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@ THE LAST COUNTOWN TO LIKELY COMING OF JESUS THIS YEAR IS IN EFFECT !
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OB...@aol.com
Dec 27, 2011, 12:38:43 AM12/27/11
to
The latest discoveries made possible thanks to God's guidance are so
great that I may say the most tense expectation for Jesus' return is
coming . The best time is 11 PM - 12 AM December 31 ,2011 AD in the
Eastern United States .
Jerusalem time : 6 AM - 7 AM January 1,2012 AD.
The countdown is superb as well as joyful for me as never before !
How good God Yahweh is to me !
The name of Jesus was already known to me to carry the mark of 49 as
his name looks like seven sevens in the Hebrew language.
He is the beginning and the end . So ,we have 49 days at the beginning
and 49 days at the end of 143-day period I was mentioning so many
times.
August 11 to December 31 is 143 days.
49 days + 49 days = 98 days and we need 45 days more to fill up to the
number of 143 days.
We will have :
49 days + 45 days + 49 days and we can get these from already known
dates in my calculations and from my latest predictions .
I was predicting for for a short time September 28 and then moved to
September 29.
I had October 21 and October 22 and I had November 12 and 13 and
December 9 in my predictions.
The periods that I could build are :
From August 11 .. 26 days , 23 days , 23 days and 22 days or vice
versa: 22 days and 23 days followed by 26 days and 23 days .
And that translates into these periods : 49 days , 45 days , 49 days .
I know for years this period : 29 AD - 33 AD - 36 AD which is linked
to
Jesus and his first disciples who taught a new religion and
established the true church.
To come to this type of calculations and get such phenomenal results
is beyond human !
It must be God's hand on my mind as chances are nil - not 1 to 80 000
000 or more - that I could come up with these calculations and
resulting numbers and dates as well .
29 AD = 29 ; 33 AD = 33 ; 36 AD = 36 .
29 + 33 + 36 = 98 . 98 = 49 + 49 .
So , we have the beginning as 49 days and the end is also 49 days .
And we look for missing 45 days to get 143 days . 143 - 98 = 45 .
29 AD = 2x9=18 , 33 AD = 3x3=9 , 36 AD = 3x6=18 .
18 + 9
+ 18 = 45 .
Thank YOU YAHWEH through Yahshua the Messiah !
49 days ... 45 days ... 49 days = 143 days .
And we get confirmation of these periods : 26 days + 23 days = 49
days ,
23 days + 22 days or 22 days + 23 days as 45 days and 26 days + 23
days = 49 days when we come to the end of this year 2011 AD beginning
143 days with August 11,2011 AD.
HalleluYAH !
visit http://www.focusonthebible2011.com
Amen .
great that I may say the most tense expectation for Jesus' return is
coming . The best time is 11 PM - 12 AM December 31 ,2011 AD in the
Eastern United States .
Jerusalem time : 6 AM - 7 AM January 1,2012 AD.
The countdown is superb as well as joyful for me as never before !
How good God Yahweh is to me !
The name of Jesus was already known to me to carry the mark of 49 as
his name looks like seven sevens in the Hebrew language.
He is the beginning and the end . So ,we have 49 days at the beginning
and 49 days at the end of 143-day period I was mentioning so many
times.
August 11 to December 31 is 143 days.
49 days + 49 days = 98 days and we need 45 days more to fill up to the
number of 143 days.
We will have :
49 days + 45 days + 49 days and we can get these from already known
dates in my calculations and from my latest predictions .
I was predicting for for a short time September 28 and then moved to
September 29.
I had October 21 and October 22 and I had November 12 and 13 and
December 9 in my predictions.
The periods that I could build are :
From August 11 .. 26 days , 23 days , 23 days and 22 days or vice
versa: 22 days and 23 days followed by 26 days and 23 days .
And that translates into these periods : 49 days , 45 days , 49 days .
I know for years this period : 29 AD - 33 AD - 36 AD which is linked
to
Jesus and his first disciples who taught a new religion and
established the true church.
To come to this type of calculations and get such phenomenal results
is beyond human !
It must be God's hand on my mind as chances are nil - not 1 to 80 000
000 or more - that I could come up with these calculations and
resulting numbers and dates as well .
29 AD = 29 ; 33 AD = 33 ; 36 AD = 36 .
29 + 33 + 36 = 98 . 98 = 49 + 49 .
So , we have the beginning as 49 days and the end is also 49 days .
And we look for missing 45 days to get 143 days . 143 - 98 = 45 .
29 AD = 2x9=18 , 33 AD = 3x3=9 , 36 AD = 3x6=18 .
18 + 9
+ 18 = 45 .
Thank YOU YAHWEH through Yahshua the Messiah !
49 days ... 45 days ... 49 days = 143 days .
And we get confirmation of these periods : 26 days + 23 days = 49
days ,
23 days + 22 days or 22 days + 23 days as 45 days and 26 days + 23
days = 49 days when we come to the end of this year 2011 AD beginning
143 days with August 11,2011 AD.
HalleluYAH !
visit http://www.focusonthebible2011.com
Amen .
OB...@aol.com
Dec 27, 2011, 12:56:56 AM12/27/11
to
God has evidently a set of dates to choose from and what I am doing is
using His Words in the Bible - the understanding of the Bible I have
gained for years as well I am trying to establish what dates God has
in his set of dates .
It is like a brother who told me he would come to see me next year .
He picked up some dates and has them hidden and he is sending me his
letters with some clues that I may be able to find out what dates he
has in his plan and I go date by date coming to the same date as long
as I stick to his clues .
My brother picked up say May 2 , June 23 , August 2 , October 23 ,
December 15 .
And I am able to find out every date he had chosen as a possible date
for his coming .
Going one by one.
So when I came to find out his first date on March 21 I am telling my
friends at work my brother may come on May 2 . But my brother has more
dates to choose from .
I was ready to meet my brother on May 2 but he did not come , so I am
trying to find out another date and on
May 22 the next day I found another good date (excatly the same he has
on paper at his home ) June 23 .
I am telling again to my friends at work my brother may come June 23 a
few weeks away .
But my brother did not come on June 23 when I was ready to host him .
. Now the next day I found all other remaining dates my brother had
and hid before me being in a far away country . So , I have found
out August 2,October 23 and December 15 and on one of these dates my
brother should come .
Look I had the failed dates before but I was able to find those
dates using the clues my brother gave me .
The fact I was able to get such dates is a success .
To get of course the dates as I am giving concerning the return of
Jesus it is impossible to come to such of my own ! God must guide me
in finding what day Jesus may come and God has many dates He chose in
the process of determining when Jesus is to come and by God's help I
was able to find all or many of His planned and chosen dates for the
the return of Jesus .
http://www.focusonthebible2011.com
<o)))))>{
Dec 27, 2011, 1:53:52 AM12/27/11
to
<OB...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:2abcf416-0ae6-405a...@p4g2000vbt.googlegroups.com...
> The latest discoveries made possible thanks to God's guidance are so
> great .....
If you're making these predictions with God's guidance, why are you wrong
each and every time? Can you explain that to us?
....that I may say the most tense expectation for Jesus' return is
> coming . The best time is 11 PM - 12 AM December 31 ,2011 AD in the
> Eastern United States .
> Jerusalem time : 6 AM - 7 AM January 1,2012 AD.
> The countdown is superb as well as joyful for me as never before !
> How good God Yahweh is to me !
Since you have been wrong every time, it's not God guiding you but Satan the
> Eastern United States .
> Jerusalem time : 6 AM - 7 AM January 1,2012 AD.
> The countdown is superb as well as joyful for me as never before !
> How good God Yahweh is to me !
devil. God would not make that many mistakes regarding the date and time
for doomsday.
Greegor
Dec 27, 2011, 3:59:08 AM12/27/11
to
Sorta like your narcissistic cathartic atheist
HATE CAMPAIGN against an entire religious
denomination for FIFTEEN YEARS, Carolyn.
You're that freaking OBSESSED yet you can't
conceive of the possibility that some other
atheist might also be as obsessed as that, Carolyn?
