Atheists are some of the least liked people in the world. Previous research has demonstrated that in most stigmatized groups, increased prevalence of the group increases prejudice towards the group. However, the opposite has been found with atheists- increased perceived prevalence decreases prejudice towards atheists. One post-hoc explanation provided for this difference is that since atheists are easily concealable and unorganized as a group, their greater prevalence may not be perceived as a threat. In the present thesis, I 1) attempted to replicate the existing finding that perceived increased prevalence would increase trust towards atheists and 2) directly tested the hypothesis that if atheist groups are presented as collectively powerful and coherent, increased prevalence will no longer decrease anti-atheist prejudice. I did not find support for the hypothesis that prevalence increases atheist trust, nor did I find support for my hypotheses that power and cohesion would manipulate distrust. Atheist prejudice is still pervasive, however, prejudice against atheists may be changing.

This dissertation presents results of ethnographic study at a non-religious summer camp called Camp Quest Montana in the summer of 2011 and the numerous insights gained into the lived experiences of non-religious Americans. These particular Americans, because of their non-religion, have experienced unique pressures while navigating through life in a country that is and has been dominated by religious identification and belief. The ethnographic accounts gathered over the course of a week at Camp Quest Montana show how these non-religious people were using a language of belief, informed by a spirituality derived from science, as part of an effort to fit themselves into this wider and religiously steeped American culture. This dissertation argues that the Camp Questers express themselves through a language of “belief” because of the current and historical pressures to be religious, along with Americans’ tendency to distrust non-religious people. Using “belief” language allows them to talk about themselves in a way that makes sense to religious Americans, while also maintaining a non-religious identification. Moreover, this study found differences between how first and second-generation non-religious Americans (the parents and children at Camp Quest Montana) interact with religious Americans. These variations are important because they point to different experiences of the social and cultural landscape of the United States, differences that are reflected in each generation’s non-religious expression. This data also presents a challenge to current arguments regarding the benefits of religion to the socialization and overall well-being of youth.

<p>This 15 point level essay intends to carry out an ideological critic of the scientific humanism; the main question the essay asks is: do the Humanists practice a rational dialog. In able to find an answer to this question have I developed an analyze scheme that show what the skilful demagogue should avoid, if he have an interest in practicing a rational dialog. The essay shows that, when it comes to debating their most important issues, the Humanist does not practice a rational dialog. The Humanists deny that other forms of humanism than the one they practice exists, according to their beliefs´ humanism must contain an atheistic attitude to the world. When it comes to the Humanists debates concerning religion they accentuate those parts of the bible that they believe is destructive for mankind, these arguments have no rele-vance and are therefore not rational.</p>

This 15 point level essay intends to carry out an ideological critic of the scientific humanism; the main question the essay asks is: do the Humanists practice a rational dialog. In able to find an answer to this question have I developed an analyze scheme that show what the skilful demagogue should avoid, if he have an interest in practicing a rational dialog. The essay shows that, when it comes to debating their most important issues, the Humanist does not practice a rational dialog. The Humanists deny that other forms of humanism than the one they practice exists, according to their beliefs´ humanism must contain an atheistic attitude to the world. When it comes to the Humanists debates concerning religion they accentuate those parts of the bible that they believe is destructive for mankind, these arguments have no rele-vance and are therefore not rational.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to create a brief strength of religious/nonreligious worldview scale that has language inclusive for nontheistic populations. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted using 207 participants from a major public southwestern university and a public midwestern university in the United States. It was determined that the Strength of Worldview Scale (SOWS) is a single-factor measure, which also demonstrated high test-retest reliability. It was hypothesized that scores on the SOWS would be negatively correlated with the Depression, Stress, and Anxiety Scale (DASS), positively correlated with the Purpose in Life Subscale, and not correlated with the Extraversion Subscale of the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Only a modest statistically significant correlation between the SOWS and Purpose in life was found. A regression analysis was also conducted with theistic/atheistic belief as a predictor of scores on the SOWS. A curvilinear relationship was found, indicating that strong theists and atheists score more highly in the SOWS than those who are unsure of their beliefs on the existence of a God, Gods, or Higher Power. Preliminary results suggest that the SOWS may be a promising measure for assessing strength of belief in both theist and nontheist populations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling Psychology 2015

Much research focuses on religious bias and in particular the marginalization of Muslims in America. What initially surprised post 9-11 researchers is that participants typically rank atheists lower than Muslims in the areas of private and public trust. Further research is needed to continue to understand the nature and extent of religious-based bias. The present study explores whether a job candidate's religion impacts perception of the candidate's "hireability" and source credibility, including elements of trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness. Participants were randomly assigned to review an identical version of a resume in which only the implied religion of the candidate was manipulated. One line of the candidate's resume suggested that the candidate was Christian, Muslim, Scientologist, Atheist or no religion was indicated. Participants then rated the candidate using a 3-question Hireability Index (Rudman & Glick, 2001) and the Source-Credibility Scale (SCS: Ohanian, 1990). The SCS contains 3 subscales measuring Attractiveness, Expertise and Trustworthiness. In this study, attractiveness emerged as a variable influenced by the religion of the candidate. Trends in the data also suggest that the candidate's religion may influence the candidate's overall Hireability Index score as well. The results suggest that religion may influence variables related to hireability but seem to more strongly influence personal variables such as ratings of attractiveness when the ratings are made by participants who are young and educated.

