Since both groups had around the same number of dog owners and vegetarians, the researchers
could estimate how many didn’t believe in God
I would like to begin by mentioning various studies which show the utter decline of Atheism worldview.
There are about “about 80,000 new Christians…and 300 fewer atheists every day” as per the American Spectator referencing the International Bulletin of Missionary Research.
“every day there are 800 less atheists per day, 1,100 less non-religious (agnostic)” Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Nigel Tomes has noted that Atheism and Agnosticism in decline.
There is also the issue of the fact that secularists’ (by any other name) birthrates are generally low. Overall, see here for more resources.
Under consideration is Philip Perry’s article “Study Contends There Are Twice as Many Atheists in America as Polls Show,” Big Think, April 30, 2017 AD. Now, from the get go the term “Contends” within the headline makes me wonder if it contends as in over against common knowledge or contends as in does not really result in but can be massaged to perhaps maybe result in such.
In any case, there is much ado about Ivy Taylor, who is the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, who was asked “What do you see as the deepest, systemic causes of generational poverty in San Antonio?” We are told that her reply was, and I quote directly from the article, “To me, it’s broken people…people not being in a relationship with their Creator.” Now, ellipses points are perfectly legitimate but may denote that something contextually important is missing (and purposefully so). Also, Atheist activists have turned this into an attack upon Atheism (which is the only reason why the article references it). The quotation was hyperlinked to Alex Zielinski’s article “Mayor Taylor Says Poverty is a Symptom of Godlessness,” San Antonio Current, April 24, 2017 AD.
Note that “not being in a relationship with their Creator” is characterized as a reference to “Godlessness” and the article ends with the editorial note, “4/25 The headline has been updated for clarity” but it does not state the original title. Also, the article further characterized her statements as “To her, the ‘broken people’ facing poverty just have a bad relationship with God.” So, “not being in” is characterized as “a bad.” These might be perfectly accurate characterizations: my point is only examples of how to be discerning.
Here are Ivy Taylor’s statements: and I am unsure if the ellipses denote unquoted statements or indicative of a pause in her statements, “To me, it’s broken people…people not being in a relationship with their Creator, and therefore not being in a good relationship with their families and their communities….and not being productive members of society. I think that’s the ultimate answer.” Thus, this is about how “not being in a relationship with their Creator” leads to “not being in a good relationship with their families and their communities,” etc. She also noted, “I have devoted my life to breaking the chains of generational poverty. I’ve done so because of my faith in God and my belief in Jesus’s ministry on Earth.”
Philip Perry’s bottom line is, in typical Atheist activist fashion, to take it personally and conclude that, “that she thought this would be an acceptable answer tells us something about how agnostics, atheists, and those questioning faith, are regarded in American society.” That may very well be the case however, some of us are aware that given modern day poop-culture definitions of “religion” (such as a hierarchic authoritarian power structure) some church going Bible believing Christians deny being “religious” but prefer to speak in terms of being in “relation” to Jesus. Thus, “not being in a relationship with their Creator” can also apply to theists of various sorts and “Christians” in particular (maybe CINOs: Christians In Name Only).1 In fact, the article notes that Pope Francis “spoke out, saying it is better to be a good atheist than a ‘fake’ Christian” and notes that “This emphasizes Catholicism’s focus on good works as the path to salvation over pure faith, as Protestants believe” well, certainly Protestantism is not “works based” but it would state that faith is evidence by works.
In any case, the issue is whether studies show that there twice as many Atheists in America than previously thought and to that, we shall now get.
Psychology Today is said to conclude that “no religion, the fastest growing faith category in the world.” Well, two things to note about this particular wording “no religion” can apply to relational Christians (which is why it is important to read the polls, studies, etc. to see what is being asked, how things are being defined, etc.) and note that “no religion” is said to be a “faith category.” In any case, we are told that “Around 7% of the global population is atheist” and that, by the way, “if we include the non-religious, it’s 16.5%.”
See how this works? So now if you are “non-religious” as in relational Christian or just someone who does not believe but does not necessarily disbelieve or is not an agnostic or not an Atheist or may be a Pagan or does not care about such things in any particular direction, then Activists Atheists will claim you as their own just to puff up their stats.
The article notes that “A recent Gallup Poll suggests one in 10 Americans don’t believe in God” now, “Gallup Poll” is hyperlinked but it is not to a Gallup Poll but to a Vox Media article How many American atheists are there really? “There’s a lot of atheists in the closet” — why most polls on religious belief are probably wrong which characterizes both a Gallup and Pew poll. If things are not slippery enough, Pew even reported that some Atheists believe in God.2
There is another category to consider as the Perry notes, “No religious affiliation or ‘nones,’ are the second largest faith category in North America today.” So again, “No religious affiliation” and/or or aka “nones” can cover a lot of ground and note that, again, this is a “faith category” which may be better termed a worldview category or philosophical category or some such thing. Additionally, we are told that these are “among the unaffiliated” which means that even Christians attending “non-denominational” churches might count as unaffiliated and thus, perhaps “No religious affiliation or ‘nones.’”
Philip Perry also notes that most Atheists are “white, male, and highly educated” and I will add that they are young and that “educated” is relativistic as, for example, it may mean book knowledge without common sense or street knowledge or that they have attended many years of secular indoctrination in schools that basically teach them the Atheist catechism. Perry ads, “People of color, women, and the less educated tend to be more religious.”
And to puff up their numbers even more we are told that “Some experts say there are even more atheists that aren’t accounted for” and reference is made to “closet atheists” as per the University of Kentucky with another hyperlink that is not to the U of K but to Vox.
From here, we are told that crypto-Atheism is due to stigmas about Atheism. Well, when merely a few decades ago Atheists mass murdered some 200,000 people (not due to war but simply thinning the herd of what were viewed as useless or worthless eaters) and when the world’s top Atheists are bombastic, emotive and all around foul—what can you expect?
Perry notes that “there are no atheists in Congress today” which some massage as meaning that there are but that there are no out of the closet open atheists in Congress today. By the way, that there are no Atheists in Congress today is good news for Atheists as members of Congress are not exactly beloved.
Thus, we are told that “atheism in the US may be as high as 26%” just because (with a hyperlink to The Huffington Post and the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science).
Perry references “a survey and gave it to 2,000 US adults” (which is a very, very tiny sample size by the way) wherein “Each participant wrote down the number of statements that were true for them. Since both groups had around the same number of dog owners and vegetarians, the researchers could estimate how many didn’t believe in God”—that’s science folks (another Vox link for that one).
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