Geopelia
Dec 27, 2011, 5:59:04 AM12/27/11
to
"Greegor" <gree...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:03f5dae9-de8f-4ee9...@v14g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night.
Nobody knows when.
I'm agnostic, and await developments.
Greg Carr
Dec 27, 2011, 7:34:42 AM12/27/11
to
<o)))))>{
Dec 27, 2011, 12:37:49 PM12/27/11
to
"Geopelia" <Geop...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:jdc8e1$qjh$1...@dont-email.me...
>
> "Greegor" <gree...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:03f5dae9-de8f-4ee9...@v14g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
> On Dec 27, 12:53 am, "<o\)\)\)\)\)>{" <inva...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> <OB...@aol.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news:2abcf416-0ae6-405a...@p4g2000vbt.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> > The latest discoveries made possible thanks to God's guidance are so
>> > great .....
>>
>> If you're making these predictions with God's guidance, why are you wrong
>> each and every time? Can you explain that to us?
>>
>> ....that I may say the most tense expectation for Jesus' return is
>>
>> > coming . The best time is 11 PM - 12 AM December 31 ,2011 AD in the
>> > Eastern United States .
>> > Jerusalem time : 6 AM - 7 AM January 1,2012 AD.
>> > The countdown is superb as well as joyful for me as never before !
>> > How good God Yahweh is to me !
>>
>> Since you have been wrong every time, it's not God guiding you but Satan
>> the
>> devil. God would not make that many mistakes regarding the date and time
>> for doomsday.
>
> "Greegor" <gree...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:03f5dae9-de8f-4ee9...@v14g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
> On Dec 27, 12:53 am, "<o\)\)\)\)\)>{" <inva...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> <OB...@aol.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news:2abcf416-0ae6-405a...@p4g2000vbt.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> > The latest discoveries made possible thanks to God's guidance are so
>> > great .....
>>
>> If you're making these predictions with God's guidance, why are you wrong
>> each and every time? Can you explain that to us?
>>
>> ....that I may say the most tense expectation for Jesus' return is
>>
>> > coming . The best time is 11 PM - 12 AM December 31 ,2011 AD in the
>> > Eastern United States .
>> > Jerusalem time : 6 AM - 7 AM January 1,2012 AD.
>> > The countdown is superb as well as joyful for me as never before !
>> > How good God Yahweh is to me !
>>
>> Since you have been wrong every time, it's not God guiding you but Satan
>> the
>> devil. God would not make that many mistakes regarding the date and time
>> for doomsday.
>
> -------------------------
>
> The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night.
> Nobody knows when.
>
> I'm agnostic, and await developments.
No one can convince OBVES of that fact. He's admitted he's never read the
>
> The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night.
> Nobody knows when.
>
> I'm agnostic, and await developments.
bible so he has no clue what Jesus said about Armageddon or Paradise. All
he knows is what that old senile Camping blathers on his radio show. He's
put Camping before Jesus, a big mistake.
OB...@aol.com
Dec 27, 2011, 11:38:37 PM12/27/11
to
Just less than an hour ago I got by God's guidance I believe the
further confirmation for the current prediction set for about midnight
December 31 ,2011 AD into January 1,2012 AD .
I was interested how to explain this end part of this year .
September 29 , 2011 AD was my best prediction before this current one
and .That September 29 was very good .The ending period before
September 29 was 49 days from August 11 to September 28.
So, the next 49 day period that would follow would explain very well a
delay .
I already knew abot doubling from Joseph' time when Pharaoh had
dreams .You can read in Genesis 41.32 .
When something given by God is doubled the thing set by God is going
to happen .
I was kind of desperate to find such proof in my calculations
concerning this last 143 days this year.
I knew I had 49 days and 45 days and 49 days .I see the doubled 49
but both 49 are seperated by 45 .
And it was not so convincing doubling .
But what happened just moment later was awesome !Thank You God Yahweh
through Yahshua the Messiah !
So what has happened ? The first 49 days before September 29 are as if
from old era as the new year in the Jewish calendar began on September
29.
Remember I am dealing with 143 days from August 11 .
So, 49 days are counted and now 143 days - 49 days = 94 days left .
Well I already practice this interesting method od reverse
calculations as the words , so the numbers , in the Hebrew language
are read right to the left . Here we go ! And the douling solution was
positievely settled , it was like a miracle ! Reading the number 94
in a reversed way gives 49 !
That is an awesome wayout of the risen problem with doubling days as
it would be fitting if we get doubled periods before Jesus comes
back .
Let's look now :
49 days ... 45 days ... 49 days .
49 , 45 + 49 = 94 .
If we read backwards from the end of the year 2011 AD we can see 4 ..
9 ( 49 ) .....94 ... = 143 days .
When from August 11 we go forward we read:
4 . 9 ( 49 ) ..... 9 .. 4 ( 94 ) = 143 days .
I have also doubled 143 days reading the Hebrew way and the pagan
way .
No question at all it is proven that we the whole period of 143 days
is a doubling of 49 days from August 11 to December 31 .
When the September 29 ,2011 AD rolled in there was not yet doubling of
49 days ! That is why the prediction that was to come true did not
realize as the time was delayed for that time when the doubling of 49
days will have taken place and then shortly God should bring Jesus to
his people on the earth .
This doubling ( understanding of it ) have just taken place ( it was
like a dream to make it easy to understand )
doubling took place ( was discovered in case of 143 days ) less than
two hours ago !
That is why God I understand was withholding this understanding till
almost to the last literal days as we have about 4 days left !
So, it happened minutes ago : the doubling of 49 days and because the
thing was established by God , and God will shortly bring it to
pass.
http://www.focusonthebible2011.com
OB...@aol.com
Dec 27, 2011, 11:43:43 PM12/27/11
to
>
> - Show quoted text -
---
If someone does't understand my predictions till now after reading
some of my posts it may mean such person is in a very precarious
situation . I did what I did to help you in my calculations and dates
resulting .
I stand by my predicton and this one can be equalized to the
prediction I made for September 29,2011 AD .
<o)))))>{
Dec 28, 2011, 4:49:25 PM12/28/11
to
<OB...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:9913bd37-e339-4024...@c6g2000vbt.googlegroups.com...
Just less than an hour ago I got by God's guidance I believe the
>further confirmation for the current prediction set for about midnight
>December 31 ,2011 AD into January 1,2012 AD .
You are suffering from schizophrenia. No God is guiding you or you would
>further confirmation for the current prediction set for about midnight
>December 31 ,2011 AD into January 1,2012 AD .
not have made so many failed predictions.
Greg Carr
Dec 28, 2011, 5:59:16 PM12/28/11
to
OB...@aol.com
Dec 29, 2011, 12:01:26 AM12/29/11
to
Why don't your take your time and examine my post history .You click
on " more options " and then on "find messages by this author " and
you can have access to my posts and may find how I view my
predictions .
Failed predictons are like failed attempts to reach the summit of a
high difficult mountain . Thousands attempts could have been made and
yet that doesn't mean we must stop doing that . We must try and try
again untill the target is reached . This is for people who want to do
something great for mankind .
Just read my latest posts and spend hours and do some calculations how
I came up earlier with dates September 28,29 ,2011 AD ;October 21 and
22 ; November 12 and 13 ; December 9 and how these dates play out in
the established periods :
26 days , 23 days, 23 days , 22 days , 26 days and 23 days .
And 49 days and 45 days and 49 days .
I will help you to start .
I predicted September 28 .
August 11 - September 28 = 49 days exactly !
I predicted October 21 and 22 .
September 29 - October 21 = 23 days .
October 22 - November 12 which I predicted : 22 days .
November 13 which I predicted to December 8 = 26 days you can check me
out on that when I was making prediction for December 9 ,2011 AD .
December 9 - 31 = 23 days .
49 days at the beginningb then 23 days + 22 days = 45 days.
Then 26 days + 23 days = 49 days .
49 days + 45 days + 49 days = 143 days .
29 AD - 33 AD - 36 AD when we add these ancient dates : 29 + 33 + 36 =
98 .