Sammanfattning Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet med uppsatsen var att belysa eventuella skillnader i upplevd psykisk hälsa hos två grupper med skiftande trosuppfattning. Studien ville undersöka om trosuppfattning hade inflytande på angivna svar i depressionsenkäten PHQ-9 och hur det i så fall samvarierade med vikten av fysisk aktivitet. Hur stor är prevalensen av depression inom de undersökta grupperna? På vilket sätt samvarierar tro på en högre makt med upplevd psykisk hälsa hos de två undersökta grupperna? Hur ser korrelationen ut mellan trosuppfattning och psykisk hälsa i förhållande till den mellan fysisk aktivitet och psykisk hälsa? Metod Studien är en tvärsnittsstudie som har utförts med hjälp av enkäter för att studera sambandet mellan religiositet och upplevd psykisk hälsa i två grupper bestående av troende och ateister. Enkäten innehöll bland annat PHQ-9, ett validerat instrument för att upptäcka symtom för depression. 52 kristna församlingar i Stockholms län kontaktades via e-post varav fyra besöktes. Utöver detta kontaktades en organisation som tar ställning för sekulär humanism och en organisation som har som syfte att främja folkbildning om vetenskapliga metoder och är obunden i religiösa frågor, detta för att få respondenter med skiftande trosuppfattning. För att utöka antalet respondenter användes även en webbversion av enkäten som komplement till den ursprungliga pappersversionen. Sammanlagt besvarade 188 respondenter enkäten. Bearbetning av data gjordes med hjälp av IBM SPSS Statistics 19 samt Microsoft Excel 2007. Signifikansnivå sattes till p≤0,05 Resultat Antalet respondenter som fick fem poäng eller mer på PHQ-9, och därmed skulle vara i behov av en utredning av den psykiska hälsan, var fler hos de troende (n=41) gentemot hos ateisterna (n=23), (p=0,003). Skillnaden i den psykiska hälsan berodde inte på skiftande trosuppfattning utan på faktorer som fysisk aktivitet, hög utbildning, värk, kön och låg inkomst. Slutsats Denna studie visade ingen signifikant skillnad mellan troendes och ateisters psykiska hälsa efter kontroll för confounders. Studien visade att fysisk aktivitet, hög utbildning, värk, kön och inkomst predicerar den psykiska hälsan. / Abstract Aim The aim of this study was to shed light on any possible differences in perceived mental health in two groups with different religious belief. The study wanted to examine whether religious belief influenced the answers given in the Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9, and if it covariated with the influence of physical activity. What is the prevalence of depression in the studied groups? In what way does belief in a higher power covariate with the perceived mental health in the two studied groups? What is the correlation between religious belief and mental health in relation to the one between physical activity and mental health? Method This study is a cross-sectional study performed using questionnaires to study the covariation between religiousness and perceived mental health in two groups of believers and atheists. The survey included the PHQ-9, a validated questionnaire to detect symptoms of depression. 52 christian parishes in Stockholm county were contacted by e-mail of which 4 was visited. In addition one organization which takes a stand for secular humanism and one organization that aims to promote public education on scientific methods and is independent in religious matters, this to get respondents with diverse beliefs. To extend the respondent group a web-questionnaire was used in addition to the original paper version. In total 188 respondents answered the questionnaire. Data was processed in IBM SPSS Statistics 19 and Microsoft Excel 2007. The level of significance was set to p≤0,05 Results The number of respondents who received five points or more on the PHQ-9, and thus would be in need of an investigation of their mental health, was greater in the group of believers (n=41) in relation to the group of atheists (n=23), (p=0,003). The difference in mental health was not due to difference in belief but due to factors such as physical activity, high education, pain, sex and low-income. Conclusions This study showed no significant difference in the mental health between believers and atheists after controlling for confounders. The study showed that physical activity, high education, pain, sex and low-income predicts the mental health.

