Jump to content
IGNORED

All autistic kids are atheists and atheism is form of autism


doggie

Recommended Posts

Hard to even know where to start with this one.

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/all-aut ... -of-autism

That’s the opinion of Fehmi Kaya, head of the Health and Education Associations for Autistic Children in Adana, Turkey. Autistic children are atheists, he said, “due to a lack of a section for faith in their brains.â€

 

From TimeTurk (English edition) 4/22/13:

 

“Autistic children do not know believing in God because they do not have a section of faith in their brains,†Kaya said, according to daily Milliyet.

 

Kaya said the underdevelopment of faith sections in the brain caused autistic children to not believe in God.

 

“That is why they don’t know how to pray, how to believe in God. It is needed to create awareness in these children through methods of therapy.â€

 

Kaya added that autistic children should undergo treatment to “create areas of faith in their brain.â€

 

Apparently, it’s not the children’s fault. According to Kaya whose degree is in sociology, they are born atheists because of the missing faith section. “Research,†he adds, “says atheism and autistic children are linked. Researchers in the USA and Canada say that atheism is a different form of autism.â€

 

A backlash from individuals and autism associations throughout Turkey has caused Kaya to complain that his remarks were taken out of context by news reports.

 

***

 

On a personal note, my own background leads me to wonder if there’s some truth to at least one of Fehmi Kaya’s claims; the one involving problems wth the brain's "faith sections."

 

You see, I was a believer from a very young age and remained one until suffering a tragic injury (involving experience, reading and thinking) to the faith section of my brain. The injury occurred, I suspect, somewhere between the cerebellum, the pons and the I-Like-Fox-News center (another underdeveloped area in many atheist brains).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe atheism was caused by immunisations? :shock:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because I really don't believe in god, does this mean that I am autistic?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe atheism was caused by immunisations? :shock:

No, atheism is caused by a lack of vitamin D and wearing sun screen. Sun screen causes atheism.

edited to add a letter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, so I'm autistic now?

Personally I think atheism is caused by normal activity in the logic section of the brain. Fundies are under clearly under developed in this section.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought we were all born atheists. If some of us are born or programmed to be Christians, then why do we even read the Bible?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He's since apologized for saying that: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04 ... _hp_ref=uk

From what I understand, though, there is evidence that some people are biologically "programmed" to be more or less likely to believe in a god. I feel like that doesn't speak well for the existence of said god, but that's probably just my evil atheist brain.

What would the spiritual status be of someone whose brain won't let them believe in God? I wondered this a lot when I was Christian. What if a Christian develops schizophrenia and has delusions that cause them to reject the Christian worldview? I've personally met someone who believed he was Jesus (I've also met a Virgin Mary), which is a pretty big heresy, but does it count since he had a brain disorder that caused that belief? (Really sweet guy, by the way, and incredibly smart. He was aware of his illness and told me about his past delusions, shyly adding "Sometimes I still think I might be Jesus, but that's probably not true, is it?") Or what if the person wasn't Christian before they developed schizophrenia, but their illness caused them to believe they were talking to the Christian God and he was sending them messages in the Bible?

I'm getting off autism, I know, but this reminded me of a subject I've spent a lot of time thinking about, haha.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It certainly is true that there are a lot of atheist autistics, but I gotta say, I've always privately considered that a good thing. Not seeing the problem with that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Americans, pray for us in France. Our country is ruined. Why ? Because 30% of the population (60% in my city) is autistic. This is terrible.

So, this lady is just behind the psychoanalysts fo the "I say stupid things about autism because I don't understand autism."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Um, whatever.

My autistic 6 year old loves going to Mass. Whenever he sees a crucifix, he says, "It's Jesus".

Ugh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And I have no issue with atheist. Just someone telling me something about my child because he has autism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fait section in the brain? And treatment to create one? What treatment? God pills? Surgery for implanting a Crucifix or maybe some Communion Bread? WTH? I can't wrap my mind around this one.

Hywelis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my experience, (as an autistic atheist) a lot of autistic adults are atheist because we're super-logical and tend to really need proof that things exist. We ask a lot of questions and don't give up until we've gotten an answer that makes sense to us. On the other hand, some of us have also been taught to not question authority, and when so much of your world just doesn't make sense, it's perfectly reasonable to add theism to that pile of things that don't make sense, but which I go along with anyway. (Such as, the need for small talk, why people speed, etc.) I've definitely known some very theistic autistics (what a nice rhyme) and even a fundamentalist Christian one..........who was incredibly hard to deal with because he was so very concerned I was going to hell and was so very persistent in trying to save me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I call bs. My nine y.o. on the autism spectrum son is SUPER religious and curiously his father and I are not. This is someting he developed on his own. We were C&E christians until he expressed his interest in attending church more often. We now attend regularly because of his interest. Most people on the spectrum develop one all encompassing interest and for my son that something has taken the form of faith and religion. He would totally fall for this Gothard crap hook, line... if we didn't consciously try to prevent him from turning to fundamentalism. Its something we worry about has he grows up and we will have less influence over his choices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Americans, pray for us in France. Our country is ruined. Why ? Because 30% of the population (60% in my city) is autistic. This is terrible.