98 breaks into two 49 days
Jesus' name in the Hebrew resemble seven sevens = 49 .
Jesus is the beginning and the end :
49 .... ? 49 = 143 days
We need 45 days in the middle :
29 AD ... 2 x 9 = 18 . 33 AD ... 3 x 3 = 9 . 36 AD ... 3 x
6 = 18 .
<o)))))>{
Dec 29, 2011, 12:44:00 AM12/29/11
to
<OB...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:799bbef6-1094-4d0a...@o14g2000vbo.googlegroups.com...
On Dec 28, 4:49 pm, "<o\)\)\)\)\)>{" <inva...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> <OB...@aol.com> wrote in message
>
> news:9913bd37-e339-4024...@c6g2000vbt.googlegroups.com...
> Just less than an hour ago I got by God's guidance I believe the
>
> >further confirmation for the current prediction set for about midnight
> >December 31 ,2011 AD into January 1,2012 AD .
>
> You are suffering from schizophrenia. No God is guiding you or you would
> not have made so many failed predictions.
--
Why don't your take your time and examine my post history .You click
on " more options " and then on "find messages by this author " and
you can have access to my posts and may find how I view my
predictions .
* All your posts are are endless calculations and failed predictions proving
> <OB...@aol.com> wrote in message
>
> news:9913bd37-e339-4024...@c6g2000vbt.googlegroups.com...
> Just less than an hour ago I got by God's guidance I believe the
>
> >further confirmation for the current prediction set for about midnight
> >December 31 ,2011 AD into January 1,2012 AD .
>
> You are suffering from schizophrenia. No God is guiding you or you would
> not have made so many failed predictions.
--
Why don't your take your time and examine my post history .You click
on " more options " and then on "find messages by this author " and
you can have access to my posts and may find how I view my
predictions .
no God is guiding you.
Failed predictons are like failed attempts to reach the summit of a
high difficult mountain . Thousands attempts could have been made and
yet that doesn't mean we must stop doing that .
he is right.
We must try and try
again untill the target is reached . This is for people who want to do
something great for mankind .
Greegor
Dec 29, 2011, 3:55:50 AM12/29/11
to
Carolyn Gulley the nym-shifter wrote to OBVES:
much like yourself, Carolyn.
Their purpose is to ridicule Christianity by POSING
as a Christian with a blatant mental or brain defect.
The person even brings up their many failed predictions
as PROOF of some present or future accuracy.
It's much like the way an avowed atheist like yourself
keeps posting in religious usenet groups.
It could be schizophrenia as you suggested, though
not for the reasons you suggest, plus I would suggest
that while some obsessed hateful atheists are
schizophrenic, ASPERGERS is extremely common
among atheists, especially those drawn to usenet.
http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/proceedings/2011/papers/0782/paper0782.pdf
Religious Belief Systems of Persons with High Functioning Autism
1. Catherine Caldwell-Harris (charris AT bu.edu)
Associate Professor of Psychology
http://www.bu.edu/psych/charris/
http://www.bu.edu/psych/charris/papers/publications.html
2. Caitlin Fox Murphy (caitfoxmurphy AT gmail.com)
B.A., Developmental Therapist
http://npidb.org/doctors/respiratory_developmental_rehabilitative/developmental_therapist_222q00000x/1164738100.aspx
3. Tessa Velazquez (tessav AT bu.edu)
http://bupsychling.wordpress.com/projects/autism/
Department of Psychology, Boston University,
64 Cummington St. Boston, MA 02215 USA
4. Patrick McNamara (mcnamar AT bu.edu)
http://www.bumc.bu.edu/len/about-our-research-staff/about-dr-mcnamara/
Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine
72 E Concord St, Boston, MA 02118 USA
Abstract
The cognitive science of religion is a new field which
explains religious belief as emerging from normal cognitive
processes such as inferring others' mental states, agency
detection and imposing patterns on noise. This paper
investigates the proposal that individual differences in belief
will reflect cognitive processing styles, with high functioning
autism being an extreme style that will predispose towards
nonbelief (atheism and agnosticism). This view was
supported by content analysis of discussion forums about
religion on an autism website (covering 192 unique posters),
and by a survey that included 61 persons with HFA. Persons
with autistic spectrum disorder were much more likely than
those in our neurotypical comparison group to identify as
atheist or agnostic, and, if religious, were more likely to
construct their own religious belief system. Nonbelief was
also higher in those who were attracted to systemizing
activities, as measured by the Systemizing Quotient.
Keywords: Cognitive science of religion; autism; cognitive
styles; individual differences
Introduction
On a discussion forum for Christian parents, a mother
conveys her frustration because her 14 year-old high
functioning autistic (HFA) son does not believe in God and
refuses to write a paper for his confirmation class. On
wrongplanet.net and other discussion boards for autistic
spectrum individuals, posters denounce supernaturalism,
proclaim the merits of their self-constructed theistic belief
systems and argue the logical appeal of Buddhism. These
observations, combined with recent commentaries about the
likely religious beliefs of HFA individuals (Delay, 2009;
Graetz & Durbin, 2008), suggest that these individuals’
beliefs may be influenced by their intellectual strengths (e.g.
emphasis on logic and attraction to systematizing
observables) and their social-emotional deficits (e.g.
reduced automatic inferences about mental states and
decreased orientation to social rewards).
There is currently no systematic study of the religious
beliefs of autistic spectrum individuals who have normal or
near-normal intelligence (i.e., those with high functioning
autism and Asperger's disorder, which we jointly label HFA
for descriptive convenience, following Attwood, 2001).
Current research is limited to personal observations (Isanon,
2006), case studies (Graetz & Durbin, 2006) and
extrapolation informed by a clinical knowledge of HFA
(Graetz & Durbin, 2009; Deeley, 2009).
Given this gap in the literature, two studies examined the
thesis that HFA people's unique cognitive and socioemotional
profile influences their religious behaviors and
beliefs. In Study 1, content analysis was conducted of
online discussion forum postings. Study 2 consisted of a
Questionnaire which directly asked questions about
religious belief and included scales measuring thinking
styles.
Prior findings in cognitive science of religion
• These exploratory studies are grounded on the
following assumptions.
• Religiosity is a multidimensional phenomenon
encompassing behaviors, beliefs, and experiences
(Fetzer, 1999). Religiosity is thus diverse enough to be
a meaningful descriptor for people possessing a range
of intellectual abilities, emotional sensitivities, and
learning styles.
• Individual religious beliefs are the outcome of multiple
causes, including personality, reasoning style, family
socialization, and views of larger society (Caldwell-
Harris et al., 2008).
• The diversity of individuals’ religious beliefs reflects
evolved psychological mechanisms, with at least some
differences representing diverse tools in humanity's
adaptive tool kit.
• The thinking styles of individuals with HFA are on a
continuum with normal functioning and represent a
difference, not a deficit (Atwood, 2006).
Table 1 lists some specific ways in which known
characteristics of HFA may co-occur with distinctive
patterns of religiosity.
To avoid oversimplifying HFA, religion, and the
interactions between HFA and religion, our research will be
exploratory, rather than hypothesis-driven. Our framework
recognizes the potential for diversity in religious beliefs
among HFA individuals, while still supporting the claim
that HFA makes a distinctive, measurable, and predictable
difference in religiosity.
To guide us in the investigation of these hypotheses, we
developed a set of "Thinking Traits" that have been shown
3362
by researchers to be typical of the HFA population (Baron-
Cohen et al. 2003; De Martino et al. 2008; Frith 1991; Frith
and Happe 2005; Kohls 2009; Shore 2001). Prominent
among these is systemizing, which Baron-Cohen (2003)
defines as the drive to analyze, explore and construct a
system. Others are norm-rejection (Frith 1991), emphasis
on rationality, social disinterest, social discomfort, literal
mindedness, and need for structure.
