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guillaumeb

(42,649 posts)
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 11:45 AM Jan 2020

Atheists prefer cats, Christians love dogs, study shows.

From the article:

However, there are some interesting differences among faith groups. Evangelicals and Catholics are more likely to have dogs than are mainline Christians. Mainliners are more likely than evangelicals and black Protestants to own cats. Jews prefer dogs to cats. Jewish families are also more likely than other traditions to own a small mammal or a bird.
Those who claim no religious identity are most likely to have a cat.


To read more:

https://religionnews.com/2020/01/07/why-your-faith-may-predict-whether-you-love-cats-or-dogs/

We are owned by a cat at this time, but we have hosted dogs, birds, fish, rabbits, and mice.

And you?
57 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Atheists prefer cats, Christians love dogs, study shows. (Original Post) guillaumeb Jan 2020 OP
I've had up to three cats at a time. luvs2sing Jan 2020 #1
One of my daughters has 2 cats and 3 dogs. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #4
Chickens and barn cats. WheelWalker Jan 2020 #2
The survey did address that. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #5
Can't deny confusion. Am a consultant to a Washington pot farm. Provide rescue shelter WheelWalker Jan 2020 #7
I'm an athiest/agnostic and a total dog person. smirkymonkey Jan 2020 #3
I thought the title was funny. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #6
I haven't asked them, but I'm pretty sure my dogs are atheist Major Nikon Jan 2020 #10
Growing up, I was Faux pas Jan 2020 #8
Have 1 dog and 2 cats BillyBobBrilliant Jan 2020 #9
There is Christian superstition against cats edhopper Jan 2020 #11
About those pets!!! Mocha1206 Jan 2020 #12
Cats think for themselves. Doreen Jan 2020 #13
Cats think for their owners as well. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #14
OMG!!! You have me laughing my ass off! Doreen Jan 2020 #16
That explains it. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #17
It is more likely toxoplasmosis infecting Voltaire2 Jan 2020 #35
My dog is in charge. We obey. LakeArenal Jan 2020 #24
Are we sure the DOG-loving Christians aren't dyslexic? CaptYossarian Jan 2020 #15
And apart from this week, guillaumeb Jan 2020 #20
Medical appointments for my recent kidney/pancreas transplants and CaptYossarian Jan 2020 #21
I understand the reference. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #40
Thank you. I'm doing great. Each week they're reducing my meds. CaptYossarian Jan 2020 #42
Very well said. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #44
Over 40 years ago, a high school classmate drew a cartoon depicting a giant eagle descending on a CaptYossarian Jan 2020 #46
It's True: Liberals Like Cats More Than Conservatives Do trotsky Jan 2020 #18
Cats are Libertarians in nature. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #19
Those statements have no actual meaning. trotsky Jan 2020 #33
They cannot express them in words, but judge them by their actions. eom guillaumeb Jan 2020 #39
And if there's one thing you've shown you love to do, it's judge others. trotsky Jan 2020 #43
The sceintific method of observation and analysis. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #45
Do you ever consider that your observation and analysis may be in error, or incomplete? trotsky Jan 2020 #47
Never. I am perfect. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #48
And humble, too, apparently. trotsky Jan 2020 #49
Humility is a part of perfection. eom guillaumeb Jan 2020 #50
dogs are pack animals who defer to the alpha male/female and need to be told what msongs Jan 2020 #22
Cats respect no boundaries. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #23
Feral cats live in packs. Voltaire2 Jan 2020 #36
This atheist loves dogs. Dog is Love. LakeArenal Jan 2020 #25
Cats are Libertarians. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #26
Cats have no political beliefs of their own. trotsky Jan 2020 #34
And actually feral cats live in groups. Voltaire2 Jan 2020 #37
BuT cATs ArE LibErtArIAnS!!! n/t trotsky Jan 2020 #38
I prefer cats... mbusby Jan 2020 #27
Do these cats want to look like dogs? guillaumeb Jan 2020 #41
Dyslexic, agnostic insomniacs lie awake at night... Mazeltov Cocktail Jan 2020 #28
dogs pamdb Jan 2020 #29
I am a cat person Jake Stern Jan 2020 #30
Cats are the Libertarians of animals. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #31
Rather have a free thinking Libertarian cat Jake Stern Jan 2020 #32
Cat, Dog, Cockatiel and Geckko sagesnow Jan 2020 #51
An excellent suggestion. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #52
No, but sagesnow Jan 2020 #53
That's because you can see God in a dog. Itchinjim Jan 2020 #54
I see the Creator in creation. eom guillaumeb Jan 2020 #57
My place looks like OkSustainAg Jan 2020 #55
Welcome to DU. guillaumeb Jan 2020 #56

