BigJohn

I think that one reason there are many more women christians than men is that guys have a tough time with the "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemy" stuff.

Any thoughts?

John

fallingblood

Many christians (at least the ones I see) dont' go by those rules. But I think the reason more women are christian is because they can except that they need help with life. When a man is to stuborn to admit to that. This is just my opinion, and you must realize I'm a man. So I'm speaking on behalf of myself too.

BigJohn

Back when I was a Christian, I felt like I wasn't supposed to be a man. It's not a reason per se that I deconverted, but it was one of those things that I felt weird about...that I could never handle.

John

Toto

I think that this topic would do better in GRD, since it is not concerned with Biblical Criticism per se.

g-train

The whole church as a social aspect probably impacts in that as well.

Godless Wonder

Pure speculation, but I suspect there may be more pressure on women to "be a good girl" and conform to society's norms from their parents and from society than there is for men.

Bnonn

Does anyone have any statistics on male versus female Christians?

Heathen Dawn

According to Jack Chick, Jesus wasn’t a sissy, but had more guts than anyone who ever lived.

The Sissy?

southernhybrid

I think there are more female Xians because of the history of oppression that women have experienced throughout the past. It's hard for women to break out of the cycle of dependency. Men on the other hand are more widely encouraged to be independent and think for themselves. Women are often taught to be submissive and go along with tradition. It's much easier for a man to break the cycle of dependency on religion. Of course this is a rather simplistic view and in reality it's more complicated but I think this is one of the primary reasons why women are more likely to be Xians.

Women like myself who have broken away from childhood indoctrination often have a very independent spirit and don't enjoy traditional female rituals. I also role modeled after my father, who despite his fundy religion encouraged me to think for myself and never feel that I needed to fit in with a group. Ironic, coming from a fundy no? My mother never encouraged me to be different or independent when it came to my views. It would be interesting to know if other atheist women had a strong relationship or similar personality to their fathers.


Another point is that oppressed people are often more attracted to religions that promise them something in a heavenly afterlife. We suffer here but we'll be rewarded later. This was a tactic often employed by the Catholic church when recruiting nuns.

Perhaps today's American female Xian, who is more independent than her historical counterpart may be attracted to Xianity for cultural reasons and possibly for the comfort found in the group. We women bond with each other much faster than men and seem to need the support of each other more than men do. Look at primates and you will see that is usually the case among the other great apes as well.


As far as Jesus being a sissy. Who really knows what he actually said assuming he actually existed. There are so many contradictory things about him in the Bible that you could say he was a sissy or he was a big, bad macho man who did things like overturning the money tables in the temple, and threatening people with eternal torture if they didn't believe his claims. Xians cherry pick the Jesus that best suits them.

Agnostic Theist

Is there anyone in those comics who doesn't need a serious overdose of prozac?!

And why does nobody think to ask those two little words we all know they should be asking, viz.

Prove

It