La pensée athée fait partie intégrante de la société française depuis maintenant plusieurs siècles. Si de nombreux ouvrages se sont essayés à en livrer une approche idéologique ou philosophique, peu d’études se sont pourtant réellement attachées, jusqu’à maintenant, à en analyser les composantes, les subtilités, les ressorts ou les acteurs dans une démarche purement sociologique. C’est là l’objectif qui a guidé cette thèse doctorale pour enfin tenter d’apprécier plus en détails la réalité du fait athée en France. Pour appréhender au mieux cette réalité et afin d’étudier une population méconnue car souvent discrète, le travail de recherche entrepris ici s’est volontairement concentré sur l’une des rares associations à être exclusivement composées d’athées déclarés. Bien que très petite en taille et totalement inconnue du grand public, l’« Union des Athées » est en effet la plus ancienne association de ce type au niveau national et constitue par là un terrain d’étude idéal pour qui souhaite s’approcher au plus près de la "parole" athée. Par l’étude fouillée de son histoire et l’analyse de sa conception idéologique, puis au moyen d’une enquête inédite réalisée auprès de ses membres, cette thèse propose des clés pour une compréhension plus actuelle de la pensée athée et permet d’aborder l’athéisme et la laïcité sous un angle nouveau, contribuant ainsi à poser les bases d’une autre réflexion sur les problématiques de l’actualité. En remettant en perspective les notions mêmes d’"athéisme" et de "Dieu", elle introduit par ailleurs un nouveau postulat : considérer l’athéisme ne peut s’envisager sans prendre en compte le contexte civilisationnel dans lequel il se vit. / The atheist’ thought has been an integral part of French society now since several centuries. Even though many writing works have tried to make an ideological and philosophical approach, very few studies have been set out to analyze its constituents, subtleties, or actors, dealing with purely sociological methodology. It is what this doctoral thesis led as its objective for the purpose of attempting to assess the reality of the atheist fact in France. In order to comprehend better this reality and to study this unrecognized population because of its unassuming nature, the research carried out here has been voluntarily concentrated on one of the rare associations composed exclusively by self-declared atheists. Although very small and totally unknown by the general public, the “Atheists Union” is indeed the oldest association of this kind on the national wide level, and thus forms an ideal field of study for who wishes to close to the nearest way of the atheists’ talks. By studying his detailed history and analyzing his ideological conception, and then, by way of an original survey carried out among his members, this thesis propose the key of comprehension of most actual atheists’ thoughts, and allow to approach the atheism and secularism from a new angle, contributing in thus way to put down the bases of an another reflection on the current issues. Putting in perspective the knowledge itself of “atheism” and “God”, it introduces a new postulate: considering the atheism will not be able to foresee without taking into account the civilizational context in which it lives.

This report outlines the methodology and findings used to create the book Selling Disbelief: A 20 Step Guide to Grow and Promote Atheist and Secular Groups (Appendix A). The book Selling Disbelief outlines a six-month marketing plan and best practices for groups that are part of the growing Secular Movement. This project is the first systematic academic study of marketing methods in regards to promoting Secular movements. A need for this research has been identified due to a lack of research in this particular field and the continued marginalization facing the non-religious. The objectives of this project were twofold: The first objective was to identify the themes and methods that are most effective in promoting Secular groups and organizations to the general public and to Atheist, Agnostic, and Secular individuals, and to identify those areas where knowledge or methods were lacking or ineffective. The second objective was to conduct an extensive literature review of existing marketing best practices, and using the information from objective one as a guide, to adapt existing marketing information for use by Secular groups. For objective one, the project used ten in-depth interviews with experts in the marketing and organizing of Secular groups. These experts were selected based on years of experience, visibility, and availability. The data was analyzed through Thematic Analysis to find themes on methods, messages, and tactics that have lead to successful marketing and promotion. For objective two, this project used a review of existing marketing and promotion literature of best practices for community groups of a similar nature to Secular groups. By triangulating the existing marketing literature with themes from the interviews, best practices pertinent to Secular groups were identified. The interview and research findings of this project were compiled into a handbook titled “Selling Disbelief: A Guide to Organizing and Promoting Secular Organizations” with recommendations and best practices for Secular and Atheist groups to market and promote their organizations.

My thesis should combine all three specializations of my study, art education, civics and pedagogic. The objective of my work is creating an author{\crq}s book of Bible stories for children. The main idea is to approach Bible to atheists, or more precisely to unbelieving children. I entitled the theoretic part of the thesis Bible {--} What For? I explain there, why also an atheist should know Bible. I examine Bible from various points of view. I search the importance of Bible for different groups of people (believing, not believing, children, artists...), I think out the relation Bible {--} art, I write also about Bible in education. One chapter is about some sayings, names and other things, which come from Bible and we use them in common language. Also my personal experience with Bible has its place in my thesis. In the last chapter I describe the procedure of work on the practical part. In the practical part of the thesis I targeted the Old Testament. I retelled some stories from the Old Testament, so as they are suitable for children. Those stories I accompanied with a collection of ilustrations. They are made by lino {--} cutting. The collection contains 19 whole-page pictures, 5 half-page pictures, 3 little pictures and the book-jacket). I put my texts and ilustrations together to a book. The final design of the book is also a part of my thesis. I entitled this book of stories First Step to Bible.