Table 1: Correlations predicted from the literature
Characteristics of High
Functioning Autistics
Correlated pattern of
religiosity
Hypoactive agency detection Avoid supernaturalism
(Deeley, 2009)
Concrete; literal-minded;
discomfort with symbolic
fluidity; local processing bias;
attraction to scientism
Preference for logical
beliefs; avoid metaphoric
construals of religious
texts
Need for sameness and
predictability
Rigid and doctrinaire
(Graez & Dubin, 2009)
Difficulty navigating new
social relations
Appreciation of socially
welcoming religious
community (Graez &
Dubin, 2009)
Personality psychologists have identified two styles of
reasoning: emphasis on logic and emphasis on intuition
(Demaria, Kassinove & Dill 1989). As the Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD) thinking traits are indicative of a logical
cognitive style, we developed a set of thinking traits that
would be represented in postings by neurotypical (NT)
individuals. The NT thinking traits embody the
complimentary attributes of the ASD thinking traits. For
example the NT thinking trait "emphasis on intuition" was
developed to compliment the ASD thinking trait "emphasis
on logic". The NT thinking traits looked for in the postings
were emphasis on intuition, oriented towards social rewards,
empathizing, symbolic fluidity/gestalt thinking, and
openness to experience. The presence or absence these
thinking traits are proposed to influence the religious beliefs
of individuals across both populations, placing individuals
on a continuum of cognitive styles that influence religiosity.
Study 1: Analysis of Discussion Forums
Method
The public discussion forum wrongplanet.net was
designed for persons with autistic spectrum disorder (HFA).
It currently has over 25,000 members from English
speaking countries, although the majority are located in the
United States. The forum boards have topics specific to
autism, such as General Autism Discussion; Autism
Politics, Activism, and Media Representation; Adult Autism
Issues; Adolescent Forum. The site allows users to post
profiles including a "diagnostic description" category;
possible descriptions include : AS Diagnosed, AS
undiagnosed, "not sure if I have it or not", Other HFA, NT
(Neurotypical).
The neurotypical forum analyzed was golivewire.com/
teen forums. Because discussion forum websites are usually
formed on the basis of some common interest (such as cat
lovers, sports, political affiliations) we needed to find a
website that was likely to share a common age demographic
with wrongplanet.net but did not otherwise specify a
specific group; golivewire.com/teenforums fit this criteria.
The population of this website was mainly based in the
United States.
On each of these two forums, the authors and research
assistants read through the forums for discussions about
religion. On wrongplanet the forum that was analyzed was
titled Religion/Philosophy/Politics; on golivewire the one
analyzed was titled Religion and Philosophy.
Participants
To ensure that posts were analyzed in a systematic
fashion, we planned to included in our content analysis 200
consecutive posts. We ended up with 192 posts from
different users who identified themselves as individuals
with HFA, and 195 users from golivewire.com (the NT
group). All posts were collected within a year time frame
(February 2009-March 2008). For each user, we included
the first post containing a clear expression of religious
beliefs, as defined by a coding protocol (more details below;
full protocol available from the authors).
Coding Religious Beliefs
Users from the discussion forums were coded for
religious categories using the method of ethnographic
content analysis (Altheide, 1987). Each individual was
assigned one of the following categories: Agnosticism,
Atheism, Christianity, Other Theistic, Own Construction,
Neo-Pagan, Non-theistic, and Other. Coding was easiest
when users explicitly used one of these labels or a related
term (e.g., it is straightforward to coded "I'm Catholic" as
Christian). Due to the debates over conceptual overlap
between non-belief categories, our group developed a series
of semantic clarifications between atheist, agnostic, and
"nontheistic not further specified". Coders were trained
through practice with example quotes from discussion
forums that were not used in the final forum analysis. Upon
completion of the practice quotes, coders met together to
resolve discrepancies. Coders were blinded to the diagnosis
category of each user during all coding. Inter-rater
reliability for religious beliefs was 93%.
Coding Thinking Traits
It was not required that each participant be assigned a
thinking trait as it is expected that these will be exhibited
spontaneously. Because the length and depth of religious
description varied among the users, it was possible for some
users to be assigned no thinking traits while others
demonstrated multiple thinking traits. Coders were trained
with practice quotes from online forums that were not used
in the forum analysis portion of our experiment. Group
discussions followed the completion of practice quotes to
3363
ensure a full understanding of the thinking trait categories.
Inter-rater reliability was 90%.
Data Analysis
The distribution of religious orientations across the NT
and HFA samples were analyzed using a Chi Square test.
The distribution of HFA and NT thinking traits were
analyzed across populations using the Mann Whitney U test.
Results
Religious Beliefs
Religious beliefs were found to differ significantly
between the HFA and NT populations, ?² (12, N=387)=
43.69, p < .01. As shown in Figure 1, individuals with HFA
were less likely to belong to an organized religion than their
NT counterparts and were more likely to create their own
religious belief system. The "own-construction" category
comprised 16% of the HFA population as compared to only
6% of the NT population. HFA individuals also
demonstrated higher rates of non-belief identities such as
Atheism (26%) and Agnosticism (17%). In the NT group,
only 17% of the population were Atheists and 10% were
Agnostic.
Figure 1: Religious Belief by Group, Forum Analysis
Thinking Traits
The Mann Whitney U comparison between groups was
significant for emphasis on rationality, (z=-5.26, p<.05),
social discomfort (z=-2.27, p<.05), and social disinterest
(z=-2.02, p<.05), but not for any other thinking trait
category, although the trend was in the expected direction
for literal mindedness see Figure 2). NT thinking traits did
not vary across the two groups.
Figure 2: Thinking Traits by Group, Forum Analysis
Summary
We hypothesized that traits typically displayed among
HFA individuals such as attraction to scientism and hyper
rationality would render these individuals less likely to
embrace supernaturalism and religious belief. Consistent
with this, Atheism and Agnosticism were more frequent in
the HFA group than the NT group. Previous research has
established systemizing (Baron-Cohen et al. 2003) and lowconformity
(Frith 1991) as prominent traits among HFA
individuals. We proposed that HFA individuals would be
likely to construct their own belief systems, drawing on
their interest in systemizing and lack of need to conform to
approved social behaviors. The belief orientation category
of "own Construction" was more frequently endorsed by
individuals in the HFA sample as compared to the NT
sample.
Although most of the Autism Spectrum Disorder
Thinking Traits did not differ between the two groups,
emphasis on rationality was notably higher for wrongplanet
users. Social discomfort and social disinterest was also
slightly higher for the HFA and NT populations.
Study 2: Internet Questionnaire
Method
Participants
Sixty-one participants who identified themselves as
individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder completed
our survey. Respondents gained access to our survey from
links posted on popular online autism communities and did
so on a voluntary basis. One hundred-and-five individuals
consisting mainly of undergraduates at a northeastern
university taking psychology classes comprised our
neurotypical (NT) comparison group. Demographically, the
HFA and NT populations were similar except greater ethnic
diversity was demonstrated by the NT population in
comparison to the HFA group which included primarily
Caucasian participants. Although participants in the HFA
group demonstrated a wider age range than the NT group,
the majority of both populations were younger than 30 years
old.
Questionnaire
Diagnostic Information. Participants were asked whether
they had obtained a diagnoses of Autism Spectrum
Disorders as well as any other emotional, behavioral, or
cognitive conditions they might have.
Religious Belief. Participants wrote their religious
orientation, briefly described their beliefs and rated the
intensity of their beliefs on a scale of 1 to 5. (1 = only
slightly, 2 = somewhat, 3 = moderately, 4 = quite religious,
5= deeply religious). Questions included the presence and
frequency of the individual's current and childhood religious
practices, including education. Information regarding
parent's religious beliefs and practices both presently and
during the participants' childhood was also collected.
3364
Autism Quotient. Baron-Cohen's Autism Quotient is
comprised of 50 Likert statements. This measure can be
used to define a continuum between autism and
neurotypicals, with prior data on AQ scores showing that
autism > Asperger’s > mathematicians > scientists > college
professors > all males > all females (Baron-Cohen et al,
2001a).
Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. Participants were
presented with 36 different photos of eyes and asked to
identify the emotion from a set of 4 choices (Baron-Cohen
et al., 2001b). This test measures facial affect recognition
and is considered a sensitive index of emotional
intelligence, including theory of mind.
