Folk theism is System 1 intuition while deliberate atheism is System 2

Evidence

While the relative merits of intuitive and rational thinking can be debated, what is hard to argue with is that folk theism, rooted in our intuitions, has all the hallmarks of System 1 thinking. Atheism, at least atheism that is characterized by deliberate rejection of belief, is the offspring of System 2. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 598

You might think that System 2 always produces correct answers, and System 1 is always wrong. But this is not true. There are many examples of erroneous intuitions being corrected by reflection. But there are also examples of cases where gut reactions seem to produce better outcomes than deliberation. While the relative merits of intuitive and rational thinking can be debated, what is hard to argue with is that folk theism, rooted in our intuitions, has all the hallmarks of System 1 thinking. Atheism, at least atheism that is characterized by deliberate rejection of belief, is the offspring of System 2. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 598

Categorization

• XREF: Directly feeds the reader’s analytical project: if belief is default and atheism is effortful, then apostasy rituals like the fumi-e are attacking a System 2 position, not the System 1 substrate.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 598