Why are most atheists right wingers?

[Plu]

Uhm, guys, keep in mind there is literally an ocean between your and his worldview. You can very easily both be right. We have no idea how Danes are, but considering it's incredibly secular, there's a pretty good chance that there are large numbers of atheist right-wingers, just as there will be large numbers of atheist left-wingers, because most of the country is atheist.

Claiming he's wrong because it's different in the US is kinda pointless.

[mediumaevum]

Since a common denominator among atheist is the ability to think critically, most atheist regard politics on an issue basis rather than a party basis.

I'm a theist, and I don't follow any party line, or any other group conformity at all.

[mediumaevum]

Uhm, guys, keep in mind there is literally an ocean between your and his worldview. You can very easily both be right. We have no idea how Danes are, but considering it's incredibly secular, there's a pretty good chance that there are large numbers of atheist right-wingers, just as there will be large numbers of atheist left-wingers, because most of the country is atheist.

Claiming he's wrong because it's different in the US is kinda pointless.

While I did state that American Republicans were atheists, I was doing so off of my own experiences with Danish right-wingers, and applying that to the U.S. thinking,
maybe wrongfully, that Danish right-wingers = American right-wingers.

[Plu]

I doubt you can make that leap, honestly.

[mediumaevum]

I doubt you can make that leap, honestly.

Seems I was wrong about that particular issue, too.

Sorry.

I have inserted edits stating I was wrong, in my Original Post, for new readers, as to avoid confusing in case they don't read the rest of the thread.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

It's way more logical for an Atheist to be pro-death penalty:

You get your life deprived, for all eternity, no coming back, in the most cruel, inhumane way ever.

That's why I'm saying that Christians = anti-DP, Atheists = pro-DP.

I have never met an atheist who was pro-death penalty. Maybe they exist, but I have never met them. It seems to me like a pretty unusual stance for an atheist to take, for the same reasons you seem to think we'd be in favor of it.

[Mermaid]

In some countries, "left" and "right" are opposite of what they are in the US. Conservative may mean a different thing entirely.

WHY? Who the hell knows. My friend from Holland told he he's a right wing conservative Jew, which basically means he's a liberal by US standards.

[mykcob4]

The logic doesn't fit, if Christians should be pro-death penalty.

Christians should be anti-death penalty, because if you believe in the death penalty, as a Christian, you believe someone should be punished and not forgiven (Christians
believe in forgiveness) AND the deceased will go to heaven, forgiven by God himself.

It's way more logical for an Atheist to be pro-death penalty:

You get your life deprived, for all eternity, no coming back, in the most cruel, inhumane way ever.

That's why I'm saying that Christians = anti-DP, Atheists = pro-DP.

What christians should be and what they are are far from the same. Most christians are rightwing conservatives that are single issue voters. In fact the far right wing justify their political views because of their evangelical fundemental christian beliefs.
Most Atheist are anti-death penalty.
Christians don't believe in forgiveness. They believe in revenge.

[GSOgymrat]

The logic doesn't fit, if Christians should be pro-death penalty.

Christians should be anti-death penalty, because if you believe in the death penalty, as a Christian, you believe someone should be punished and not forgiven (Christians
believe in forgiveness) AND the deceased will go to heaven, forgiven by God himself.

It's way more logical for an Atheist to be pro-death penalty:

You get your life deprived, for all eternity, no coming back, in the most cruel, inhumane way ever.

That's why I'm saying that Christians = anti-DP, Atheists = pro-DP.

According to the American Humanist Association (which is comprised of atheists):

As humanists we recognize that we all only get one chance to live, which is why we work so hard to make life better for all human beings, regardless of race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. This acknowledgment of the limited time that we each have to exist is the primary reason why the American Humanist Association officially came out in opposition to the death penalty by issuing the Humanist Resolution on Capital Punishment in 2001. This resolution affirmed several humanist ideas and stated concerns that the AHA has with capital punishment: 1) that every human being has worth and dignity; 2) governments which employ the death penalty suffer diminished ethical standing; 3) innocent persons have been released from death row after their convictions for capital crimes were shown to have been in error; 4) improper and illegal actions by law enforcement officials has provided juries and judges with inaccurate or insufficient evidence which in turn has resulted in erroneous convictions; and 5) execution of any convicted but innocent person is an irreversible act. It is for these reasons that the AHA supports efforts to make capital punishment illegal and legislative and executive initiatives at the Federal and State levels to impose moratoriums on carrying out any existing capital verdicts.

You can't say all atheists should be for the death penalty or all Christians should be against the death penalty. Neither group is homogeneous.

[Hydra009]

The logic doesn't fit, if Christians should be pro-death penalty.

Christians should be anti-death penalty, because if you believe in the death penalty, as a Christian, you believe someone should be punished and not forgiven (Christians
believe in forgiveness) AND the deceased will go to heaven, forgiven by God himself.

