American Religious Identification Survey 2008 Results 2 of 2

[RPR1983]

I tend to think all those books written by Dawkins, Harris, Hitches etc were aimed at the quiet yet persistent population of nonbelievers out there.

The sort of "you are not alone" message the gay pride parades send to all there comrades in hiding.

[HunterProvyn]

Thanks for your analysis and cheers to you for putting it out there for us. I didn't realize that we atheists actually had a chance until recently. Now I'm glued to all the videos. I'm glad the "nones" are up but we need to make more progress. I think that the movement will accelerate as it seems to me like the number of popular books about atheism are on the rise.

[KingHeathen]

it's not just books...

Atheism is getting a lot of publicity that isn't of the "going to hell" kind...

House (the character) is an openly atheistic doctor...and people LOVE THE GUY! I'll put it like this:

The gay movement gained huge ground when they started being portrayed in movies asking for tolerance and acceptance. In just a few years, they went from obscurity to having their own presidential debate at the same time as going from comedy relief to main character!

Coincidence?

[flurble33]

Didn't know House was atheist :D

[KingHeathen]

The actor that plays him is too.

[borgimplant]

That's a great point. I think that what happened for gays will also happen for atheists. There will be a precipitous shift of public opinion toward our favor. We just have to wait for the tipping point to occur. Once it becomes as socially convenient to accept us as to despise us, big things will happen.

[Singebuggercat]

Being saluted with a pint of guiness and the words 'hey heathens' makes my day. I have no RL. :_(

[ElmerLuckySutton]

does anyone find it depressing that 85% of people still believe that their imaginary god is better than someone else's imaginary god? the lord "talks" to the pope and he's an ambassador to god. i talk about my friend from another dimension giving me cooking recipes and i'm locked up.

no wonder ufos are only ever spotted moving away from the earth at very rapid speeds.

[Singebuggercat]

Well, the aliens were only ever here to consult with the dolphins on what to do about the feral human population schmutzing up the planet anyways...

[saadaya]

i think one of the reasons is the bad example of hatred and loathing of gay citizens in this country: in 2008 the xtians poured MILLIONS of $ into a campaign of lies and diffamation and were able to dismantle the families of 40,000 gay citizens whose crime was to create a family - even while they claimed that it was gays who somehow destroyed THEIR families. I think the survey is refreshing.

[ImaxDSHIFTJavier]

i think its unfair to place Florida in the Bible Belt. sure, the Panhandle is technically "south", but the peninsula isnt. we hav no southern accent, were more like the north of the south... cept more spanish.

[ImaxDSHIFTJavier]

personally, i dont give a shit if someone believes in god or not. i actually think that it is logical, to a small, certain extent, obviously, to believe in god, but once u get down to the religious version of god, its all bullshit. even deism has a cpl flaws, while still logical

[LordMalice6d9]

Well o be honest Deism is probably the most logical God belief there is.

[ImaxDSHIFTJavier]

not rly. the most logical god belief would probably be a variation of pantheism, since, at that point, ud no longer be arguing the existence of god, but mere semantics. as i said, a VARIATION of pantheism. the most logical MONOtheistic belief, however, would probably be a very vague and loose form of simple monotheism, something that cannot be categorized any further.

[TodaysThought]

Thanks, very interesting,

[TimKilgore]

This was really interesting

[SatansPusssy]

Why no one asked me?

This makes me go GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[Castaa]

I would like to see more skeptics than anything.

I wonder why there is such an uptick in non-believers in the younger age group? And do younger non-believers return to a religious fold as they age?

[KingHeathen]

"And do younger non-believers return to a religious fold as they age?"

That is the real question...religious people, of course, claim they will and blame it on immaturity and ignorance. But we all know that the opposite is usually more accurate.

[Castaa]

I personally think some of these trends are fads because so many are philosophically ignorant. And it's more a response to the unpopularity of US social conservatism more than anything. Their beliefs are a mile wide and an inch deep.

For example: A Pew study last year reported that *21%* of self-described atheists claimed they believed in God... lol

I can't link it here because YT isn't accepting my link but I can message you with it if you want.

[LotusGreenX]

I think the fact that people see atheists complaining about Seperation of Church and State and taking God out of the Pledge of Allegiance is probably one reason why people aren't attracted to call themselves atheists.

I'm sorry but there's bigger fish to fry. Whining about God being on a coin is not worth the effort right now. Moments of silence for Class is kind of annoying, but not the worst thing in the world.

