Transparency: The Rise of Atheism in America

This is cool. I like how they have a sock monkey at this bar. Where is it, I may go visit for more research. 

Very interesting, I like this infographic a lot.

The photograph is way too busy. Worse, it makes the bar graphs hard to read. And what the heck is an Imam doing in a bar? (Ok, maybe he’s a Turkish Imam, but the fact is Muslims from everywhere else in the world view alcohol as forbidden.)<br>The caption contains this line:”A recent study found that the percent of the country who considers themselves atheists is rising rapidly. While they still make up a small <b>majority</b> in comparison to the major religions, the current trends indicate that we may not be one nation, under God, forever.” (Emphasis mine.) Atheists are not a “majority”, not even a “small majority”.<br>Although the caption refers to atheists, the bar graph is labeled “no religion”. Not everyone who has no religion considers themselves an atheist – in fact most do not (unfortunately).<br>Overall, a great example of how not to display information.

This story has been debunked in the mainstream media.  [By the way, I'M an atheist !]What is happening is that more and more people are responding “no religion” or “no organized religion” or “spiritual” to surveys about their religious beliefs.  They are NOT choosing “atheist” or “don’t believe in God”.

No religion doesn’t mean atheist. Still, I’m not surprised. Good, I say, to both the chart and the facts.

Are you people retarded? First, this survey  is biased from the start from the way it asked the questions.  Second, Atheists have been on a destroy all acknowledgment of God kick since the late 19th century.  Rise in Atheism? It has been a steady campaign of attacking Christianity and eliminating all recognition of God publicly since the early 20th century.  It is only now that has been the policy of the Government not to give lip service to God.  There has been a three pronged attack in culture, in schools, and now the law to eliminate God from public view.  The motto of In God We Trust is now being eliminated from our currency.  What is this inane self-aggrandizement? Are so warped in your thinking from 120 years of propaganda that you won’t ask the questions, or just won’t discuss the answers? What are you going to do about it, anyway? I know that Christians are the favorite cultural whipping boy of America, but what is your answer? So what? Who is taking up this cause to say, “why is the only religious expression not tolerated Christianity, when ALL religious expression is protected by the first amendment”? I don’t see a one of you! Who’s going to go on CNN, MSNBC, and all the other networks to proclaim that the First Amendment is a freedom OF the expression of religion FROM the Government and not freedom FROM expression of religion BY the Government? I don’t see a one of you! Get a grip people.  When these freedoms are annihilated, then what? Gimme a break!

This poll is obviously bunk, but at least you gave us the hot bartender…

Contrary to what Cydonius claims, freedom of religion is not under threat from atheists. What I seek is freedom from religion. We have secular constitution. When I served in the military, I did not swear to defend the Bible or Christianity: I swore to defend and uphold the Constitution. I was a public school teacher for ten years. If I ever return to work, it will be as a teacher. I am well versed in the Bible, but I am an atheist. Do you want me teaching religion to your children? If not, why should we atheists have Christians teaching religion to our children? Atheists are not seeking to become superior to Christians in the public arena — We desire equality. And we want to keep a respectful separation of church and state as envisioned by Thomas Jefferson. And Christians are not exactly a persecuted group in America, save, perhaps, by their own demons. Christians define themselves as oppressed when they are not allowed to intrude into science classes with discredited as creationism. Christians overstate the political and legal power of atheists.The entire Senate is Christian or Jewish. With the exception of one atheist and one Muslim, the entire House is Christian and Jewish. The president and vice-president are Christian. Eight members of the Supreme Court are Christian; the ninth is Jewish. I know of no atheist federal or state judges. Few elected state officials, if any, are atheists. Eighty percent of the American population is Christian. Who exactly is kicking Christians around? And what rights, beyond sitting quietly in the corner, do you want to grant to non-Christians?  

second Aubricker’s comments… Really I’d settle for the ability to buy booze and chick-fil-a’s on sundays!  

What does God have to do with the dollar bill? We’ve already seen that the value of the dollar depends more on public confidence in our economy rather than God. Get the theocrats out of government and take that ridiculous statement off all currency.

What a worthwhile goal, to create an Atheist world through media… Unfortunately, it’s already been done, and there won’t be a Nobel prize for it, because it doesn’t improve anyone’s life. The experiment was called the Soviet Union. It didn’t work, and they are paying the price as we speak. Useful idiots, I guess, are always useful.

People of “no religion” represented in the alcohol? …really? 

I don’t like this infographic because it is difficult to read and doesn’t convey the information very well. I’ve seen map-based graphs based on the same study that are much better. 