Yeah, especially considering what allegedly happened to Jesus.  But the Bible doesn't exactly condemn putting people to death.  Pretty enthusiastic about it, actually.  And there's a sizable list of "crimes" punishable by death in those pages.  And this same eye-for-an-eye mentality gets taught and retaught to every generation.

It's way more logical for an Atheist to be pro-death penalty:

You get your life deprived, for all eternity, no coming back, in the most cruel, inhumane way ever.

That's actually part of the reason I'm against it.  That's one hell of a thing to do to somebody.  You'd better be damned sure you have the right guy.

Additionally, I do not believe in good and evil in any sort of cosmic sense, so "smiting the wicked" seems like a pretty screwed up way of doing things and unlikely to achieve good long-term results.  And as you mentioned earlier, going nuts with the death penalty hasn't exactly made for a great way of life in China or North Korea nor has abolishing it been detrimental in Europe and elsewhere.

[Shiranu]

My views on the death penalty have nothing to do with my atheism. Simply, it is not economically practical nor is it 100% guaranteed to kill the guilty party, therefor it should be abolished.

From a more moral point of view, I don't believe revenge should be encouraged or practiced if at all possible. If the state can justify revenge then it becomes that much easier for the individual to do so as well... "If they can do it, why cant I?". And revenge is not always as satisfying as you want, and when it is it tends to be a short satisfaction.

[mediumaevum]

It's way more logical for an Atheist to be pro-death penalty:

You get your life deprived, for all eternity, no coming back, in the most cruel, inhumane way ever.

That's why I'm saying that Christians = anti-DP, Atheists = pro-DP.

I have never met an atheist who was pro-death penalty. Maybe they exist, but I have never met them. It seems to me like a pretty unusual stance for an atheist to take, for the same reasons you seem to think we'd be in favor of it.

Thank you, very much.

I'm glad to see that many people on this forum actually holds (some) of my own political opinions, especially in regards to the death penalty.

When I did suggest that atheists should be pro-DP and theists should be anti-DP, it is from my theory of mind that the vast majority of people are evil and only wants
to harm other people. Hence, I thought, that when Atheists say that there exists no divinity, let alone a good divinity, their basic human instincts of being evil and torture the guilty and innocent will prevail, whilst theists, who believe that it is a sin to not forgive and to do harm, will repress their humanistic instincts of being evil.

[mediumaevum]

Most average or even below average Dutch are liberal by the world standard. Still waiting to meet a bigotic Dutch for example. I am sure they are somewhere. They have to be! :P

The Dutch hate the handicapped people.

Or else they wouldn't do what they did in 2005, when they deprived seriously ill and disabled people their money they depend on for their survival.

The government of the Netherlands, along with Sweden, believe that disabled people are all faking it, and shouldn't be taken seriously.
They'd rather let a disabled individual commit suicide or starve to death, than feed them through welfare.

[Plu]

People are inherently cooperative towards their own tribe, and inherently neutral towards those of another tribe. It's the best evolutionary path. Anything else would not be able to build up a society.

If people were inherently evil, you would not be able to walk the street without being assaulted, robbed and raped all the time. Instead, most of the time nothing happens. The few times that something does happen it's often a person who feel they've no other options. Only rarely do you meet people who are genuinely evil (and even then, they aren't genuinely evil, because there's no such thing. They mostly just lack empathy towards you and treat you the same way you treat objects you feel no empathy towards. It's just because they're doing it to things you do feel empathy for that you call it "evil".)

In general if you come across 1000 people, at least 999 will ignore you (assuming you also ignore them. If you act like a paranoid madman, the numbers will change. We call this a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you treat everyone like horrible evil beings, some might start acting like just that, even though they'd just leave you be if you did the same to them.)

[mediumaevum]

People are inherently cooperative towards their own tribe, and inherently neutral towards those of another tribe. It's the best evolutionary path. Anything else would not be able to build up a society.

If people were inherently evil, you would not be able to walk the street without being assaulted, robbed and raped all the time. Instead, most of the time nothing happens. The few times that something does happen it's often a person who feel they've no other options. Only rarely do you meet people who are genuinely evil (and even then, they aren't genuinely evil, because there's no such thing. They mostly just lack empathy towards you and treat you the same way you treat objects you feel no empathy towards. It's just because they're doing it to things you do feel empathy for that you call it "evil".)

In general if you come across 1000 people, at least 999 will ignore you (assuming you also ignore them. If you act like a paranoid madman, the numbers will change. We call this a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you treat everyone like horrible evil beings, some might start acting like just that, even though they'd just leave you be if you did the same to them.)

It's not neccessarily truely evilness to be assaulted, robbed or whatever, compared to the genuinly evil types:

True evil is when you give everything one needs, and maybe more, to someone, giving them a luxurious life and provide safety, security and education, for a very long time.
- Only to some day rapidly deprive the individual's benefits and give him/her a life as homeless or with the only option of committing suicide or face torture. The highest tree has the greatest fall.