[RationalRoundtable]

Interesting numbers, not surprising however.

Based on the definitions in part one I would call myself a 'Christian generic' and I think that a lot of the numbers dropping from the mainline Christian faiths to favor 'nones' and 'generic' is that many people are tired of the dogmatic doctrines of many mainline Churches and seeking truth, some arriving to a non-dogmatic Church and some into the none category.

[RationalRoundtable]

In addition to the dogmatic statements made by the big mainstream Churches, you have the blatant hypocrisy. This for obvious reasons drives people to one of two possible conclusions, either Christ is real and many of the Churches are lying or the entire religion is false.

[KingHeathen]

we certainly can agree there.

[SkepticalStudent]

Hm, I'm a little disappointed in our growth from 2001-2008. I figured the "new atheists" would give a considerable boost to our numbers. Maybe these numbers won't manifest a significant change until we have more kids that grow up who are also secular.

Nonetheless, at least we're growing. Great vids as always, KH.

[thefakeyeti]

It would be kind've amusing, if a bunch of atheists moved to a town in the bible belt..

If I had the money, and knew I would get a GOOD job when I moved. I would be tempted to move to the bible belt, if there were several other atheists that were going to do the same thing..

See how bad we can piss of the locals :D

[Rationalific]

One good thing is that atheism doesn't depend on immigration to the U.S. - unlike Catholicism (mainly brought by Mexicans) and Islam. So, it seems that the population that is already here is becoming more atheistic quite quickly, and it should only be a matter of time before the children or grandchildren of immigrants start to feel the same way. Of course, the percentage will never be 100% atheists, but I think it will get quite high.

[thefakeyeti]

Another good thing, is this is happening in a bad economy!

If I understanding is correct, in a bad economy, more people go to church and people are more likely to have god as a crutch..

Imagine what these numbers would look like in a GOOD economy?

[HergerSeamas]

I love stats as well! Thanks for bringing this up.

[deepelmdesciple]

Maybe I should elaborate. We all know that our prisons are full and they dont work and never will, and also happen to be full of black people who got caught smoking joints (god forbid). Well, when a black person goes to prison, they can either join a black gang, or a religious group. And the only religious group that protects its members and happens to be mostly black is islam. And then since the prisons are full, all these new muslims get let out on the street early.

[deepelmdesciple]

The rise in Islam is from the black people that they pack into prisons like sardines.

[iDeist]

Good video. I had seen a thing on the news earlier, which said there would have been an even greater increase in Christianities decline if it wasn't for the influx of immigrants from Mexico as they are highly religious. I would also be curious as to see of total population how many people especially younger people took this survey. I know for myself, I was never surveyed or had taken a census for it. I can imagine a lot of younger people hadnt either.

[cozmikzen]

both videos, very interesting stuff. im in the bible belt too. TN

there are so many churches in this county...its surreal.

[Desertphile]

Funny how the sinister Scientology corporation still claims to have ten million customers, yet nobody can seem to find more than about 40,000 world-wide.

[happyjesus123]

40,0000 Scientologists + 9,960,000 Thetans = 10,000,000

[GeneralZidane]

My state is bottom 3 of the nones.

[Thereminator101]

Good Vid Heathen. I think the decline in catholics will be slower do to the influx of both legal and illegal central and south americans.Underdeveloped countrys are a propagation boom for the mighty pope and his minions.

[stevebritgimp]

Hinduism and Buddhism both come from India, and so have the same language of religion and outlook, like Mormonism and the different xtian sects. However, traditionally those who do not adhere to Hindu strictures have been viewed very negatively. Buddhists in India were often Greeks, and didn't have the same dietary and societal taboos as Hindus, and so were infidels. Greek Buddhist monks helped establish Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and the conflict there is the most active today.

[BENY0HAMA]

The thing about Hinduism and Buddhism is this: Most Indian Hindus and Buddhists consider themselves the same religion. Hinduism isn't really a "religion" per se, as opposed to a bunch of religions that share somewhat similar beliefs. Within "Hinduism" you have creationists (Hare Krishnas) polytheists, pantheists, monotheists, and atheists (some subscribe to the Buddhist school, but not all)

[alphacause]

Another indication about the rising popularity of non-belief is in the bookstores. Just 5 years ago, if I were to go into a Barnes and Nobles or Borders bookstore I would see maybe one or two books on atheism/secularism in the religion section. You had to hunt to find them. Now, BOTH Barnes and Nobles and Borders has a specific subcategory under their philosophy section (Barnes and Nobles) and religion section(Borders) entitled atheism/agnosticism, containing at least 8 books on the subject.

