Atheism On The Rise

[joreth]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/09/us.religion.less.christian/index.html

According to the American Religious Identification Survey from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, one in five people claimed no religious affinity or refused to answer the question entirely.  It is my personal hypothesis that, although the number of people leaving religion to have no particular faith is on the rise, the majority of the reason for the rising numbers is the change in our culture that makes it more socially acceptable to claim no faith.  And, by "socially acceptable", I mean we are no longer put to death for not accepting Jesus Christ as our pesonal Lord and Saviour.  Now we're just shouted at, prevented from holding political office, and in fear of having our professional licenses removed due to Morality Clauses in the state licensing policy.

The more disturbing trend this study found, however, was that, although mainstream religious affiliation is declining, evangelicanism is very sharply on the rise.  Ironically, though, this rise is partially responsible for the increase in people claiming no particular faith.  Their extremism is polarizing the nation and, while collecting a frighteningly large number of radical conservatives, it is also pushing the moderates away towards a more rational, less faith-based worldview.  The Catholic sex scandals contributed a little bit too.

This his heartening news.  Although I am concerned by the rising number of radical evangelicals, their radicalism is causing a backlash which makes it easier for me to be an atheist.  As the moderates grow more concerned about the evangelicals, they can look at atheists and see the rational viewpoint of "just let me be, I'm not harming anyone and I don't need god to tell me not to" and that looks a whole lot more attractive than the frothing-at-the-mouth fundies who throw burning bricks into the homes of abortion doctors and who excommunicate doctors for saving the life of a teenage rape victim rather than risk killing her and her twins for some idealogical bullshit about when "life" begins.

I am also heartened by the number of people willing to stand up and claim their lack of "faith", particularly in the face of these radical religious nutjobs.  We need everyone with no faith to stand up and declare their position while simultaneously living ethical lives, treating others with dignity and respect.  You don't have to shout it from the rooftops, or wear the t-shirts, but when the subject comes up, don't be afraid to let your hand be counted among those of no faith, particularly if you have no real tangible loss for doing so.  Getting wierd looks and possibly engaging in a dialog about atheism is a worthwhile cost to contributing to the reduction of those tangible losses other people suffer for their beliefs.

Comments

[corpsefairy.livejournal.com]

Not even teenage: she's nine.

[joreth]

Doh, you are correct. I haven't read any of the articles about it, just the dozens of headlines and talked with friends who read it, so the age didn't stick in my head other than that she was young

[leora.livejournal.com]

I am glad atheism is becoming more acceptable. The way it's happening though makes me sad for the decent Christians I know. I know some pro-choice Christians who believe that their faith is right for them and you should do whatever is right for you whether it is their religion, a different religion, or no religion. Even when they speak out against other Christians who do things that are horrible, they get tarred with the same brush, which is sad. I'd rather see an increase in atheism and moderate Christians who are fine with other people living their own lives as they see fit. Maybe someday we'll get to that rather than the scary forms of Christians.

[joreth]

I agree, I was of the "live and let live" opinion when it came to other faiths until the whacko minority got so loud, which is what turned me into the angry atheist stereotype today. I was totally fine with people believing in nonsense when it didn't make legal policy or harm their kids. I'm much less tolerant about religion in general thanks to those relatively few but obnoxiously loud fundies.

Atheism on the Rise...

[(Anonymous)]

Americans are actually rising out of the cloudy, murky muck of bigotry and narrow-mindedness that inherently accompanies the perpetuation of a single world-view.
People are becoming increasingly more cognizant of the fact that those who believe in ancient myths that mysteriously have answers for everything is nothing more than an elaborate ponzi scheme with a monopoloy over stupid people willing to die for nothing.
Once you are able to see that religion is bogus, you can shed that creepy cloth and move beyond it into a realm where diversity and the questioning- testing- and answering of things to lead to facts is commonly adhered to by much more intelligent people interested in seeking answers to real world problems, including the affects and burdens of religion.

There is nothing wrong with Atheism... it just means that people are "A"-Theism - "against" "God".
Agnostics still believe in a supreme being of some sort, but this still leaves open the door to creep Creationists trying to undermine and subvert science. These people would like nothing more than to subvert science in such a way that it masquerades itself as somehow being "Intelligent" design, and being "science" when both are false.
There is nothing scientific about Creationism. There is no way to hide the bias, and the agnostocism. So, the easiest thing to do is to be Atheist for lack of a better term.

Atheism is a perspective that oftentimes leads to openness and accepting of other perspectives, with the exception of those determined to push one-world views down our throats. Otherwise, the ability to think freely is the best thing that this great country can offer. Otherwise, what is it worth when we have to think in one single way, like the religion that is forced down Iranians throats, or the poor-poor people who are spoon fed everything Jesus from birth in the many unfortunate areas in the United States and elsewhere around the world. Christianity and Islam spread like anthrax over the globe because the power of stupid is much much stronger than the more challenging endeavor os being able to think analytically on your own.

Re: Atheism on the Rise...

[corpsefairy.livejournal.com]

The A in atheism isn't "against," it's "without."