to leave or end that situation, at least not according to the church itself. A person who is clergy but has since become an atheist is still clergy.

 

[Lion IRC]

You don't like that word?
Find another synonym and I'll use it.
Pretend? Fake? Impersonate?

A person who has taken holy orders is clergy.

Yeah, and a person who recites the hypocratic oath is a surgeon.

There is no way to leave or end that situation, at least not according to the church itself.

Last time I checked, telling your congregation, your Bishop, the Pope...that you're an atheist, and think the bible is full of lies, will get you out pretty quickly.

A person who is clergy but has since become an atheist is still clergy.

Yeah. And a bank robber who walks into a bank wearing a nun's costume holding a gun is on a mission from God

 

[Politesse]

Yeah, and a person who recites the hypocratic oath is a surgeon.

Well, yes. I mean, not the "hypocratic oath" part, but a person with an MD is a doctor. Even if they later decide bodies don't exist.

Last time I checked, telling your congregation, your Bishop, the Pope...that you're an atheist, and think the bible is full of lies, will get you out pretty quickly.

Then I suspect that you haven't checked. You might lose your job, but you cannot lose your office. You're may be disgraced clergy, but you're still clergy, and even an excommunicated priest is technically only in suspension, the church still considers him salvageable until the very moment they burn him at the stake.

And a bank robber who walks into a bank wearing a nun's costume holding a gun is on a mission from God

The difference being that the bank robber was never actually a nun. If they were, than they still are. According to doctrines of the church, a nun is married to Christ, she cannot undo or unmake that condition in this life or the next.

 

[southernhybrid]

Some atheists pretend to be Christians.
eg. atheists masquerading as clergy.
clergyproject dot org

The clergy project was started to help those clergy members who lost their beliefs in god, find a new career. I've met Dan Barker, who I think may have been involved in it, or may have even started it. I'm not sure. Barker is a bit too extreme for my taste, as a very outspoken atheist who is or was very critical of believers. It's been over a decade since I met him and heard him speak, so I don't know if he's softened his approach, as many of us do as we age. He helped establish the Freedom From Religion Foundation. While I totally agree that we should have freedom from religion in our government, I'm not one who tries to convert people to atheism. I understand the power and longing for religious mythology. It brings people together and gives them purpose and hope, even if that hope is false. As long as it's not used to interfere in government or harm or threaten other people, I really don't care what others believe and that's what I tell my Christian friends and frenemies. Sadly, the White Christian Nationalist movement in today's politics is a potential threat to the rest of us.

Barker remained a pastor for awhile after becoming an atheist and he was quite shocked at how easy it was to keep his little flock under control, but he eventually left the church and found a new career. That's the problem. When someone spends years getting a formal education to be a preacher and then they no longer believe in any gods, it's hard to find a new career. There was a member here many years ago who was a very liberal Christian preacher in Atlanta. I met him and his wife along with a few other former posters many years ago. Former poster Jobar tried to track him down, after he left his church to pursue a doctorate degree. I think we found some evidence that he was working as a social worker in ATL. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he no longer believes in god or was an agnostic. So, I wouldn't say that atheists are masquerading as Christians. It's that they were Christians who lost their beliefs and are now in a difficult position as how to support themselves and what to do next for a career. But, if they stay in the ministry, like Barker did for awhile, they are still preaching the same things that their congregations want to hear. So, what difference does it really make if they are telling people what they want to hear and trying to motivate people to live moral lives?

 

[Elixir]

Prison is exactly where you would expect atheists to convert.

Yeah, nothing like a captive audience.
Unless it's a LITERALLY CAPTIVE audience.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Lenny Bruce used to say that prison was the only place that anyone actually read the text in Playboy. In any case, one could easily say that religious faith offers gratification of wish fulfillment for some inmates -- which has nothing to do with how reasonable it is or whether it has any connection with reality.