[Lacolith]

I remember seeing this propagandistic pamphlet claiming "Islam is the fastest growing religion in America". Now statistics show non-belief is the fastest grow denomination...this is awesome

[dougmanjones]

I've actually heard that Mormonism is the fastest growing. I hope you're right and I'm wrong.

[newexperiment]

If you scroll down the survey to page 13. You will see Male Vs Female. For atheist men out number women 3:2 That's 3 men for every 2 women. That's not good. lol. On the other side of the scale women out number men of Pentecostal/Charismatic (followed closely by baptist and catholic) denomination almost 3:2 (29:21). Good day to be a female atheist or male Jesus lover.

[ScaperSteph]

I wonder if all this decline has anything to do with the mix of religion in politics that's we've seen in, at least, the past decade (or longer... It's been building up since I was a kid, I'm 34). I bet it's turning a lot of people off. It's getting people thinking and changing.

I think it's backfiring and that freaks out the theocratic types out.

[ScaperSteph]

(cont.) So, they attempt to infuse more religion into politics. It's ironic that separation of church in state is actually GOOD for religion. The Theocrats don't get that and fight against their own interest.

[thefakeyeti]

I can see the logic in that..

People start to see it as a tool used by authority in order to control them. IE. God told me to invade iraq!

Though, if bush had a HIGH approval rating, people agreed with his policies and he used god as a justification for them, I am sure it would be a different story.

[ginmortal1]

thefakeyeti I agree with some of your ideas, the ultimate goal for all humans, should be hapiness, and unfortunately, religion has been and is a block in the path to it, for some people, it;s a crutch, for others a mean of opression, but make no mistake, as long as people pray for answers, it takes away from their self reliance, productivity, advancement, and the ultimate goal. It really pisses me off when people say "GOD will provide" FUCK THAT, get off your knees and get it done yourself.

[KaptajnKaffe]

this is nice! =D

[ATL45]

encouraging stuff, it means people are starting to wake up.

hopefully the heart of this shift is an intellectual one where people recognize the untruth of religion, rather than just the vices of it (which is what has triggered many of the short-lived movements in the past)

[ginmortal1]

I guess that it all comes down to education, education develops the ablity to analyze, and that gives you the tools to question, I guess most of us NONEs not only question religion, but everything that we are involved with, and not just for the sport of pissing people off, but out of a sense of trying to understand the why's of the topic in question.

[KingHeathen]

actually, another of the surprising parts was that education (college graduates) didn't seem to be a big factor.

[ginmortal1]

Very interesting point king, somehow, I expected that the greater numbers would be brought by people with higher education levels, but then again, there are nut jobs all over the place. So, according to the survey, which groups are the ones increasing the none ranks?

[KingHeathen]

Young people (18-29), mostly. I covered that in part 1 (I think)...

to be honest, it looks like we gained in almost every category. Perhaps that is why "College educated" didn't turn out disproportionate as would have been expected.

[ginmortal1]

It does tie off with the decrease in some religions as you mention in this video, so I guess that having more available means of information like this one, and young people having better access to them, the number of nones will be booming in the coming years, and it looks like having a state that is absolutely separated from church will be possible. Good times ahead!

[happyjesus123]

"College" means different things in different places. I think if you separated out public universities from private and science/humanities from business you'd see some different numbers.

[thefakeyeti]

I haven't attended college (hopefully I will) but I have the internet right in front of me :)..

Which enables me to analyze many belief systems.. Which I think college also does

. Do college students really become atheists because they are educated? Or is it because they are surrounded by people of all sorts of religious believes?

Though I am sure I would be a AGNOSTIC if it weren't for the internet. I doubt I would be a heartfulled atheist...

[thefakeyeti]

That is the reason I lean towards the idea that there should be a mandatory class, in school on religion!

Imagine if every child in the country learnt about ALL of the major religions tenets/believes.

I am sure this would result in the raise of atheism, or at the very least a smaller number of christians, and a rise in other religions, balancing those statistics out!

[MrFacet]

Not meaning to be disrespectful to my King, but at some moments in this video you sounded like the socialist MP in The New Statesman (Alan B'stard) 1e5 Friends of St James (part 2 in watch?v=15qZzLbipU4 ).

Anyway, it's going in the right direction, keep it up US NONEs!

[andreiduffy]

oh. here it is