So, this lady is just behind the psychoanalysts fo the "I say stupid things about autism because I don't understand autism."

Your country doesn't need prayer, it needs congratulations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have Aspergers and I am an atheist.

I think that when it comes to faith, it can go both ways. Autistic people can often be incredibly logical and find it hard to grasp the idea of God existing without any proof of it. But theres also some that are more likely to be religious, cause religion had loads of obsessive things about it and has totally black and white rules for the way the world works, which can be appealing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My nephew is on the autism spectrum and his parents are agnostic/atheist. That hasn't stopped him from being curious about religious and religious rituals/symbols.

It's possible that some people are naturally more faith-oriented or spiritual than others, but it's not about autism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the most devoutly Catholic people I knew was clearly on the autism spectrum.

I know atheists who clearly are not autistic.

Actually, one could make a case that a lot of religions require rigidity in thinking and regimen, which would be more adapted to someone autistic than not.

Riffles Edited

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter is on the autism spectrum, and is a devout Christian. One of her neurotypical brothers is also devout, while the other is not. I am not devout (I'm a closet agnostic, truth be told) but my husband is, and while he was never diagnosed most of our family suspects he is on the spectrum.

While I think some people are better "wired" for religious belief than others, I think that wiring is a separate issue from autism. As itaintmebabe stated, the rigidity of much of religious thought and observance, the symbolism and ritual, might actually be inherently more appealing to people on the spectrum--but I think that's as far as any association goes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I call bs. My nine y.o. on the autism spectrum son is SUPER religious and curiously his father and I are not. This is someting he developed on his own. We were C&E christians until he expressed his interest in attending church more often. We now attend regularly because of his interest. Most people on the spectrum develop one all encompassing interest and for my son that something has taken the form of faith and religion. He would totally fall for this Gothard crap hook, line... if we didn't consciously try to prevent him from turning to fundamentalism. Its something we worry about has he grows up and we will have less influence over his choices.

I'm glad someone brought this up.I have two kids, the younger being on the spectrum, the older is not.Guess which one is a christian?My little one with Aspbergers.My older one is the athiest.My husband is a polytheist, while I am agnostic.

What you said about the possibility of your AS child falling for something like Gothardism really struck home.I have thought about how appealing that might be to my Aspbergers child, especially all of the rules and regulations on how one's life "should" be lived-it's the type of thing I could see my rule-oriented child getting sucked into, without the influence of his family.

As for the author of the article's take on "missing a section of their brains that allow them to have faith", and the idea that those on the AS need some kind of treatment to fix that-total bullshit, IMO.In fact it pisses me off.Even if my Aspbergers child was an athiest, I would see no reason to correct that, wether I believed it could be or not.Both of my children are free to be who they are, spiritually and otherwise.

Edited once to put spaces in between words, because I type too fast when I'm pissed off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is off topic, but I have to say I'm pleasantly suprised to find out that so many FJ'rs have kids on the spectrum, or are on it themselves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is off topic, but I have to say I'm pleasantly suprised to find out that so many FJ'rs have kids on the spectrum, or are on it themselves.

The spectrum is just that - it covers a huge range. 30 years ago, my nephew wouldn't have been thought of as autistic, because he can read and carry on a conversation. He would have just been "that odd kid", or perceived as a kid who was annoying or naughty. [He's actually great and really cute, but he does have some issues with sensory stimulation, he comes across as less mature, he doesn't always follow directions or social cues, and he has a talent for getting into things in a Dennis-the-Menace sort of way.]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mother seems to believe similarly. She has told me at times that she feels that if I were born later, that I would have been considered to have Asperger's (though I was born in 1988, not that long ago). She has a whole list of reasons she feels I could be diagnosed, but one was involving religion (I never bought any of it, although I was incredibly fascinated by all religions and really enjoyed pariticpating in one). Whether or not she is correct about the dx, I think the religion part came only from her desire for me to be a born again christian, and to explain why I am not.

The thing is, many people with HFA are actually very religious. The ones that are, often enjoy the rituals and routines religions can offer, as well as a guideline or set of rules. I am not sure if they are always faithful to that religion, but there really does seem to be a large percentage of those that practice. I really don't think there is a link either way but I do find it an interesting discussion.

Some poeple are more wired to believe in a god. I read "The God Part of the Brain" a few years ago and I think I will need to revisit it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FJ is a wonderful place for autistics, in my experience (I've been reading for years but only started posting recently) because people here are honest, open, admit their mistakes (thus making it okay to make mistakes) and are forgiven. Different opinions are not just expected, but welcome. People are not mean here and if they are they are called out on it. They really think things through and are willing to consider other sides. Although I'm an atheist, I do love the rituals and routines of church, which is why I'm a Unitarian Universalist. (Not to mention that there's all this talk about one of my somewhat-long-term intense interests, religious fundamentalism.)

I wish that there were more people like FJ people in 'real life', if that makes any sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.