Mystical Angels

Why are Atheists more likely to believe in Casper?

the friendly ghost: The Wall Street Journal provided the following report: “From Hollywood to the academy, atheists are convinced that a decline in traditional religious belief would lead to a smarter, more scientifically literate and even more civilized populace. The reality is that the New Atheist campaign, by discouraging religion, won’t create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It might actually encourage new levels of mass superstition. And that’s not a conclusion to take on faith—it’s what the empirical data tell us. “‘What Americans Really Believe,’ a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that traditional Christian religion greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of astrology. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than evangelical Christians … “While 31% of people who never worship expressed strong belief in these things [dreams foretelling future, existence of Atlantis, haunting, necromancy, Bigfoot and Nessie], only 8% of people who attend a house of worship more than once a week did … In fact, the more traditional and evangelical the respondent, the less likely he was to believe in, for instance, the possibility of communicating with people who are dead. “This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener, skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in pseudoscience, cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine Skeptical Inquirer that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely. “Surprisingly, while increased church attendance and membership in a conservative denomination has a powerful negative effect on paranormal beliefs, higher education doesn’t. Two years ago two professors published another study in Skeptical Inquirer showing that, while less than one-quarter of college freshmen surveyed expressed a general belief in such superstitions as ghosts, psychic healing, haunted houses, demonic possession, clairvoyance and witches, the figure jumped to 31% of college seniors and 34% of graduate students.” Hemingway, Mollie Ziegler, Look Who’s Irrational Now, The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 19, 2008, p. W13.

Public Comments

1. I won't read that, but at least Casper isn't a sour puss like you.
2. Casper is less violent than the Judeo-Christian God, see, in fact, Casper is the friendly ghost, so what would that hurt, see?
3. LOL - and they whine about sky daddies.........
4. “While 31% of people who never worship" <--- this does not entail atheists, only people who do not go to church. Atheists account for a small part of the people that do not go to church.
5. See, this is what I'm talking about when I said you spread ridiculous lies. No atheist believes in Casper yet here you are claiming we do. And you did not even read the study which you yourself posted. Clearly it says people who never worship are more likely to believe in the paranormal, not those who don't believe in any gods. These two are not the same people.
6. I'm not likely to believe in only the things that are real. Casper is not included.
7. You're horribly deluded even by cult zombie standards. Here lemme sum something obvious up for you. As is so often the case with cult zombies ... The obvious has obviously escaped you. Catholicism ( the originator and still largest sect of the xian cult ) Like 1.2 BILLION xian catholics. Catholics = Holy GHOST ... < There you have it ... They not only openly admit to believing in ghosts ... They worship one. .
8. In my experience, religious people are far more likely to believe in things like alternative medicine and be superstitious than atheists, so I'm a bit dubious about any of that. I bet another study would show the complete opposite.
9. How can anyone believe in ghosts, and not spirits? And if in spirits, that they cannot see, why not believe in a supernatural deity? For to believe in ghosts would also be to believe in an after life. Isn't that against Atheist theory?
10. You want to know something? I once did know someone who claimed to be an atheist, & yet believed in ghosts(this was almost 20 years ago, now), & when I asked her, "How can you believe in ghosts, but, not God?" She replied, "for one thing, it's not the same thing,..." but never elaborated any further.