Poll shows atheism on the rise in the U.S.
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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. [More]
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43 Comments
I’ve got a question here: How logical is it when a woman can choose to kill her unborn baby, but I can’t choose to have a hot dog at the movies (the FDA has ruled that theaters are on longer allowed to sell hot dogs, because they’re “not good for you.”
Welcome to fascist America, JMC. While you weren’t looking, they converted the democracy into a totalitarian state. Just vote Obama and the Democrats back in, and you can be sure it will become even more fascist.
Hey guys, Jim wants to “get it on” with me, is this type of man on man action allowed on cathnewsusa?
Actually, Jimmy, atheists have no business being here.
welcome to the internet.
Now I’m getting your meaning — I’m not young like you; your generation has been inundated by gay propaganda, where you assume homosexuality is okay, and that half the population is gay. My “get it on” referred to a debate, not sexual activity, Jimmy.
i see your old generation isn’t inundated with sarcasm or wit either.
That dug deep, Jimmy — you got me there!
So Jimbo, hit me with your best shot; and, to quote you, let the fun begin.
why do you want to keep looking like an irate old man?
Because I am a man, I am relatively old, and I am irate at people like you who are so off the mark. But, being irate with you doesn’t mean I don’t care about you — I actually hope that everyone acheives salvation. Unfortunately, some are lost — FOREVER. That is a fate I wish on no one, including not on you, Jimmy.
im sure you were irate at interacial couples just as you are now with homosexuals, im so sorry you have to suffer through a generation of people like me who have tolerance towards others.
Nope, never been irate with interracial couples, Jimmy — notice how you made an assumption about me that was not true. Frankly, if I was not married and was looking for another mate, I would date interracially. Kind of a shock to your stereotype of old people, isn’t it, Jimmy?
But while I’m waiting for your reply, I saw one of your other posts where you used some verbal label as an explanation for the creation of the universe. Well, try this verbal label: “xyazhklflakfafldsa” — it refers to the fact that creation of something from nothing is absolutely impossible. So, here’s the point in case you’re not following me: anyone can come up with any verbal label they want, and they say, “see, here’s my proof for my position.” Well, verbal labels are meaningless. And, the fact remains that it is logically impossible for something to come from nothing; because, if something does come from “nothing”, by definition it could not have been “nothing”, because it produced something — and the very act of production means it was something to begin with. So, athesits truly are the most irrational people on Earth — to be an atheist, you must deny common-sense reality, and have an agenda that twists your thinking to believe atheism has any viability.
Kinda weied, Jimbo, that you already are calling for an end to the fight before it’s even begun.
what are you going to do, call me an atheist again?
No, I’ve already called you that — just reflecting what you have said about yourself. If you are offended by what you are, then that might be a heads-up to you that you might want to reconsider what you’ve become.
to tell you the truth i am going to call off this fight, and I am truly sorry i even came here to begin with, have a nice day.
Bye, Jimmy. I wish you well.
I’m curious..how does one belief in nothing..how do you explain creation?As an accident that happens exactly the same over and over?How the smallest of living things has interior working parts with specific functions..this is designed and created by intelligence.Have ahteists ever even explored the super natural with an open mind or asked God to reveal Himself to them?Have they ever looked into physical proofs such as the tilma of Juan Diego..which science can not explain to this day?The miracle of Fatima 1917?Lourdes,Medjugorge?etc?But regardless of religious signs..look around and see everywhere the proof of Gods exisistence.No person can convince any other of Gods existence..there is that old saying..for those that believe no explanation is necessary..for those who don’t believe..no explanation is possible.I dare any who calls themselves atheist to pray to the God they don’t believe in..and be prepared for an answere.
Hi John, I can’t speak for all atheists, but i let you know what i think.
Creation is explained in the study of abiogenesis, diversity is explained through evolution. I don’t beleive in either in the sense that i put faith in them, but i understand them to be true.
Supernatural occurrences are studied, and are often tested by sources, one person famous for these subjects is James Randi, if you like to know more i would suggest watching his show.
A muslim can look around and say he can show you proof of allah, an ancient greek can say apollo, etc, if you quickly disregard other religions, you can understand how an atheist can quickly disregard yours.
a lot of atheists grew up in religious households, i myself in a greek orthodox household, at no time in my life did prayer accomplish anything for me.
Jimmy — the reason “prayer” did not “accomplish anything” for you is because you weren’t praying. You may have been reciting words out loud, but that does not constxtue prayer.
tell that to an abused child.