Systemizing Quotient Revised. This scale requires
participants to rate their degree of interest in different types
of systemizing including collecting facts and figuring out
how mechanical objects work (Baron-Cohen, Richler,
Bisarya, Gurunathan, & Wheelwright, 2003).
Data Analysis
Religion between populations. Frequencies of religious
orientations for each population were compared using a Chi
Square analysis. One way ANOVAs were used to compare
mean scores for each measure across religious categories,
followed up by Tukey post hoc comparisons to detect
specific differences between the religious categories.
AQ, SQ and Reading the Mind in the Eyes. The scores of
each participant for the AQ, SQ, and Reading the Mind in
the Eyes test were all correlated to determine the feasibility
of a continuum from neurotypical to autism.
Results
Religious beliefs were found to differ significantly
between the HFA and NT populations, __ (12, N= 166) =
22.698, p < .01. As was found in the content analysis of
discussion forums, HFA questionnaire respondents were
less likely than their NT counterparts to belong to an
organized religion. HFA individuals were more likely to be
atheist than were NT individuals. The "own construction"
belief category was also found to be proportionally greater
in the HFA population than in the NT population (see
Figure 3).
Figure 3: Religious Belief by Group, Questionnaire
To further investigate these findings, chi square tests were
used to detect differences between populations regarding
specific religious orientation pairings that were of "a priori"
interest. A significant difference was found between HFA
and NT groups when comparing distribution of Christian
and Atheist groups, ?² (1, N= 86) = 12.65, p< .001, and
Atheist and Jewish groups, ?² (1, N= 47) = 11.47.
One way ANOVAs were used to test for significant
differences in scores between religious categories.
Autism quotient. Across both populations AQ scores
differed significantly between religious categories, F (7,141)
= 4.33, p < .001 (see Figure 4). Tukey post hoc comparisons
of the religious categories indicate that Atheists (M = 32.89,
95% CI [28.55, 37.23]) scored significantly higher on the
AQ than Christians (M = 22.98, 95% CI [19.91, 26.04]) and
Jewish individuals (M= 15.57, 95% CI [10.82, 20.33]). In
addition, individuals in the Own Construction category (M
=28.07, 95% CI [22.12, 34.01]) scored significantly higher
than Jewish individuals (M= 15.57, 95% CI [10.82, 20.33]).
Figure 4: Autism Quotient for Religious Identity
Systemizing quotient. Atheists had higher SQ scores (M=
44.38, 95% CI [36.69, 52.06]) scores than other respondents
(M=27.61, 95% CI [20.63, 34.6]).
Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. Although scores on
the Eyes Test were higher for neurotypicals than for HFA
respondents, no significant differences were found between
religious categories within the HFA and NT populations.
AQ, SQ, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task. A Pearson
correlation was conducted among the three quantitative
measures to demonstrate internal validity. Results indicated
a significant relationship between the AQ and the Reading
the Mind in the Eyes Task, r = -.36, n= 153, p < .001, as
well as between the AQ and the SQ, r =.47, n=153, p <.001.
No significant relationship was found between the SQ and
the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task.
Summary
Results were consistent with the content analysis of the
forum postings. In addition, we demonstrated that the
autism quotient covaries with religious belief, combining
over the HFA and NT groups, consistent with the proposal
of a continuum in thinking styles from NT to high
functioning autism.
Conclusions
Historically the study of religious belief was as far from
the purview of cognitive science as any topic in human
behavior could be. This has changed over the last decade as
cognitive science has come to be the field where it is
legitimate to combine in a single research program disparate
3365
disciplines, even when they are outside the traditional
cognitive science area of computer modeling of information
processing tasks. Recently, the "cognitive science of
religion" has emerged as a research program in which
religion is understood as a product of cognitive aspects of
the mind, such as an exaggeration of the normal human
ability to infer agency, impose patterns on noise, and infer
others mental states (Guthrie, 1993; Barrett, 2004). We
suggest that individual differences in cognitive styles is an
important predictor of human belief systems, including
religious belief. An extreme type of cognitive style is high
functioning autism. The 2 studies reported here found that
individuals with HFA have a higher rate than neurotypicals
of endorsing atheism and agnosticism. HFA individuals
thus resemble another group of high-systemizers
(scientists), who also reject religious belief at a relatively
high rate.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by a grant from Boston
University to the first author to support undergraduate
teaching and research (GUTS award). BU’s UROP program
gave grants to Caitlin Fox Murphy and Tessa Velazquez.
References
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Dolan, R.J. (2008). Explaining enhanced logical
consistency during decision making in autism. Journal of
Neuroscience, 28, 10746-10750.
Frith, U. (1991). Asperger and his syndrome. In U. Frith
(Ed.), Autism and Asperger Syndrome (pp. 1-36).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frith U, Happe F (2005). Autism spectrum disorder.
Current Biology, 15, 786-90.
Guthrie, S. (1993). Faces in the clouds: A new theory of
religion. New York: Oxford University Press
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57(2), 243-259.
McCrae, R.R. (1999). Mainstream personality psychology
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Rue, L. (2006). Religion is not about God: How spiritual
traditions nurture our biological nature and what to
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3366
Carolyn Adamo (Witkowski) Gulley 67 of Mount Juliet TN
B.B. Johnson AKA
Ips-Switch AKA
Hairy Sasquatch AKA
Parrish *~ AKA
<o)))))>{ AKA
Sockie The Apostate AKA
Zebulon's Spade AKA
Gunderlin AKA
http://www.whitepages.com/name/Randy-R-Gulley/Mount-Juliet-TN/3pk179q
> You are suffering from schizophrenia. No God is
> guiding you or you would not have made so
> many failed predictions.
OBVES is of course an obsessed hateful atheist
> guiding you or you would not have made so
> many failed predictions.
much like yourself, Carolyn.
Their purpose is to ridicule Christianity by POSING
as a Christian with a blatant mental or brain defect.
The person even brings up their many failed predictions
as PROOF of some present or future accuracy.
It's much like the way an avowed atheist like yourself
keeps posting in religious usenet groups.
It could be schizophrenia as you suggested, though
not for the reasons you suggest, plus I would suggest
that while some obsessed hateful atheists are
schizophrenic, ASPERGERS is extremely common
among atheists, especially those drawn to usenet.
http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/proceedings/2011/papers/0782/paper0782.pdf
Religious Belief Systems of Persons with High Functioning Autism
1. Catherine Caldwell-Harris (charris AT bu.edu)
Associate Professor of Psychology
http://www.bu.edu/psych/charris/
http://www.bu.edu/psych/charris/papers/publications.html
2. Caitlin Fox Murphy (caitfoxmurphy AT gmail.com)
B.A., Developmental Therapist
http://npidb.org/doctors/respiratory_developmental_rehabilitative/developmental_therapist_222q00000x/1164738100.aspx
3. Tessa Velazquez (tessav AT bu.edu)
http://bupsychling.wordpress.com/projects/autism/
Department of Psychology, Boston University,
64 Cummington St. Boston, MA 02215 USA
4. Patrick McNamara (mcnamar AT bu.edu)
http://www.bumc.bu.edu/len/about-our-research-staff/about-dr-mcnamara/
Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine
72 E Concord St, Boston, MA 02118 USA
Abstract
The cognitive science of religion is a new field which
explains religious belief as emerging from normal cognitive
processes such as inferring others' mental states, agency
detection and imposing patterns on noise. This paper
investigates the proposal that individual differences in belief
will reflect cognitive processing styles, with high functioning
autism being an extreme style that will predispose towards
nonbelief (atheism and agnosticism). This view was
supported by content analysis of discussion forums about
religion on an autism website (covering 192 unique posters),
and by a survey that included 61 persons with HFA. Persons
with autistic spectrum disorder were much more likely than
those in our neurotypical comparison group to identify as
atheist or agnostic, and, if religious, were more likely to
construct their own religious belief system. Nonbelief was
also higher in those who were attracted to systemizing
activities, as measured by the Systemizing Quotient.
