Atheism On The Rise In America

[Sharpshooter]

Atheism Rises In The U.S., Religiosity Declines

(RNS) Religiosity is on the decline in the U.S. and atheism is on the rise, according to a new worldwide poll.

The poll, called "The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism," found that the number of Americans who say they are "religious" dropped from 73 percent in 2005 (the last time the poll was conducted) to 60 percent.

At the same time, the number of Americans who say they are atheists rose, from 1 percent to 5 percent.

The poll was conducted by WIN-Gallup International and is based on interviews with 50,000 people from 57 countries and five continents. Participants were asked, "Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person, or a convinced atheist?"

The seven years between the polls is notable because 2005 saw the publication of "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris, the first in a wave of best-selling books on atheism by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and other so-called "New Atheists."

"The obvious implication is that this is a manifestation of the New Atheism movement," said Ryan Cragun, a University of Tampa sociologist of religion who studies American and global atheism.

Still, Cragun does not believe the poll shows more people are becoming atheists, but rather that more people are willing to identify as atheists.

"For a very long time, religiosity has been a central characteristic of the American identity," he said. "But what this suggests is that is changing and people are feeling less inclined to identify as religious to comply with what it means to be a good person in the U.S."

Another possible factor may be the number of atheists within organized efforts by American atheist groups to encourage those who do not believe in God to say so publicly. The Out Campaign, a project of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, was launched in 2007 and has since been endorsed by several national atheist groups.

The current poll confirms a declining religiosity -- both at home and abroad -- that's been detected in other polls. The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey found that 15 percent of Americans said they have no religion -- different from being a "confirmed atheist," but nonetheless up from 8 percent in 1990.

Barry Kosmin, the principal investigator for the ARIS report, said he's skeptical of the new study.

"The U.S. trends are what we have found and would expect, but the actual numbers are peculiar to say the least," he said. "The drops in religiosity seem too sharp for the time period -- people just don't change their beliefs that quickly. Most of the trend away from religion has demographic causes and demography moves 'glacially.'"

Specifically, he points to the poll's finding that Vietnam, while showing a sharp 23 percent drop in religiosity since 2005, also shows no atheists. "Eight million Communist Party members but zero atheists?" he said. "That statistic makes me very doubtful of the accuracy of the survey overall and some of the international comparisons."

Other findings from the poll include:

• Besides Vietnam, Ireland had the greatest change in religiosity, down from 69 percent to 47 percent.

• China has the most "convinced atheists," at 47 percent, followed by Japan (31 percent), Czech Republic (30 percent) and France (29 percent)

• The most religious countries are in Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya), South America (Brazil, Peru) and Eastern Europe (Macedonia, Romania, Armenia).

• Countries with the same percentage of atheists as the U.S. are Poland, Moldova and Saudi Arabia.

http://www.washingto...b285_story.html

Spirituality And Atheism:

Tribute To 'Hitch':

[pimpcurtly]

Proudly agnostic.

[Slaytanic Wehrmacht]

More of us are beginning to throw off the shackles and be more courageous, taking a public stand and being proud of having freedom of thought, after a long long time of observing the corruption that's involved with the religious institutions and I'm damned proud to be among those not afraid to speak out against something I feel is slowing down the evolution of human intelligence. I encourage more and more of those who feel the same to lose their inhibitions and tell the world that they're not afraid to say they don't believe.

[canucklehead44]

It seems I know a bunch of atheists and they all annoy me. They are on par, or worse, than self righteous christian right wing nut jobs.

Why can't everybody keep their beliefs to themselves or amongst their own group, it is really annoying. Nobody is right, nobody is wrong, beliefs are beliefs.

[Sharpshooter]

It seems I know a bunch of atheists and they all annoy me. They are on par, or worse, than self righteous christian right wing nut jobs.

Why can't everybody keep their beliefs to themselves or amongst their own group, it is really annoying. Nobody is right, nobody is wrong, beliefs are beliefs.

[VICanucksfan5551]

Next thing you know, those heathens will be killing people in the streets en masse because there's no way for them to judge what's right and wrong without God.

[Slaytanic Wehrmacht]

It seems I know a bunch of atheists and they all annoy me. They are on par, or worse, than self righteous christian right wing nut jobs.

Why can't everybody keep their beliefs to themselves or amongst their own group, it is really annoying. Nobody is right, nobody is wrong, beliefs are beliefs.

[VICanucksfan5551]

Atheists don't have supernatural beliefs. It's really annoying when ignorant people can't keep their ignorance to themselves.

[Squeak]

It seems I know a bunch of atheists and they all annoy me. They are on par, or worse, than self righteous christian right wing nut jobs.

Why can't everybody keep their beliefs to themselves or amongst their own group, it is really annoying. Nobody is right, nobody is wrong, beliefs are beliefs.

[Slaytanic Wehrmacht]

There are plenty of atheists with supernatural beliefs. I know some who believe in ghosts and psychic abilities, for example.

[stexx]

i just wish my church of atheism was exempt from taxes just like everyone elses as well. (my house)

[Sharpshooter]

There are plenty of atheists with supernatural beliefs. I know some who believe in ghosts and psychic abilities, for example.

[VICanucksfan5551]

No, see, actual atheists don't believe in any of that pseudoscientific horse manure.

[Slaytanic Wehrmacht]

Then give them this for me.....

And tell them to turn in their decoder ring....they're out.

[Slaytanic Wehrmacht]

Actual atheists? Atheists are by definition people who don't believe in a deity. That's the one and only requirement to be an atheist. Imposing other rules to exclude people past that definition is a no true Scotsman fallacy.

[elvis15]

Proudly agnostic.

[Sharpshooter]

Actual atheists? Atheists are by definition people who don't believe in a deity. That's the one and only requirement to be an atheist. Imposing other rules to exclude people past that definition is a no true Scotsman fallacy.

[Squeak]

There are plenty of atheists with supernatural beliefs. I know some who believe in ghosts and psychic abilities, for example.

[VICanucksfan5551]

Well...duh....if we don't believe in a deity...then logically we believe in no afterlife, and thereby no ghosts. try again.

[Sharpshooter]

Love that guy.