More Americans Identifying as Atheist
The number of atheists in America is on the rise while those with more religious beliefs is declining, according to a new Gallup International poll.
Surveyors found that 5 percent of Americans say they don’t believe in God, up from 1 percent when the study was last conducted in 2005.
At the same time, respondents who consider themselves “religious” dropped from 73 percent in 2005 to 60 percent in the latest study.
“For a very long time, religiosity has been a central characteristic of the American identity,” said Ryan Cragun, a University of Tampa sociologist of religion. “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.”
The results are 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?”
I blame a lot on the ‘political correctness’ mania and the almost deification of the word “non-discrimination” because of which many people do not want to be associated with being discriminatory. Therefore, they say either there is no god or that all gods are equal – and that has even become trendy.
With regards the closing question, it is typical of many surveys, posing an unanswerable choice. I am not ‘religious’ and I am not ‘not religious’ according to their definition. To answer truthfully, I would have to say I am not religious – but that would put me in the wrong group according to their definition.
Having said that, I do believe there is a ‘falling away’
We are one day closer!
Hey, I am with you on the religion thing. The word religion comes from the latin word religio which means to tie or to bind… I believe in saying I am spiritual; although nowadays, you have to explain that or people think you are new age. I am non-denom, and I do believe in all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I say, “What faith are you?” If I have to say it. God bless you!