Keywords: Cognitive science of religion; autism; cognitive
styles; individual differences
Introduction
On a discussion forum for Christian parents, a mother
conveys her frustration because her 14 year-old high
functioning autistic (HFA) son does not believe in God and
refuses to write a paper for his confirmation class. On
wrongplanet.net and other discussion boards for autistic
spectrum individuals, posters denounce supernaturalism,
proclaim the merits of their self-constructed theistic belief
systems and argue the logical appeal of Buddhism. These
observations, combined with recent commentaries about the
likely religious beliefs of HFA individuals (Delay, 2009;
Graetz & Durbin, 2008), suggest that these individuals’
beliefs may be influenced by their intellectual strengths (e.g.
emphasis on logic and attraction to systematizing
observables) and their social-emotional deficits (e.g.
reduced automatic inferences about mental states and
decreased orientation to social rewards).
There is currently no systematic study of the religious
beliefs of autistic spectrum individuals who have normal or
near-normal intelligence (i.e., those with high functioning
autism and Asperger's disorder, which we jointly label HFA
for descriptive convenience, following Attwood, 2001).
Current research is limited to personal observations (Isanon,
2006), case studies (Graetz & Durbin, 2006) and
extrapolation informed by a clinical knowledge of HFA
(Graetz & Durbin, 2009; Deeley, 2009).
Given this gap in the literature, two studies examined the
thesis that HFA people's unique cognitive and socioemotional
profile influences their religious behaviors and
beliefs. In Study 1, content analysis was conducted of
online discussion forum postings. Study 2 consisted of a
Questionnaire which directly asked questions about
religious belief and included scales measuring thinking
styles.
Prior findings in cognitive science of religion
• These exploratory studies are grounded on the
following assumptions.
• Religiosity is a multidimensional phenomenon
encompassing behaviors, beliefs, and experiences
(Fetzer, 1999). Religiosity is thus diverse enough to be
a meaningful descriptor for people possessing a range
of intellectual abilities, emotional sensitivities, and
learning styles.
• Individual religious beliefs are the outcome of multiple
causes, including personality, reasoning style, family
socialization, and views of larger society (Caldwell-
Harris et al., 2008).
• The diversity of individuals’ religious beliefs reflects
evolved psychological mechanisms, with at least some
differences representing diverse tools in humanity's
adaptive tool kit.
• The thinking styles of individuals with HFA are on a
continuum with normal functioning and represent a
difference, not a deficit (Atwood, 2006).
Table 1 lists some specific ways in which known
characteristics of HFA may co-occur with distinctive
patterns of religiosity.
To avoid oversimplifying HFA, religion, and the
interactions between HFA and religion, our research will be
exploratory, rather than hypothesis-driven. Our framework
recognizes the potential for diversity in religious beliefs
among HFA individuals, while still supporting the claim
that HFA makes a distinctive, measurable, and predictable
difference in religiosity.
To guide us in the investigation of these hypotheses, we
developed a set of "Thinking Traits" that have been shown
3362
by researchers to be typical of the HFA population (Baron-
Cohen et al. 2003; De Martino et al. 2008; Frith 1991; Frith
and Happe 2005; Kohls 2009; Shore 2001). Prominent
among these is systemizing, which Baron-Cohen (2003)
defines as the drive to analyze, explore and construct a
system. Others are norm-rejection (Frith 1991), emphasis
on rationality, social disinterest, social discomfort, literal
mindedness, and need for structure.
Table 1: Correlations predicted from the literature
Characteristics of High
Functioning Autistics
Correlated pattern of
religiosity
Hypoactive agency detection Avoid supernaturalism
(Deeley, 2009)
Concrete; literal-minded;
discomfort with symbolic
fluidity; local processing bias;
attraction to scientism
Preference for logical
beliefs; avoid metaphoric
construals of religious
texts
Need for sameness and
predictability
Rigid and doctrinaire
(Graez & Dubin, 2009)
Difficulty navigating new
social relations
Appreciation of socially
welcoming religious
community (Graez &
Dubin, 2009)
Personality psychologists have identified two styles of
reasoning: emphasis on logic and emphasis on intuition
(Demaria, Kassinove & Dill 1989). As the Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD) thinking traits are indicative of a logical
cognitive style, we developed a set of thinking traits that
would be represented in postings by neurotypical (NT)
individuals. The NT thinking traits embody the
complimentary attributes of the ASD thinking traits. For
example the NT thinking trait "emphasis on intuition" was
developed to compliment the ASD thinking trait "emphasis
on logic". The NT thinking traits looked for in the postings
were emphasis on intuition, oriented towards social rewards,
empathizing, symbolic fluidity/gestalt thinking, and
openness to experience. The presence or absence these
thinking traits are proposed to influence the religious beliefs
of individuals across both populations, placing individuals
on a continuum of cognitive styles that influence religiosity.
Study 1: Analysis of Discussion Forums
Method
The public discussion forum wrongplanet.net was
designed for persons with autistic spectrum disorder (HFA).
It currently has over 25,000 members from English
speaking countries, although the majority are located in the
United States. The forum boards have topics specific to
autism, such as General Autism Discussion; Autism
Politics, Activism, and Media Representation; Adult Autism
Issues; Adolescent Forum. The site allows users to post
profiles including a "diagnostic description" category;
possible descriptions include : AS Diagnosed, AS
undiagnosed, "not sure if I have it or not", Other HFA, NT
(Neurotypical).
The neurotypical forum analyzed was golivewire.com/
teen forums. Because discussion forum websites are usually
formed on the basis of some common interest (such as cat
lovers, sports, political affiliations) we needed to find a
website that was likely to share a common age demographic
with wrongplanet.net but did not otherwise specify a
specific group; golivewire.com/teenforums fit this criteria.
The population of this website was mainly based in the
United States.
On each of these two forums, the authors and research
assistants read through the forums for discussions about
religion. On wrongplanet the forum that was analyzed was
titled Religion/Philosophy/Politics; on golivewire the one
analyzed was titled Religion and Philosophy.
Participants
To ensure that posts were analyzed in a systematic
fashion, we planned to included in our content analysis 200
consecutive posts. We ended up with 192 posts from
different users who identified themselves as individuals
with HFA, and 195 users from golivewire.com (the NT
group). All posts were collected within a year time frame
(February 2009-March 2008). For each user, we included
the first post containing a clear expression of religious
beliefs, as defined by a coding protocol (more details below;
full protocol available from the authors).
Coding Religious Beliefs
Users from the discussion forums were coded for
religious categories using the method of ethnographic
content analysis (Altheide, 1987). Each individual was
assigned one of the following categories: Agnosticism,
Atheism, Christianity, Other Theistic, Own Construction,
Neo-Pagan, Non-theistic, and Other. Coding was easiest
when users explicitly used one of these labels or a related
term (e.g., it is straightforward to coded "I'm Catholic" as
Christian). Due to the debates over conceptual overlap
between non-belief categories, our group developed a series
of semantic clarifications between atheist, agnostic, and
"nontheistic not further specified". Coders were trained
through practice with example quotes from discussion
forums that were not used in the final forum analysis. Upon
completion of the practice quotes, coders met together to
resolve discrepancies. Coders were blinded to the diagnosis
category of each user during all coding. Inter-rater
reliability for religious beliefs was 93%.
Coding Thinking Traits
It was not required that each participant be assigned a
thinking trait as it is expected that these will be exhibited
spontaneously. Because the length and depth of religious
description varied among the users, it was possible for some
users to be assigned no thinking traits while others
demonstrated multiple thinking traits. Coders were trained
with practice quotes from online forums that were not used
in the forum analysis portion of our experiment. Group
discussions followed the completion of practice quotes to
3363
ensure a full understanding of the thinking trait categories.
Inter-rater reliability was 90%.
Data Analysis
The distribution of religious orientations across the NT
and HFA samples were analyzed using a Chi Square test.
The distribution of HFA and NT thinking traits were
analyzed across populations using the Mann Whitney U test.
