Atheism in Five Minutes - Teemu Taira
63. Is Atheism Good for Your Health?
Atheism in Five Minutes - Teemu Taira
Kevin McCaffree [+]
University of North Texas
Kevin McCaffree is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Texas. He has written books, peer-reviewed articles and handbook chapters on religion and non- religion.
Anondah Saide [+]
University of North Texas
Anondah Saide is a visiting assistant professor educational psychology at the University of North Texas. She is trained as a developmental psychologist, and has studied how children form religious as compared to scientific concepts. She has published articles on children's
concepts of god and the relationship between non-religion and adolescent health.
Description
In the chapter, we will talk about how to re-conceptualize the question: is atheism ever directly related to health? Or is it that atheism can be a proxy for deviance or other-ness in religious environments and that the resultant social isolation and stigma cause poor health outcomes? We suggest the latter is more correct, and that as societies secularize, we can expect stigma and social isolation of atheists to decline.