luvs2sing

(2,234 posts)
1. I've had up to three cats at a time.
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 11:50 AM
Jan 2020

Then two cats and a dog. Now just one dog. I believe in a higher power but do not believe in religion or “church”. What does that tell me? It tells me that you can make statistics say pretty much anything you want. 😂

guillaumeb

(42,649 posts)
5. The survey did address that.
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 11:57 AM
Jan 2020

And that places you in the atheist/pagan/theist/confused category.

Or, it identifies you as a farmer.

WheelWalker

(9,200 posts)
7. Can't deny confusion. Am a consultant to a Washington pot farm. Provide rescue shelter
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 12:09 PM
Jan 2020

for chickens who've laid themselves into retirement. Cats pull guard duty for the chickens, from the hawks, raccoons and other intruders.

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
3. I'm an athiest/agnostic and a total dog person.
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 11:53 AM
Jan 2020

In fact, my personality fits the description of a "cat person" in all those articles about cat person traits and dog person traits, but I am completely a dog person. I love dogs more than anything and don't really care for cats at all.

Major Nikon

(36,900 posts)
10. I haven't asked them, but I'm pretty sure my dogs are atheist
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 01:27 PM
Jan 2020

Cats have their own individual religion in which they are the monotheistic deity. It's no wonder the ancient Egyptians worshiped them.

Faux pas

(15,369 posts)
8. Growing up, I was
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 12:11 PM
Jan 2020

catholic we had 2 dogs and one cat. Throughout my agnostic period, I had cats. Since I've known I'm atheist, it cats all the way. Interesting article!

BillyBobBrilliant

(805 posts)
9. Have 1 dog and 2 cats
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 01:17 PM
Jan 2020

The maximum allowed on my lease. However, I sneak out after dark to feed a feral cat at the complex. Have had as many as 8 cats at a time -- maybe more (they kept moving around and were hard to count).

Doreen

(11,686 posts)
16. OMG!!! You have me laughing my ass off!
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 02:44 PM
Jan 2020

I have a friend who talks about cats having complete control over people using their cat dander. Those who have cats take it out into the world and infect other people with it and put them under cat control also.

CaptYossarian

(6,448 posts)
21. Medical appointments for my recent kidney/pancreas transplants and
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 05:36 PM
Jan 2020

physical therapy, learning to walk after the leg amputation.

I'm almost at Lee Majors stage. (If you're my age, you'll get the reference.)

CaptYossarian

(6,448 posts)
42. Thank you. I'm doing great. Each week they're reducing my meds.
Thu Jan 9, 2020, 01:39 PM
Jan 2020

My med appointments are also dwindling--opening up more time for the prosthetic.

My DU snarky rants are also helping my blood pressure. Very therapeutic.

To use a line from a favorite song, "But I'm not the only one." Several on here are sick and on Disability and have a vested interest in Trump's domestic follies. We took notice when Medicare For All was introduced as a concept. This stuff is real to many, especially those who think they don't have a voice and have even given up going to the polls.

There's strength in numbers. Let's get out there and recharge democracy. America cannot fall behind in climate, human rights, health care or anything else Orange Hitler is ruining. He and his Komrades must be defeated and imprisoned for decades.

They've all violated their Oaths (with hands on a Bible, no less).

"The Democrats: A clearer vision for 2020."

CaptYossarian

(6,448 posts)
46. Over 40 years ago, a high school classmate drew a cartoon depicting a giant eagle descending on a
Thu Jan 9, 2020, 02:18 PM
Jan 2020

little mouse. The mouse, already knowing his fate had his middle finger raised at the eagle. The caption read, "The last great act of defiance".