Results
Religious Beliefs
Religious beliefs were found to differ significantly
between the HFA and NT populations, ?² (12, N=387)=
43.69, p < .01. As shown in Figure 1, individuals with HFA
were less likely to belong to an organized religion than their
NT counterparts and were more likely to create their own
religious belief system. The "own-construction" category
comprised 16% of the HFA population as compared to only
6% of the NT population. HFA individuals also
demonstrated higher rates of non-belief identities such as
Atheism (26%) and Agnosticism (17%). In the NT group,
only 17% of the population were Atheists and 10% were
Agnostic.
Figure 1: Religious Belief by Group, Forum Analysis
Thinking Traits
The Mann Whitney U comparison between groups was
significant for emphasis on rationality, (z=-5.26, p<.05),
social discomfort (z=-2.27, p<.05), and social disinterest
(z=-2.02, p<.05), but not for any other thinking trait
category, although the trend was in the expected direction
for literal mindedness see Figure 2). NT thinking traits did
not vary across the two groups.
Figure 2: Thinking Traits by Group, Forum Analysis
Summary
We hypothesized that traits typically displayed among
HFA individuals such as attraction to scientism and hyper
rationality would render these individuals less likely to
embrace supernaturalism and religious belief. Consistent
with this, Atheism and Agnosticism were more frequent in
the HFA group than the NT group. Previous research has
established systemizing (Baron-Cohen et al. 2003) and lowconformity
(Frith 1991) as prominent traits among HFA
individuals. We proposed that HFA individuals would be
likely to construct their own belief systems, drawing on
their interest in systemizing and lack of need to conform to
approved social behaviors. The belief orientation category
of "own Construction" was more frequently endorsed by
individuals in the HFA sample as compared to the NT
sample.
Although most of the Autism Spectrum Disorder
Thinking Traits did not differ between the two groups,
emphasis on rationality was notably higher for wrongplanet
users. Social discomfort and social disinterest was also
slightly higher for the HFA and NT populations.
Study 2: Internet Questionnaire
Method
Participants
Sixty-one participants who identified themselves as
individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder completed
our survey. Respondents gained access to our survey from
links posted on popular online autism communities and did
so on a voluntary basis. One hundred-and-five individuals
consisting mainly of undergraduates at a northeastern
university taking psychology classes comprised our
neurotypical (NT) comparison group. Demographically, the
HFA and NT populations were similar except greater ethnic
diversity was demonstrated by the NT population in
comparison to the HFA group which included primarily
Caucasian participants. Although participants in the HFA
group demonstrated a wider age range than the NT group,
the majority of both populations were younger than 30 years
old.
Questionnaire
Diagnostic Information. Participants were asked whether
they had obtained a diagnoses of Autism Spectrum
Disorders as well as any other emotional, behavioral, or
cognitive conditions they might have.
Religious Belief. Participants wrote their religious
orientation, briefly described their beliefs and rated the
intensity of their beliefs on a scale of 1 to 5. (1 = only
slightly, 2 = somewhat, 3 = moderately, 4 = quite religious,
5= deeply religious). Questions included the presence and
frequency of the individual's current and childhood religious
practices, including education. Information regarding
parent's religious beliefs and practices both presently and
during the participants' childhood was also collected.
3364
Autism Quotient. Baron-Cohen's Autism Quotient is
comprised of 50 Likert statements. This measure can be
used to define a continuum between autism and
neurotypicals, with prior data on AQ scores showing that
autism > Asperger’s > mathematicians > scientists > college
professors > all males > all females (Baron-Cohen et al,
2001a).
Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. Participants were
presented with 36 different photos of eyes and asked to
identify the emotion from a set of 4 choices (Baron-Cohen
et al., 2001b). This test measures facial affect recognition
and is considered a sensitive index of emotional
intelligence, including theory of mind.
Systemizing Quotient Revised. This scale requires
participants to rate their degree of interest in different types
of systemizing including collecting facts and figuring out
how mechanical objects work (Baron-Cohen, Richler,
Bisarya, Gurunathan, & Wheelwright, 2003).
Data Analysis
Religion between populations. Frequencies of religious
orientations for each population were compared using a Chi
Square analysis. One way ANOVAs were used to compare
mean scores for each measure across religious categories,
followed up by Tukey post hoc comparisons to detect
specific differences between the religious categories.
AQ, SQ and Reading the Mind in the Eyes. The scores of
each participant for the AQ, SQ, and Reading the Mind in
the Eyes test were all correlated to determine the feasibility
of a continuum from neurotypical to autism.
Results
Religious beliefs were found to differ significantly
between the HFA and NT populations, __ (12, N= 166) =
22.698, p < .01. As was found in the content analysis of
discussion forums, HFA questionnaire respondents were
less likely than their NT counterparts to belong to an
organized religion. HFA individuals were more likely to be
atheist than were NT individuals. The "own construction"
belief category was also found to be proportionally greater
in the HFA population than in the NT population (see
Figure 3).
Figure 3: Religious Belief by Group, Questionnaire
To further investigate these findings, chi square tests were
used to detect differences between populations regarding
specific religious orientation pairings that were of "a priori"
interest. A significant difference was found between HFA
and NT groups when comparing distribution of Christian
and Atheist groups, ?² (1, N= 86) = 12.65, p< .001, and
Atheist and Jewish groups, ?² (1, N= 47) = 11.47.
One way ANOVAs were used to test for significant
differences in scores between religious categories.
Autism quotient. Across both populations AQ scores
differed significantly between religious categories, F (7,141)
= 4.33, p < .001 (see Figure 4). Tukey post hoc comparisons
of the religious categories indicate that Atheists (M = 32.89,
95% CI [28.55, 37.23]) scored significantly higher on the
AQ than Christians (M = 22.98, 95% CI [19.91, 26.04]) and
Jewish individuals (M= 15.57, 95% CI [10.82, 20.33]). In
addition, individuals in the Own Construction category (M
=28.07, 95% CI [22.12, 34.01]) scored significantly higher
than Jewish individuals (M= 15.57, 95% CI [10.82, 20.33]).
Figure 4: Autism Quotient for Religious Identity
Systemizing quotient. Atheists had higher SQ scores (M=
44.38, 95% CI [36.69, 52.06]) scores than other respondents
(M=27.61, 95% CI [20.63, 34.6]).
Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. Although scores on
the Eyes Test were higher for neurotypicals than for HFA
respondents, no significant differences were found between
religious categories within the HFA and NT populations.
AQ, SQ, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task. A Pearson
correlation was conducted among the three quantitative
measures to demonstrate internal validity. Results indicated
a significant relationship between the AQ and the Reading
the Mind in the Eyes Task, r = -.36, n= 153, p < .001, as
well as between the AQ and the SQ, r =.47, n=153, p <.001.
No significant relationship was found between the SQ and
the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task.
Summary
Results were consistent with the content analysis of the
forum postings. In addition, we demonstrated that the
autism quotient covaries with religious belief, combining
over the HFA and NT groups, consistent with the proposal
of a continuum in thinking styles from NT to high
functioning autism.
Conclusions
Historically the study of religious belief was as far from
the purview of cognitive science as any topic in human
behavior could be. This has changed over the last decade as
cognitive science has come to be the field where it is
legitimate to combine in a single research program disparate
3365
disciplines, even when they are outside the traditional
cognitive science area of computer modeling of information
processing tasks. Recently, the "cognitive science of
religion" has emerged as a research program in which
religion is understood as a product of cognitive aspects of
the mind, such as an exaggeration of the normal human
ability to infer agency, impose patterns on noise, and infer
others mental states (Guthrie, 1993; Barrett, 2004). We
suggest that individual differences in cognitive styles is an
important predictor of human belief systems, including
religious belief. An extreme type of cognitive style is high
functioning autism. The 2 studies reported here found that
individuals with HFA have a higher rate than neurotypicals
of endorsing atheism and agnosticism. HFA individuals
thus resemble another group of high-systemizers
(scientists), who also reject religious belief at a relatively
high rate.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by a grant from Boston
University to the first author to support undergraduate
teaching and research (GUTS award). BU’s UROP program
gave grants to Caitlin Fox Murphy and Tessa Velazquez.
References
Altheide, D. L. (1987). Ethnographic content analysis.
Qualitative Sociology, 10 (1), 65-77.
