The Difference Between Non-Denominational and Atheist (Research Paper Sample)

The difference between non-denominational and Atheist
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Abstract.
Religion is arguably true a very popular phenomenon in the United States as much as it is the rest of the world. Most people see religion as guidance to prosperity and lightness. Vast majority claim to belong to a particular religion. Virtually each community throughout history has feared and worshiped a supernatural figure, from ancestral spirits to animals. A vast majority of Americans claim to practice religion. Their faiths dogma mainly influences their attitudes and beliefs. On the opposite end, a minority few do not believe in God and to them religion is a total hooey.
The intent of this paper is to explore the difference between non-denominational believers and Atheists. Over the recent past, a heated debate has emerged on the issue of religion especially between Christianity and atheism. Believers and non-believers have been arising they elbows high in defense of their position as far as religion is concerned. Religious systems such as Islam, Judaism, and Christianity and of course atheism which to some extent is not a religious belief system, are ceaseless in pursuit to fully understand the universe through the reification of the truth.
Introduction.
People have divided the world into social categories or groups that they belong. These social groupings range from race, gender, and ethnicity and, of course, religion which stands out as the dominant social identity. Much of the recent research as examined the characteristics portrayed by distinct religious and non-religious groupings. Though there are series of factors that differentiate religious and non-religious individuals, there are also some distinct differences that differentiate specific nonreligious groupings from a specific religious grouping. Most surveys tend to categorize and analyze all non-religious or unreligious groupings under one umbrella despite there being several specific nonreligious groupings that shape each category. For instance, atheists and agnostics are categorized in the non-religious grouping while religious Judaism and Islam are in the category of religious believers.
The topic of believers and non-believers has been a sensitive one. Debates have emerged in the recent past that tend to analyze which religious grouping is more dominant than the other. Atheism has been growing rapidly over the years and has continued to bringing up difficult questions that tend to discredit the existence of God. Unlike before atheists are now speaking openly about their religious identity. Media houses have been buzzing with shows and debates touching on the issue of atheism. Non-denominational congregation have also been on the rise. This new phenomenon has been set to bring unity among Christians by eradicating traditional denominational. To that end, examining the difference between non-denominational and atheists will not only be insightful in providing characteristics of individual religious grouping but will also offer a foundation for future research.
Literature review.
Existing Literature pieces examining the difference between atheist and non-denominational although limited in scope has revealed some crucial findings. Baker and Smith examined the religious and political views of atheist and non-denominational believers. In their analysis, Smith and Baker found out that when non-denominational believers were confronted with the task of analyzing their death, they depicted increased levels or religiosity and a higher belief in a Supreme Being and faith in God. Showing that belief in a supreme God played a crucial role for non-denominational when there are dealing with uncomfortable situations (Baker & Smith, 2009). Conversely, atheist showed no belief in a high God when there were confronted with the task of analyzing their death. Smith and Baker hypothesized that atheist displays this behavior because atheists believe that there is not Supreme Being, and individual’s strength is what determines how a person overcomes an uncomfortable situation. Baker and Smith's sediments are echoed by Kloet whose article analyzed the differences in wellbeing between devoted atheists and non-denominational Christians. In his article Religiosity as identity: Toward an understanding of religion from a social identity perspective, Ysseldyk Matheson, argues that atheist who are sure that God does not exist show a greater emotional stability than individuals non-denominational Christians who believe in God but their but are uncertain about his existence (Ysseldyk, 2010). Ysseldyk further argues that religious categorizations vary in strength, in particular, reference to the saliency of their group memberships. In light to this, he argues that non-denominational religious groupings are stronger and vibrant than atheist’s groupings. He explains how individuals in non-denominational setting enjoy benefits such as increased social security, comfort as well as improved self-esteem. Such benefits emerge because non-denominational believers are considered to be more privileged than other religious atheists who are few. Ysseldyk, argues that openness to individual’s religious identity vary widely depending on the strength and nature of their beliefs. A vast majority of atheist are afraid of speaking openly about their religious orientation, unlike non-denominational individuals who are proud of their religious orientation and tend to talk openly about their beliefs and faith in God. According to Ysseldyk, openness is negatively correlated to measures such as right-wing political ideology, social dominance orientation, prejudice, religious fundamentalism and to a lesser extent intrinsic –general religiosity (Ysseldyk, 2010).
Adam Hadhazy argues that most enthusiastic believers and atheists are products of their environment. Being brought up in a highly religious or a secular family tend to have a propounding impact on individual’s world view (Hadhazy, 2011). Hadhazy says:
"Geographically in the United States of America the affluent Northeast and West Coast are known for their high levels of godlessness and relevant number people living there are atheists. On the contrary, poor states specifically those in the Bible belt of the south central and the southern, eastern United States are more religious.”
Adams further argues that it is in Mississippi and Alabama were you will find many people who are religious. While it is in the Oregon and the Vermont's of the World were you will find folks who are more secular and more atheists.
The literature pieces examining the existence of God produced significant findings that were pivotal in this research. According to Matt Slick, an atheist does not believe in the existence God, they believe in themselves and have the power to decide what they do and what best suits their lifestyles. Existence is that which has come into existence, holding the fact that any person has not seen God; atheist holds that God does not exist because he never come to existence. As once said by G.K. Chesterton, to prove God’s existence by a Christian is like asking someone to prove the existence of civilization. It is one of the critics by atheist basing their argument on the fact that the existence of something cannot be generated from evidence collected in different places (Slick, 2014). Slick goes and writes how atheists don’t believe in Christian doctrine as they are of the opinion that Christianity rose from ancient and ignorant people who knew nothing about science. Atheist fails to understand how baby Jesus was born of a virgin without intercourse. To them, the ancient people were ignorant and had no scientific knowledge of reproduction thereby leading to Christian miraculous event of a child born without intercourse (Slick, 2014).
According to Adamson, Who created God if He created the Universe? It is a question which Christians would rather leave unanswered than comply with the negative and destructive thoughts of an atheist towards the Christian beliefs. Atheists fail to understand how God come into existence while on the other hand Christians by citing the Bible, believe God is omnipotent and eternal. His existence nothing goes beyond that. It is due to this fact that most atheists argue that there is no God since there is nothing that can come into existence without knowing its origin. To a Christian, God is the antecedent of all things in creation and is eternal (Adamson, 2010). Christians argue that God is a Supernatural and he existed even before creation. They argue that God is the creator of everything and things did not create themselves the way many scientists argue. In order for something to be made it has to go through a creator. A car does not just make itself rather it is modified by a highly skilled team of professionals. The same thing is compared to the creation of the world and the entire universe thereby depriving the theory of the existence of a supreme being who created the whole world. CITATION Ada10 \l 1033 (Adamson, 2010)
The rise of non-denominational and atheism
The concept of non-denominational is rather a widespread phenomenon in the history of religion. Historically churches were arranged along denominational lines despite them sharing similar ideals. In the recent past denominational congregations have been increasing rapidly. A non-denominational is an individual who is not restricted to a certain denomination. Christians are now eliminating their individual divisions for nondenominational differences. It does not come as a surprise given the Christians culture demands tolerance and acceptance. Non-denominational congregations are providing individuals with freedom by preventing them from adhering or following outdated deno...