Another Poll Says the Non-Religous are Taking Over

Us non-religious folks are still in the minority, but a new poll indicates that we are a growing population. The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism
has found that the number of Americans who identified as religious has
dropped from 73 percent to 60 percent since the last time this poll was
conducted in 2005. The poll asked 50,000 people from 57 countries and 5
continents. They 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?”

This poll doesn’t necessarily indicate that more people are becoming
non-religious. According to the Washington Post, since 2005 several
influential books on atheism:

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.

…

“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.”

This is most certainly a good thing. As someone who left a faith in
favor of a godless existence, it can be hard when you’re overwhelmingly
around people of faith. It’s a brave thing to do, to come out as
different from everyone around you. Speaking personally, it would have
been beyond helpful to know that there are other people like me who have
chosen rational thought over superstitions.

If you think this is purely a Western phenomenon, think again. The
poll shows a 23 percent drop in religiosity since 2005 in Vietnam.
China, perhaps unsurprisingly given its ostensibly Communist ideology,
has the most “convinced atheists” at 47 percent, followed by 31 percent
in Japan.

Critics point to the Vietnam numbers as a reason to be skeptical of
the survey. Barry Kosman, the principle of the 2008 American Religious
Identification Survey — which found that 15 percent of Americans said
they have no religion — is one of those skeptics. The Vietnam numbers
show a 23 percent drop in religiosity, but no atheists, which, in a
communist country, is suspect.

But the overall trend is clear. People are becoming more comfortable
with being non-religious. Maybe, as more of us band together, we can
start letting go of all the baggage that goes with it.