Atheist population on the rise
Joseph Beck
The number of Americans who consider themselves atheists has jumped by 4 percent since 2005 according to a poll conducted by Win-Gallup International.
The survey, which spanned 57 countries and involved more than 50,000 participants, found that religiosity has seen a decrease of nearly 9 percent worldwide, and the United States ranked number 34 on the index.
Ghana came in first on the list as most likely to claim religious affiliation, and China came in as the least likely.
Additionally, the study found that 23 percent of their participants considered themselves non-religious or nonpracticing.
Many celebrities have already declared themselves atheists including Bill Maher, Brad Pitt, Seth MacFarlene, and Keira Knightley.
“There is a much larger number of non-theists out there than we would like to admit,” said Andre Salais, president of the MCC chapter of the Secular Students Alliance.
The Secular Students Alliance is an on campus secular group that was formed to ‘provide a welcoming community for secular students to discuss their views and promote their
secular values. “The SSA is here to show Secular Students that they are not alone,” said Salais.
While the report did not give a reason for the drastic decrease in global religiosity, both sides are eager to interpret the data.
“Atheism allows for selfserving philosophy,” said Timothy Sandoval, a Biology major who considers himself to be religious. “People do not want to live subject to authority. If they can deny God, they can deny his authority and don’t have to live by his rules.”
“One of the primary causes for the shift is the fact that we have more access to information than ever before. People are able to question in ways that they haven’t been able to in the past. When logic becomes part of the process it is my opinion that people will choose a non-theistic path,” said Salais.
A similar study, published earlier this month by Pew Forum, found that many people are turning away from organized religion. 33 million people, or 14 percent of the U.S. population, said they had no religious affiliation.
The Pew Forum survey attributed the decrease to religion’s ties to the Republican party. “Several leading scholars contend that young adults, in particular, have turned away from organized religion, because they perceive it as deeply entangled with conservative politics and do not want to have any association with it.”
