Atheism is a form of Autism!

[Rev. Rye]

“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.”

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

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.”

You know, for the sake of this question, let's put aside the fact that this is clearly bullshit, from the fact that there are autistic people of faith to the ridiculous assumption that atheism and autism are somehow related conditions. Let's just ask this question: has it ever occurred to them that by the time they finally find this "missing faith section" of the brain, most people will end up being against changing it?

[Angrboda]

“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.”

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

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.”

You know, for the sake of this question, let's put aside the fact that this is clearly bullshit, from the fact that there are autistic people of faith to the ridiculous assumption that atheism and autism are somehow related conditions. Let's just ask this question: has it ever occurred to them that by the time they finally find this "missing faith section" of the brain, most people will end up being against changing it?

There are plausible theories that suggest that there may be legitimate reasons why people with autistic spectrum disorders may be less likely to engage in certain types of religious thought. The idea that there is a 'faith center' in the brain not being a particularly likely hypothesis, though a supposed 'god center' in the brain is loosely hypothesized (though its name and typical description are often misleading; V.S. Ramachandran describes it more as brain areas whose activity is associated with certain aspects of spiritual experience, rather than a 'god center'). I'm not aware of any systematic documentation of any corelation between non-religiousness and autistic spectrum disorders, though it sounds like something that might be mentioned anecdotally in the work of Jesse Bering and others working on 'theory of mind' psychology.

(Off the top of my head, if I remember correctly, men are six times more likely to be diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder, and its well known that there is a gender bias in religion. Demonstrating some causal link is another matter. One might just as well suggest that testosterone is 'anti-god'.)