Posted: March 30th, 2022

Deviance and Atheism

Deviance and Atheism
Question:
What is an example of a group that you feel would be considered deviant?
Is it an example of a criminal deviant group? If not, should they be classified as such? Explain your position.

Deviance and Atheism
From a sociological point of view, deviance is the violation of social conventions and rules. The social norms might be formalized rules or it might be just informal social constructs. Emile Durkheim acknowledged deviance as an inevitable function of the society (Schroeder, Broadus, & Bradley, 2018). The scholar stated that deviance led to change and innovation in the society. Therefore, it was beneficial to some extent. However, the reasons for deviance vary. One of the main triggers of deviance is anomie. An absence of clearly stated social standards may lead some individuals to behave exceptionally. Anomie also holds that deviance can manifest as a response to circumstances where expected goals are not achieved through conventional norms.
For centuries, humans have sought to comprehend the meaning of life. The desire to contemplate a belonging distinguishes human beings from other species on earth (DeCamp & Smith, 2019). In one form or the other, religion has been part of all human societies. Durkheim revealed that religion is a system of practices and beliefs that unites human societies. To an extent, he states that religion surpasses the limits of human comprehension. Some societies attach religion to places of worship while others think of it as a practice that guides daily life. The common agreement is that religion concerns what individuals hold spiritually significant and sacred.
To that extent, in most societies, religion acts as the filter for examining issues and components of culture. For instance, after 9/11 attacks in the United States, there was a countrywide approach by Christian leaders, the media and the teachers to sensitize individuals against stereotyping (Wang & Jang, 2017). To some religion might appear as a personal choice but it is a social institution and it has an influence of the conduct of the society. The existence of religion takes the form of integrated beliefs and behavioral norms. For example, every culture has practices such as funeral rites with an association with a particular religious affiliation. Given the significance of religion to society individuals who do not subscribe to any form of religion might appears as deviants.
The worldview chosen by atheists contradicts the fundamentals of religious practice. Just like religious people, the perceptions and thoughts of the atheists also inform their living in the world (Yun & Lee, 2017). The primary belief of atheists is that gods/God does not exist. According to them, the emergence of the world was accidental and it did not have an inherent meaning. To that extent, atheists believe that it is the role of human beings to give meaning to life (Brewster, Hammer, Sawyer, Eklund, & Palamar, 2016). The assertions pronounced by atheists contradict the modern and pre-modern atheistic assumptions on the world. Most of the atheists were believers who changed their perceptions on life. An unmet expectation may have been the cause of change in worldview.
According to anomie theorists, when individuals find that the route to achievement of a particular objective is not clear, individuals might experience frustrations and strain. In that regard, they develop some tactics to overcome the strain. According to Robert Merton, there are different reactions to unclear circumstances, innovation, conformity, retreatism, rebellion and ritualism. Atheism may be a manifestation of rebellion after a failure to achieve some expectations from religion. Rebellion is the changing of rules and objectives. Atheism is a protest on the perceived inadequacies of religion. It is not a deviant criminal group in open democracies such as the United States. However, in some countries where laws strictly align to the religion, atheism is criminal.

References
Brewster, M. E., Hammer, J., Sawyer, J. S., Eklund, A., & Palamar, J. (2016). Perceived experiences of atheist discrimination: Instrument development and Assessment. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(5), 557.
DeCamp, W., & Smith, J. M. (2019). Religion, Nonreligion, and Deviance: Comparing Faith’s and Family’s Relative Strength in Promoting Social Conformity. Journal of religion and health, 58(1), 206-220.
Schroeder, R. D., Broadus, E. J., & Bradley, C. (2018). Religiosity and crime revisited: Accounting for non-believers. Deviant Behavior, 39(5), 632-647.
Wang, X., & Jang, S. J. (2017). The relationship between religion and deviance in a largely irreligious country: Findings from the 2010 China General Social Survey. Deviant Behavior, 38(10), 1120-1140.
Yun, I., & Lee, J. (2017). The relationship between religiosity and deviance among adolescents in a religiously pluralistic society. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 61(15), 1739-1759.

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