Jimmy — are yo saying you were abused?
I’m saying i want you to sincerely find someone who was abused as a child and tell him he didn’t know how to pray and was only reciting words.
I’m not following you, Jimmy — your sentences are not particularly coherent. I think your atheism has infected your mind, so you can’t even form sentences properly.
i’m sorry you have no empathy.
Great conclusion, Jimmy — that I have no empathy for abused children. Do you realize that people who go to jail for abusing children often are abused by their fellow inmates? So, if criminalsstand up for vulnerable, abused children, you might want to assume that I would do the same. You’re not making much sense, Jimmy — are you sure that last bag of pot you bought wasn’t laced with something? Why don’t you wait until you come down before you post again.
how could i stop now when you resort to personal attacks, name calling and insults, this is where the fun begins for me.
Let’s get it on, atheist.
Jim…cut it out. Read your posts and ask yourself whether God would be saying the same things as you.
I can assure you that He would not be.
HG Wells — am I seeing things? I thought you were dead!
HG Wells — maybe then you can explain to me why Jesus, at least at first, refused the request of a non-Jewish woman to heal her daughter, and even called the woman a “dog” (Matthew 15:22-28), why He called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 23:33), why He cursed a fig tree not in season because it wasn’t producing, and it died as a result; and why He literally turned over the tables of the merchants in the Temple. If you can’t offer any explanation for these passages from Scripture, you cannot tell me that Jesus would not talk to Jimmy the way I did. All you can do is give me your brainwashed, feminized version of reality brought to us by mostly-lesbian feminazis.
Jimmy. ….”you replaced science with theology”…. Excuse me?!
When your great liberal wordsmiths and liars cried “give us our freedom to kill our own babies if we choose” and call it Pro-woman, Pro-Choice, Pro-Family….and when they got their license to Kill…well the World became a nicer place,huh??
Your fallout is from your ugly stink that you call progressive thought. Well suck it up Jimmy…enjoy your life without God. Enjoy your utopian “John Lennon Peace where there is “no religion too”.
Choice to kill the innocence equates to STINK.
Jimmy! Try to find peace in 50 Million tiny aborted human beings. This is the reality. No Jesus. No Peace. Just more deaths..more violence…more GIVE ME MORE FREEDOM TO DO WHAT I CHOOSE even at the expense of our future. “A Nation that doesn’t protect the most helpless in its society is a Nation without a future.” Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta.
Now we’re seeing for ourselves how true her words were….now we will see the FORTY YEAR impact of Roe v. Wade on a scale unimaginable.
First off i’m not american, second, just because im an atheist, doesn’t mean im pro abortion. you are simply assuming, you are also changing the subject, and you sound ridiculous, you sound unchristian, and you sound uneducated, you’re simply repeating fox news statements and you obviously don’t have a mind of your own.
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I’m curious, “Do atheists believe that a devil exists?”
no, atheists don’t have beliefs. and they are also not scared of threats of hell, regardless how cynical your response will be.
Hey Jimmy, I don’t necessarily agree with you that atheists don’t have any beliefs.
To go back to the roots of the words atheist and agnostic: the prefix “a” and “an” are Greek prefixes meaning “not”, so an atheist would be an “a-theist”, or not-a-theist; the root “gno” or “gnos” is Greek for “to know” or “to believe”, so an agnostic would an “a-gnostic” (we probably mispronounce the original in English), or not-a-knower. Using these two independent definitions as guides, we can construct four combinations of believers:
gnostic theists – people who believe that god exists and that humanity can know that god exists (or that science proves the existence of a god)
agnostic theists – people who believe that god exists, but don’t believe that humanity can know whether or not god exists (or that science cannot prove or disprove the existence of god)
gnostic atheists – people who do not believe that god exists, AND believe that no god (or the god in question) does not exist, and believe that this is a knowable or provable fact
agnostic atheists – people who do not believe in god, but don’t go so far as to say that humanity can be justifiable sure that no god exists
Okay, I had more of a response but CNU is either silently duplicating it or eating it, I can’t tell. CNU – please fix your comment system.
regardless of the breakdown of various types of disbelief, neither of those groups of people are afraid of imaginary torture.
the a in ancient greek means without, a-theos, without god, godless.
Then we should not wonder why America is on the sharp decline.
America is in sharp decline because your military budget is larger than the top 20 countries combined. you stopped innovating and you shipped your jobs overseas, you replaced science with theology, and you gutted nasa. Innovation starts with science at home.