When I read Catch-22, I identified with Yossarian and in M*A*S*H, it was Hawkeye. While I never had a day in the military, these anti-war literary figures had exemplified my feelings toward authority and hopeless situations, interjecting humor along the way. It was my next logical step from a childhood of Three Stooges throwing pies at snobs and the chaotic Marx Brothers disrupting the same environment. This was after a ring-side seat of the Counterculture while living in 1968 Chicago and flag-draped coffins on the news.

Bits of me were in those characters and bits of them were in me (including that mouse). At 58, I'm a lot more wise, but thank God, I haven't grown up.

Peace

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
18. It's True: Liberals Like Cats More Than Conservatives Do
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 04:20 PM
Jan 2020
https://time.com/8293/its-true-liberals-like-cats-more-than-conservatives-do/

Given that religious people are considerably more conservative than non-religious people, we shouldn't be surprised these stats are correlated.

guillaumeb

(42,649 posts)
19. Cats are Libertarians in nature.
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 05:29 PM
Jan 2020

Dogs are co-operative in nature.

And Democratic voters know that Libertarian is a nice way of saying selfish.

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
33. Those statements have no actual meaning.
Thu Jan 9, 2020, 08:10 AM
Jan 2020

Neither cats nor dogs have political beliefs.

Liberal people tend to prefer cats, and they are more likely to be non-religious.

Conservative people tend to prefer dogs, and they are more likely to be religious.

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
43. And if there's one thing you've shown you love to do, it's judge others.
Thu Jan 9, 2020, 01:49 PM
Jan 2020

You love it so much you'll even judge animals. Sheesh.

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
47. Do you ever consider that your observation and analysis may be in error, or incomplete?
Thu Jan 9, 2020, 02:30 PM
Jan 2020

Or do you just assume that you're always right and everyone else is wrong?

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
49. And humble, too, apparently.
Fri Jan 10, 2020, 08:08 AM
Jan 2020

Just like Jesus wants, eh?

You keep thinking that animals have political beliefs, g. All I did was point out some basic statistics, which you weren't able to dispute.

Voltaire2

(14,724 posts)
36. Feral cats live in packs.
Thu Jan 9, 2020, 09:32 AM
Jan 2020

At least the urban variety do, and also have a strict hierarchy. The leader is however the alpha female. It’s a matriarchy.

LakeArenal

(29,813 posts)
25. This atheist loves dogs. Dog is Love.
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 06:50 PM
Jan 2020

That ain’t no christian cliche. So how is it that atheists like cats.

Cats kill song birds. Not into that at all.

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
34. Cats have no political beliefs of their own.
Thu Jan 9, 2020, 08:22 AM
Jan 2020

They evolved into the ecological niche of solitary predators, but do have some more social/communal species (lions, for instance). Cats, it could be said, domesticated themselves as part of a partnership with human beings, protecting their stored food from rodents and other pests.

The domestic dog is an animal almost entirely shaped by human breeding programs - we've selected traits beneficial to us for thousands of years - from strength and endurance to heightened sense of smell and even the ability to move facial muscles in a way that we connect with.

What are you really trying to say with a nonsense statement like "cats are libertarians," anyway?

Voltaire2

(14,724 posts)
37. And actually feral cats live in groups.
Thu Jan 9, 2020, 09:34 AM
Jan 2020

It is domestic cats that are solitary predators as humans tend to keep only one or two cats at a time.

pamdb

(1,369 posts)
29. dogs
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 07:17 PM
Jan 2020

Neither my husband nor I have a religious bone in our respective bodies and we have always
had, and still have, dogs. We both like cats, but we've always had dogs, (and I'm allergic to cats) so I call bull on this.

Jake Stern

(3,145 posts)
30. I am a cat person
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 07:28 PM
Jan 2020

I value individuality over blind obedience, free thinking to conformity. There's something that touches a spot deep within my soul seeing a cat refuse to subjugate itself to human whims.

With their unquestioning loyalty, dogs are the perfect authoritarian pet.

Jake Stern

(3,145 posts)
32. Rather have a free thinking Libertarian cat
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 08:18 PM
Jan 2020

than a conformist dog of any political persuasion, even a Democratic one.


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