Atheists among the least afraid of deathOxford study

[Judi Lynn]

Atheists among the least afraid of death—Oxford study
A study has shown that atheists are not necessarily the most anxious about death

By Lucy Enderby -March 26, 2017178



A study conducted by Oxford anthropologists has revealed that although the very religious are among the least afraid of death, so too are atheists.

. . .

The paper examined the relationship between death anxiety and religious belief. It involved a systematic review of 100 relevant studies, from between 1961 and 2014 around the world. examining the relationship between death anxiety and religious belief.

They found that the more religious, in terms of those who believed in God and an afterlife, were not necessarily less anxious about death.

However, some of the relevant studies they used made a distinction between extrinsic religiosity and intrinsic religiosity, with ‘true belief’ being driven by intrinsic religiosity. Their analysis showed that those who were intrinsically religious were among the least afraid, whilst the extrinsically religious had the highest levels of death anxiety.

More:
http://www.cherwell.org/2017/03/26/atheists-among-the-least-afraid-of-death/

[Volaris]

1. My bet would be that's because

Extrinsic religiosity is largely about socialization and social standing/perception, and does absolutely zilch to alleviate any kind of fear or guilt. Internalization of Faith is where it gets combined with reason and gets useful for some people (and rejected by others).

Any Christian that is existentially afraid of their own morality is a Christian in name only, because the whole point of the Christian mystical expierence was to relieve Guilt and Fear and 'Sin'.