Atheists lack the cohesive community that belief-based groups share

Evidence

Despite their considerable worldwide numbers, atheists are not a particularly cohesive group, nor are they visible, or powerful. Unlike religious or ethnic groups who imagine themselves in communities united in faith and destiny, most atheists do not see themselves as a community at all. What they share in common is absence of a particular belief. As the comedian and atheist Ricky Gervais jokes, “Atheism is a worldview like not skiing is a hobby.” — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 243

Categorization

• SEED: Angles: why absent belief reads as a threat while absent hobby never does — the link between the Big God cooperative-signaling framework and out-group perception.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 243
• XREF: connects to: Atheists remain the only American group that cannot win majority approval; Communal philosophy need not imply unanimous belief among members; Group cohesion can form through shared ironic distance from rituals, not shared beliefs. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 830

Broader Connections

• Communal philosophy need not imply unanimous belief among members #responds-to (0.72)