Attwood, T.(2003). Learning and behaviour problems in
Aspergers syndrome. New York: Guilford Press
Baron-Cohen, S. (2003). The essential difference: The truth
about the male and female brain. New York: Basic
Books.
Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., Frith, U. (1985). Does the
autistic child have a “Theory of Mind”? Cognition, 21,
37-46.
Baron-Cohen., S. et al. (2001a). The autism-spectrum
quotient (AQ): Evidence from Asperger syndrome/ highfunctioning
autism, males and females, scientists and
mathematicians. Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 31, 5-17.
Baron-Cohen, S., Richler, J., Bisarya, D., Gurunathan, N., &
Wheelwright, S. (2003). The systemizing quotient: An
investigation of adults with Asperger’s syndrome or high
functioning autism, and normal sex differences.
Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society, 358,
361-374.
Baron-Cohen, S., et al. (2001b). The “reading the mind in
the eyes” test revised version: A study with normal adults
and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning
autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 42,
241-251.
Barrett, Justin. (2004). Why would anyone believe in God?
Lanham MD: Altamira.
Demaria, T. P., Kassinove, H., Dill, C. D. (1989).
Psychometric properties of the questionnaire of personal
beliefs: A rational emotive measure of irrational thinking.
Journal of Personality Assessment, 53 (2) 329-341.
Dewey, M. (1992). “Living with Asperger syndrome.
Autism and Asperger Syndrome. (pp. 185-206).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
De Martino, B., Harrison, N.A., Knafo, S., Bird, G., &
Dolan, R.J. (2008). Explaining enhanced logical
consistency during decision making in autism. Journal of
Neuroscience, 28, 10746-10750.
Frith, U. (1991). Asperger and his syndrome. In U. Frith
(Ed.), Autism and Asperger Syndrome (pp. 1-36).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frith U, Happe F (2005). Autism spectrum disorder.
Current Biology, 15, 786-90.
Guthrie, S. (1993). Faces in the clouds: A new theory of
religion. New York: Oxford University Press
Heider, F., Simmel, M. (1944). An experimental study of
apparent behavior. The American Journal of Psychology,
57(2), 243-259.
McCrae, R.R. (1999). Mainstream personality psychology
and the study of religion. Journal of Personality, 133,
631-640.
Rue, L. (2006). Religion is not about God: How spiritual
traditions nurture our biological nature and what to
expect when they fail, Rutgers University Press.
Saroglou, V. (2002). Religion and the five factors of
personality: A meta-analytic review. Personality and
Individual Differences, 32, 15-25.
3366
Carolyn Adamo (Witkowski) Gulley 67 of Mount Juliet TN
B.B. Johnson AKA
Ips-Switch AKA
Hairy Sasquatch AKA
Parrish *~ AKA
<o)))))>{ AKA
Sockie The Apostate AKA
Zebulon's Spade AKA
Gunderlin AKA
http://www.whitepages.com/name/Randy-R-Gulley/Mount-Juliet-TN/3pk179q
H.E. Eickleberry
Dec 29, 2011, 6:55:05 AM12/29/11
to
On 12/29/2011 12:01 AM, OB...@aol.com wrote:
> Why don't your take your time and examine my post history .
You idiot: Your "post history" proves you're a fraud.
> Why don't your take your time and examine my post history .
Ike
--
http://thetriunist.weebly.com/index.html
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/The-Triune-Hypothesis/102657386473773
Ezpozia
Dec 29, 2011, 7:20:16 AM12/29/11
to
"Greg Carr" <gregcarr...@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:21bf6d92-8c4a-4f44...@c42g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
To OBVES, all his numerology and Doomsday guessing games, and claims that
God is guiding him are logical.
Greg Carr
Dec 29, 2011, 10:20:06 AM12/29/11
to
at least getting exercise. You are just posting gibberish and making
up dates and are always wrong. If someone knows the date of the
rapture they get no special prize.
Greegor
Dec 30, 2011, 3:57:50 AM12/30/11
to
How many nyms are you using to try to prop up this fraud, Carolyn?
<o)))))>{
Dec 30, 2011, 10:47:17 AM12/30/11
to
news:aac61a4c-1044-40aa...@v24g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OBVES lives for Doomsday. It's all he thinks about. He's obsessed with it
to the point he doesn't believe what Jesus said about it. And his main
interest is getting a beautiful young wife handed to him by God. As if God
will be standing there handing out wives to all the single men. This
obsession of his has ruined his life. He could be out there meeting women
and finding a wife before he's too old and sick to start a family.
OBVES lives for Doomsday. It's all he thinks about. He's obsessed with it
to the point he doesn't believe what Jesus said about it. And his main
interest is getting a beautiful young wife handed to him by God. As if God
will be standing there handing out wives to all the single men. This
obsession of his has ruined his life. He could be out there meeting women
and finding a wife before he's too old and sick to start a family.
OB...@aol.com
Dec 30, 2011, 7:53:51 PM12/30/11
to
This period 2011 AD - 2012 AD is the most important one and the last
year I see as very good is the year 2034 AD .
From September 28 or rather 29 ,2011 AD the best time for making
predictions of coming Jesus .
I had September 28 and 29 , I had October 21 and 22 , November 12,13.
I had December 9 and 21 and now January 1,2012 ( it will be still
December 31 in the Eastern United States where I am living ).
11 PM - 12 AM = 6 AM - 7 AM in Israel in the Mideast next day .
This current prediction may be the best of all predictions I had .
http://www.focusonthebible2011.com
Message has been deleted
duke
Dec 31, 2011, 9:08:33 AM12/31/11
to
On Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:53:51 -0800 (PST), "OB...@aol.com" <OB...@aol.com> wrote:
He still doesn't get it.
The dukester, American-American
*****
Romans 1:16-17
It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:
for Jew first, then Greek. For in it is revealed the righteousness
of God from faith to faith; as it is written, "The one who is
righteous by faith will live."
*****
He still doesn't get it.
The dukester, American-American
*****
Romans 1:16-17
It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:
for Jew first, then Greek. For in it is revealed the righteousness
of God from faith to faith; as it is written, "The one who is
righteous by faith will live."
*****
OB...@aol.com
Dec 31, 2011, 3:49:43 PM12/31/11
to
In the endtime era that faith must be determined by proper endtime
calculations and dates arrived .
Just the same way as the only way to prove for sure the Bible is
applicable to our times .
And that somebody who proves that must be that single indpendent
servant of God as per Luke 9.49-50 to repeat what had happened before
Jerusalem was to be destroyed in 70 AD .
http://www.focusonthebible2011.com
OB...@aol.com
Dec 31, 2011, 4:08:42 PM12/31/11
to
On Dec 29, 7:20 am, "Ezpozia" <Expo...@ARJ-W.org> wrote:
> "Greg Carr" <gregcarronuse...@lycos.com> wrote in message
--
It is very interesting . Today I had a dream about my nephew who lives
not far here . I don't recall ever dreaming about him in sleep in my
all life ! I was where my sister lives , I was in and outside , not
far away from where I am right now as live close to her. Her son took
my small recorder I am using to play my religious music and the song
played was my favorite song about the Judgement Day when everybody
will be praying to God so that the people lying in the yard
sunbathing could hear that song !
> "Greg Carr" <gregcarronuse...@lycos.com> wrote in message
It is very interesting . Today I had a dream about my nephew who lives
not far here . I don't recall ever dreaming about him in sleep in my
all life ! I was where my sister lives , I was in and outside , not
far away from where I am right now as live close to her. Her son took
my small recorder I am using to play my religious music and the song
played was my favorite song about the Judgement Day when everybody
will be praying to God so that the people lying in the yard
sunbathing could hear that song !
Message has been deleted
Greegor
Jan 2, 2012, 3:29:50 PM1/2/12
to
Did you think that there aren't atheists
obsessed enough to run such an OBVES fake
in an attempt to ridicule religionists?
Especially the aspergers obsessos on usenet.
obsessed enough to run such an OBVES fake
in an attempt to ridicule religionists?
Especially the aspergers obsessos on usenet.
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