Aspergers and Religion

[SUM1]

I am not religious. Strong atheist. Was born atheist (like everyone in the world, atheism is the default position), has an atheist family, grew up consciously atheist, will grow old atheist and will die atheist.

 

[Ericho]

It's weird, because I actually grew up in an extremely religious background and it's something my mom brings up all the time, but...I really can't think of a single instance where the two topics overlapped. I don't know, it just never seemed like a combination that was brought up.

 

[lostinspace]

Did you grow up in a religious household?
Yes, Evangelical Charismatic. (Assembly of God would describe it best.) My faith in God collapsed when I was unable to get any communication at all from him despite repeated efforts.

What role does religion play in your life?
none

Do you regularly participate in religious life, and do you do so in community with other people or in a more solitary fashion?
no

Have you been accepted by people of your faith, or largely rejected, or do they just find you "querky"?
n/a

What do you think of NTs and religion versus ASDs and religion?
Aspies tend to like science, and it is science more than anything else that has produced better lives for all of us

Do you have any unconventional views--like maybe Jesus was an Aspie?
If it is true that Jesus died on a cross for our sins, then it was for all people of all times, not only those that believe a certain way.

 

[dschoch]

Did you grow up in a religious household? 50%. My mother was religious, my father not.
What role does religion play in your life? I was religious as a child but became agnostic during adolescence. Now I am an avid atheist.
Do you regularly participate in religious life, and do you do so in community with other people or in a more solitary fashion? No.
Have you been accepted by people of your faith, or largely rejected, or do they just find you "querky”?
I feel that the New Atheists form a wonderful community in which I feel well accepted. Through my Asperger focus I have become quite learned on the topic and I think this is an area where I feel comfortable.
What do you think of NTs and religion versus ASDs and religion?
Did ASD make it easier for me to reject faith? Surely I did not have social contacts over my former religion when I was young, so there was nothing to loose. But I wouldn’t generalise that.
Do you have any unconventional views--like maybe Jesus was an Aspie?!
I think that the Jesus group was just one of many eschatological sects in first century Palestine, as documented by Josephus. Jesus expected the coming of God’s material kingdom and was wrong. According to Jewish law, as a false prophet, he should have been stoned, not crucified.
Christianity was the only sect to survive the Jewish-Roman war (66-73AD), because (i) it had already experienced the loss of a religious leader before, namely John the Baptist, so that they (ii) were able to turn Jesus’ death into a victory and, consequently, (iii) adopted their faith towards the Greek heathens, thus (iv) lost their national affiliation with Israel and retreated to safety when things got hot in 66AD. Seems evolution also applies to religion.

 

[Spinosaurus kin]

I am a nonbeliever and proud.
I am an agnostic atheist, in the sense I feel that there is not sufficient evidence to make the claim of a god's existence, and I will freely criticise those who try to use claims of the supernatural to control or scam others or rationalise their own inhumanity.
However, people who are religious and hurt nobody else, and try their best to do good without marginalising other groups are fine by me, there are too many Ray Comforts and Ken Hams to expose to really start annoying perfectly good people.
All I really want to do I spread critical thinking skills, scepticism, and scientific literacy to people, and also defeat the misconception that atheism is a bad thing.

 

[Jimbo]

I grew up going to a methodist church with Christian parents and grandparents. I am now a methodist layspeaker and sunday school teacher but am possibly converting to a more conservative southern baptist church .

I have been very much accepted by the church, as they are like my family.

Havent really given much thought to apies vs. NT in the church.

No unconventional views. The bible is sort of my obsession. I couldn't get through this life without the holy spirit in it.

I'm still not big on the social aspects of church. If I visit a church as a layspeaker I still find socializing awkward.

 

[Rob]

Hi Everyone -

Religion is a huge interest for me. I am a Seventh-day Adventist, who grew up with a religious Catholic mother and a non-believing father who had terrible experiences in World War II. Regarding how I arrived at my choice of religion, it is a complex and stormy history! Basically, I need an anchor and purpose in my life. I feel pressure on me constantly to "live up" to the expectations of my parents and siblings. When things seem unbearably tough, I pray and read the Bible. Sometimes I have to get tough with God like Job did!

Because my disappointed hopes have nearly crushed me, it can be very lonely being an Aspie. My social life is mostly work, along with my walks with my employer who has accommodated me well in the past. Consequently, it is good to be able to talk to someone on the phone when we have the same views.

I also have a dear friend who I met in Kamloops who prays for me though she does not attend church. She does believe in God however. It's always a pleasure talking on the phone with her, as we met in therapy in the Royal Inland Hospital. She sympathizes with me as we both feel for each other - her severe bouts of depression and anxiety, and my autism spectrum disorder. Her husband met me in Kamloops too, and we are on friendly terms with each other.

Regarding NT's vs. Aspies and religion, it seems that we are about equal in our distribution of faith systems.
I do have a faith community who I regularly email, and share many stories and articles that are important to us as a faith group. Sometimes I go and visit them in Alberta. I had trouble fitting in with them in the past but now they understand me more because I explained to them that I have Asperger's.

Regarding Jesus as an Aspie, I would not think so as He had to spend a lot of time with people and had to put up with a lot of misbehaviour among His disciples. He had to be very patient - something I have little of and need to work on with my mom who is declining with dementia and severe hearing loss.

I have tremendous respect for everyone on this forum. We all have beliefs about life and we need to respect each other's views with brotherly (and sisterly) love.