I was raised by very Christian parents, sent to a conservative private Christian school, I’ve read the Bible cover-to-cover, and up until very recently I prayed every morning. I was surrounded by people throughout my life who painted a picture of atheists as angry, immoral, and mentally ill and I believed all that until I became one. Why am I atheist? Because progress means moving beyond the past, and religion is the only Bronze-age aspect of society we still cling to. Because not believing in God means that there is no cosmic plan for me so I must take full responsibility for my own life. Because not believing in heaven means every moment is so much more significant. Because I can imagine a world where 9/11 didn’t happen. And most importantly, because I don’t believe that people are inherently flawed (it’s a great marketing tactic convincing them that though). I used to see atheism as a depressing world view, but now that I am one I realize how empowering it is.

Never could grasp the importance of dragging one’s self out of bed on Sunday morning, even as a child. I tried with all my little might to accept Jesus into my little doubting heart…to no avail. Teenage Christian social group gatherings left me anxious for some good old kissy face titillation, not often achieved at a church social, softball game. I was obviously a born Pagan, living within a clan of born again fundies. Come on Jesus…make me part of this family.  He never heard me. The Prince of Peace.  The Redeemer. The Myth.  The Legend. I think it was because I could not stop myself from asking “So he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever shall believe in him, shall not perish, but shall have eternal life.”  I mean, it’s hard to lose a kid, and particularly one so holy and all, but come on!…so that we may have eternal life.? All “sins” forgiven? I just never got my head or my heart around such an unbalanced scale of importance. I’ve spent 50 years thinking of myself as agnostic…a seeker…knowing some universal force ( GOD to you?) was waiting for my servitude. I’ve finally come to rest on atheism. I don’t shout it from the rafters, and I’ll probably repent with my dying breath(Just in case), but for now and into the foreseeable future…keep the self righteous, selfish, judgmental, egocentric Christians out of my country’s politics,my bedroom, my workplace and my entire life. Just sayin’….

Here’s my thing: I don’t believe in any of the major religions (I’d consider myself agnostic), but you gotta respect them. And that doesn’t mean you have to say that everything they have done or are doing is good or that they don’t deserve criticism. But rather, you have to respectful of their influence throughout history and how interconnected they are with our culture. Hating on religion is the cultural equivalent of hating on your parents: you may not agree with them, but they did play a huge role in who you are and you have to respect that and acknowledge it. Another analogy: as a Senator or Representative, you may not like the President, but out of civility you treat him or her respectfully. Same goes for religion: you may not like it or agree with it, but you should be respectful of it since 1) it is deeply embedded in our culture, and 2) many people find comfort from life’s existential questions in it, so why be disrespectful of another fellow human just trying to find peace in this short life? Though I believe it’s hard for the modern mind to accept the major religions without allowing some flaw in basic rationality, I also believe that as long as we are taking care of each other, then to each his own. Further, the crazy thing about science is that it has shattered the reasons given by the major religions for our existence, but it has given us nothing to replace them! Instead, according to science, the universe is just a cold place following a set of principles, and we humans are essentially meaningless. Unfortunately, humans evolved not believing that (since we didn’t have science to explain everything) and I believe religion, or rather, having myths to explain our reason for being, was part of our evolutionary psyche. Take that away and who knows what kinds of complications you bring on. So that is what concerns me about modern society: we are so confident that advancing science is the right thing to do, but by destroying all the cultural institutions we have evolved over millenia (or longer) like religion and now the environment too, we are getting ourselves into a bind that may be worse off in the end. So again, I just believe you need to be respectful of religion because it may just be that it fills a void in our very being that nothing else can fill, or at least not easily and not without hard work and societal agreement that we do need to fill it. Oh, and I thought the graphic was good, though as someone pointed out, you can’t assume that just because people don’t believe in the major religions that they are atheists (though atheism is on the rise, your graphic doesn’t prove that).

I am an atheist myself,after being Pentecostal for 10 years.But what about Agnostics?Those who question the existence of God?That is a recognined religion as well.

Terribly inaccurate.  “No Religion” in no way equals “Atheist”.  I am an agnostic and subscribe to no religion, but I do not believe that “there is no god.”  Where do the huge population of agnostics fit into this?

I agree… having religion definitely does not mean that someone is an Athiest.  I know plenty of people that have no set religion and are far from being Athiest.

I agree… having no religion definitely does not mean that someone is an Athiest.  I know plenty of people that have no set religion and are far from being Athiest.