Preliminary Discoveries

I.)  Methodology 
II.)  Disclaimer  Findings

Findings

III.)    Select Differences Between Atheists, Agnostics & Everyone Else
IV.)    Education
V.)     Parental Divorce
VI.)    Abandonment by Father
VII.)   Death of Father
VIII.)  Abandonment by Mother
IX.)    Death of Mother
X.)  Father’s Involvement
XI.)    Mother’s Involvement
XII.)     Gender and Conversion
XIII.)    The Survey Itself

I.) Methodology

The Childhood Experience and Religious Affiliation survey was conducted in the month of January 2021.
The survey was 20-questions, and can be found attached at the end of this report.
3079 people participated across more than five countries. About half, were American (n = 1310),
with Canadian citizens (557), British (310), Irish (279), Australians (275) and New Zealand (108) as well
with some overlap.

Other citizens, both from European countries (237) and Non-European countries (281) participated.

The survey was sent out online mostly on Facebook, IDW.com and Agnostic.com.
Additionally, it was shared on Twitter, Quora, Gab, Reddit, mormondialogue.org,
www.islamicboard.com, however, the vast majority came from the former three.

In terms of affiliation, about a third were atheists (n = 870);
other affiliations included: Protestant (512), Orthodox (291), Agnostic (268),
Catholic (234), Other Christian (215), Other (165), Jew (113), Muslim (107),
Mormon (50), Sikh (38), Buddhist (23), East Asian; Shinto, Taoist, ect. (16),
traditional spiritualists (16) and Hindu (15).

II.) Disclaimer

The following details findings so far, but they are yet to
be thoroughly analyzed across gender, national-citizenship, generational,
and educational considerations. The findings in this short report
give the reader a general notion of what may be found as
factors of influence.

The survey was not conducted on behalf of an university or
organization.

If you seek specific data, I welcome you to email me at
iannewton8888@gmail.com.

I plan to release the full report sometime in the month of February 2021.

III.) Differences Between Atheists, Agnostics and
Everyone Else  

There was a fairly even amount of male and female atheists,
however there were more male Non-A&A’s.
Those raised Atheist tended to be Atheists, and those raised Non-A&A
tended to be non-A&A. Those brought up agnostic tended to be
Non-A&A or atheists.

IV.) Education

Between current Protestants, Catholics, Agnostics and Atheists

education levels did not vary widely.

The highest portion had a bachelor’s degree in all four groups.

There was a higher portion of Catholics and Atheists with doctorates

than Protestants and Agnostics.

V.) Parental Divorce

Divorce appears to have little affect on affiliation.

Two exceptions are among Wiccan/Pagans and Catholics.

Wiccan/Paganism is more common and Catholicism less common

when there was been a divorce.

And the reverse is true among those whose parents never divorced even

when most other affiliations appear to remain considerably stable. 

VI.)       Abandonment by Father

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Wiccan/Paganism, Protestantism and “other Christian” were more popular among those
people who had been physically abandoned by their father as children.
Atheism, Agnosticism and Catholicism were more prominent among those
whose father did not abandon them as children.

VII.) The Death of Father

While divorce and paternal abandonment appear to give no proclivity towards atheism,
it was found that respondents whose father died are more likely
to be atheists and others* than those whose father was still alive.

Although often very close, it appears that, generally Monotheism decreases.
Of those who lost their fathers 40.01% were Monotheists**
whereas in the group who still had fathers alive 51.95% were Monotheists.

*: Others here include a grouping of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Sikh, Hindus, Buddhists,
East Asian (Shinto, Taoist, ect.), Traditional Indigenous Spirituality as well as those who selected “Other”.
**: Monotheists include Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox, Other Christians, Jehovah Witnesses,
Jews, Muslims and Sikhs.

 

VIII.) Abandonment by Mother

People who reported having been abandoned by their mother and her not returning before they turned 18 appeared more likely to be Protestants, Wiccans/Pagans and Others*, compared to those who who’s mothers had not abandoned them.

There was a higher proportion of atheists and Catholics in the non-maternally abandoned group,
than among those who were abandoned by their mothers as minors.

It seems then, that rather than increasing affiliation with atheism parental abandonment
may reduce its likelihood. A more-in depth analysis is still possible to examine the possibility.

*: Others here include a grouping of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Sikh, Hindus, Buddhists,
East Asian (Shinto, Taoist, ect.), Traditional Indigenous Spirituality as well as those who selected “Other”.

IX.) Mother’s Death

Respondents whose mother died when they were minors were more
likely to be atheists, Wiccans/Pagans and Orthodox than those whose mother
was still alive.

A higher portion of Catholics, Protestants and Agnostics existed
among those whose mother was still living.

Again, in the case of a parental death Monotheism seems to decrease.
In the two groups there were 40.01% of Monotheists
and 51.25% were Monotheists among those who’s mothers remained alive.

 

X.) Father’s Involvement 

In question 7 of the CERAS respondents were asked “Throughout your childhood did your father do any of the following with you a few times or more?” They were asked to check out all that apply and given
four options: Pray, meditation, going to a place of worship and saying grace before meals.

Two groupings can be created from this with minimal over-lap.
One wherein the respondents had fathers who prayed, meditated, went to a place of worship
and said grace before meals a few times or more, and another who checked “None”.

Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox made up 37.97% of the former.
Whereas in the latter grouping, only 23.76% identified with those affiliations.

Those who marked off “None” were mostly Atheists, Agnostics and Wiccans/Pagans.

 
XI.) Mother’s Involvement

A similar difference was found when respondents were asked about their mother’s involvement.

In the group where the mother was not involved atheism, agnosticism, and Pagan/Wiccanism was higher; Protestantism, Catholicism and Orthodoxy were lower compared to those whose mothers were involved in praying, meditating, going to a place of worship and saying grace before meals with them as a child.

 

XII.) Gender and Conversion

Males raised Protestant tended to either identify as Protestant or to a lesser extent atheist.
Meanwhile, females also raised Protestant were significantly less likely to identify as Protestant.

Differences also exist with Catholics:
Catholic-raised women were more likely to become agnostic, but not significantly more likely
to become an atheist.
Those males raised in the “Other Christian” category were more likely to become Protestant and stay other Christian.

Among Protestants, Catholics and “other Christians” women were more likely to become wiccan/pagan

than men.

	Raised as (n)	Currently Protestant	Currently Catholic	Currently Orthodox	Other Christian	Mormon	Muslims	Jew	Pagan /Wiccan	Currently Agnostic	Currently Atheist
Protestant (M)	616	48.29%	3.92%	7.34%	7.18%	0.65%	0.00%	0.82%	0.82%	4.57%	22.02%
Protestant (F)	315	25.71%	1.27%	8.89%	4.13%	0.32%	0.95%	5.08%	8.57%	10.48%	26.35%
Catholic (M)	424	6.84%	25.47%	6.13%	4.48%	0%	0%	2.12%	0.71%	7.03%	39.15%
Catholic (F)	389	2.83%	20.05%	2.83%	2.57%	0%	0.77%	1.29%	7.20%	12.34%	40.36%
Other Christian(M)	148	11.49%	2.03%	3.38%	35.81%	0%	0%	0.68%	3.38%	12.84%	23.65%
Other Christian (F)	166	0.60%	0.60%	2.41%	24.10%	0%	1.20%	5.42%	16.87%	10.84%	29.52%

When it comes to changing from one affiliation to another gender differences appear to be having an effect.

XIII.) The Survey Itself

The survey concluded with a message which read:

Thank you for taking the time

to fill out the survey.

You're welcome to share it.