 

[Andy R]

Did you grow up in a religious household? I was encouraged to be religious as a kid. Mum went through a phase of Church going and I tagged along.
What role does religion play in your life? Nil
Do you regularly participate in religious life, and do you do so in community with other people or in a more solitary fashion? Not at all. I feel uncomfortable when I have to attend any sort of service i.e. Funeral, Wedding, Remembrance Day etc
What do you think of NTs and religion versus ASDs and religion?
I find it confusing to learn that people with Asperger's are religious. It's all so illogical to me.

 

[Soup]

Like SUM1, I am an Atheist.

 

[GoofKing]

Be careful with the word "Atheist" guys :/ I think society has associated it with Satanism ...

 

[Soup]

'Society' can think what it wants. Some people associate anything not Christian with Satanism. Many think that Pagans & Wiccans are Satanists. As an Atheist, I do not believe in (or worship) anything or anyone what or whomsoever. There will always be this or that term or word that gets misunderstood (sometimes deliberately distorted) by someone or some group. Best we can do is to clarify what a word means to us as best as possible.

I am not offended or upset by those who wish to believe & it would never occur to me to try to dissuade them from their beliefs or to mock them for being religious. Hopefully, we will all (the different faith communities & Atheists & Agnostics, etc.) learn to coexist in mutual respect.

 

[Ereth]

People have associated just about everything they fear or find disagreeable with Satanism (not that I have a problem with Satanism). I doubt anybody here's going to stop describing himself or herself as atheist, or queer, or feminist, or whatever just because (gasp!) somebody else might think it's eeeevilll.

 

[GoofKing]

Yeah, it's not like someone behind a religion could do evil things There's always someone no matter what their background or faith or beliefs that's always going to make people with similar faith or beliefs look bad ...

 

[Ste11aeres]

I'm a very religious Catholic. Most of the Aspies I've known in real life have been quite religious. Most of the Aspies I've met online have been irreligious.

I grew up in a religious family. Now my NT sister is atheist. I am religious. One parent is somewhat religious, the other still believes but doesn't live according to that belief. One brother is religious, the other two are still Catholic but not too devout.

I've been very accepted by religious people. In more modern settings, they made me uncomfortable by too much NT-type friendliness. But in some intensely religious circles, I have found a disproportionately large number of Aspies. Maybe Aspie-intensity leads us to be either extremely religious or extremely irreligious?

I think a large proportion of people on the internet, whether ASD or NT are atheist/agnostic.
I don't think someone's religious belief or skepticism has anything to do with whether they are an Aspie or NT.

Looking at Catholic History, one sees that in the Catholic religous culture of past centuries, Aspie traits were highly valued (and imitated by NTs!) but starting in the 70s, or so, NT traits have been valued and Aspie-like traits have been de-valued.

I think Jesus had the strengths of both Aspieness and NT-ness.

 

[Loomis]

Looking at Catholic History, one sees that in the Catholic religous culture of past centuries, Aspie traits were highly valued (and imitated by NTs!) but starting in the 70s, or so, NT traits have been valued and Aspie-like traits have been de-valued.

I think Jesus had the strengths of both Aspieness and NT-ness.

Can you say more about Aspie traits being valued in Catholic History? It is an interesting suggestion.

 

[Asterism]

LDS (Mormon) family with polygamist ancestors on both sides.

As for me, I don't like church because of the awkward, anxiety-producing social expectations and encounters that come with it (at least in the LDS church). Besides, the details of most any religion start to get caught up in what to me are implausible details, like packing animals onto an ark and rationalizing away scientific arguments that don't fit the religious doctrine in question. On the other hand, I do respect religious beliefs and recognize the good that often stems from religion. Sometimes I feel there's a god despite my intellectual doubts. When it comes right down to it, I suppose the label "agnostic" fits me, and I feel resigned to (and fairly comfortable in) my state of not knowing.

 

[GoofKing]

Asterism[/URL]]LDS (Mormon) family with polygamist ancestors on both sides.

As for me, I don't like church because of the awkward, anxiety-producing social expectations and encounters that come with it (at least in the LDS church). Besides, the details of most any religion start to get caught up in what to me are implausible details, like packing animals onto an ark and rationalizing away scientific arguments that don't fit the religious doctrine in question. On the other hand, I do respect religious beliefs and recognize the good that often stems from religion. Sometimes I feel there's a god despite my intellectual doubts. When it comes right down to it, I suppose the label "agnostic" fits me, and I feel resigned to (and fairly comfortable in) my state of not knowing.

Yeah, I hated the social expectations of church too :/ I was expected to answer biblical questions and rhetorical ones as well ...

" Do you know whom it was in this story who died on the cross for your sins ?"

Let's see, Um ... it couldn't be Mary could it ? Oh darn, I was wrong it was Jesus ... Didn't Mary make a claim in her own version ?

I was also forced to go to church when I guess my parents wanted some time alone or fight :|

 

[Brent]

Please remember to keep this on the original posters topic.

 

[GoofKing]

Please remember to keep this on the original posters topic.

Sorry ... :/

 

[Spinosaurus kin]

Be careful with the word "Atheist" guys :/ I think society has associated it with Satanism ...

Have you heard of LaVeyan satanism? It is actually atheistic, and the concept of satan is a metaphor for human feels. There is nothing about sacrificing people, or hurting others. It isn't as bad as it sounds.
However, there are some things I disagree with, and so I prefer not to consider myself a satanist.