Why atheism is surging around the world.

[braces_for_impact]

I found this article in my Google news feed and found it interesting.

Why atheism is surging around the world.

From the article:

For Professor Owen C. Thomas, a former physicist and current president of the American Theological Society, atheism is experiencing what he refers to as a global ‘surge’. In other words, all over the world, fewer and fewer people are thinking of themselves as religious.

“There’s absolutely more atheists around today than ever before, both in sheer numbers and as a percentage of humanity,” says sociology professor Phil Zuckerman.

I like Phil Zuckerman, he writes good stuff. Anyway...

In countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, the UAE and Yemen, atheism is actually a capital offence. In other Islamic societies, such as Indonesia or Bangladesh, although apostasy or disbelief in God is not a capital offence, public expressions of atheism can still get you killed.

In the case of the United States, the only Western country where the Christian religion (and religion in general) remains strong, atheism is incredibly unpopular in many U.S. states. Despite what the popular media say, atheists in America face social exclusion, ostracization and estrangement from their families and communities. Moreover, according to a recent Gallup poll, the one person that American voters would be the least likely to vote for as a presidential candidate is an atheist.

According to another Gallup poll which surveyed 50,000 people from 57 countries, the number of individuals identifying as religious between 2005 and 2011 fell from 77 per cent to 68 per cent and those identifying as atheists or nonbelievers rose by 3 per cent. The polling data indicates that as much as 15 per cent, perhaps more, of the world’s population subscribes to some form of atheism.

The article gets into the possible reasons for decline, and asks the question as to what may one day replace religion, although there are some that think the surge in atheism is only temporary. I disagree.

In any case, it's nice to see an article that is more than two paragraphs. I didn't see a whole lot of new information I didn't already know, but the author, Stephen Chartrand organizes it and presents it well.

Enjoy, and comment if you like!

 

[none]

meh, it's because people are trying hard enough to find god....

 

[rjh01]

I think it is because of improvements to education and communications. Before printed books were common, there were few religions and most people belonged to the main one in their region. Then books started getting cheaper, so people started to get educated and seeing issues with religions. The result is that they became split into many religions. Then TV became popular and people were exposed to alternative views. Then the Internet became popular, so it was easy to get your views challenged. Then add in the fact that more people got a decent education as in a university education. This showed how empty religion really is.

Also society is changing. Religious views are being challenged. In America gay marriage is now legal. In many parts of the world the abuse of children by religious leaders and the cover up is now being exposed.

 

[braces_for_impact]

Ryan Cragun PhD studies the statistics of these things, and I think his findings are enlightening. Apparently, the "nones" started taking off a lot earlier than most think. A lot of people associate the rise of atheism with the four horsemen (Dawkins, Hitches, Dennet, Harris) but it looks like they were riding a wave as opposed to starting one. Ryan was recently on The Humanist Hour and the talk was fascinating.

 

[none]

meh, it's because people are trying hard enough to find god....

oops...
meh, it's because people aren't trying hard enough to find god...
simple...

 

[Angry Floof]

I think it is because of improvements to education and communications. Before printed books were common, there were few religions and most people belonged to the main one in their region. Then books started getting cheaper, so people started to get educated and seeing issues with religions. The result is that they became split into many religions. Then TV became popular and people were exposed to alternative views. Then the Internet became popular, so it was easy to get your views challenged. Then add in the fact that more people got a decent education as in a university education. This showed how empty religion really is.

Also society is changing. Religious views are being challenged. In America gay marriage is now legal. In many parts of the world the abuse of children by religious leaders and the cover up is now being exposed.

This is what I was about to post. Advancing technology in communications and travel, and widespread education. There's too much information available for people to remain ignorant for very long. In this world, fighting to keep an ideological circle of wagons ignorant has immediate consequences because of media and information offering up sharp contrast and challenges to belief systems. In earlier times, it was easier to keep people in closed-off cultures and dissenters were few and far between. Now, a gay person or atheist or just general gadfly can have daily "food" of information, good or bad, but likely much of it conflicting with the in-group culture.

 

[Malintent]

meh, it's because people are trying hard enough to find god....

oops...
meh, it's because people aren't trying hard enough to find god...
simple...

I think your Freudian slip tells the whole story.

So, how did god get lost and whose turn was it to watch the wandering fool?

 

[James Brown]

This is what I was about to post. Advancing technology in communications and travel, and widespread education. There's too much information available for people to remain ignorant for very long.

That's certainly the reason I am an atheist. I was a happy Christian apologist until I confronted atheists on a message board. They were able to point me to online resources that I would have never found in my church library. And because of those resources, I deconverted after a short while.

If not for the internet, I have no doubt I'd still be a Christian today.