What do you think of these US census results which show a sharp rise in atheism/agnosticism since 1991 ?

Question

In 1990 those who decribed themselves as having no religion / atheist / agnostic / humanist numbered 14.331 million and represented 8.4 % of the population.

By 2001 this figure had jumped to 29.481 million representing a jump of 15.15 million or a 6.6 percentage point rise.

In numerical terms this catagory grew by 105.7 %

So basically this catagory has more than doubled in 11 years.

Are many Americans finally waking up to reason and common sense ?

For those of you who claim atheism/agnosticism is on the decline, what do you make of these results. Are they the work of "satan" trying to deceive us all ?

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/population/religion/

Answer 1

Can you not read or are you intentionally trying to mislead. The number you quote includes No religion specified. 27,486,000 of your 29,481,000 people didn't specify their faith. 902,000 said they were Atheists, 991,000 Agnostic and 102,000 secular/humanist.

Numbers do not sound that spectacle to me.

Answer 2

In the early 1970s, very few people impersonated Elvis. By the 1980s, tens of thousands of people were impersonating Elvis. Does that mean that today, twenty years later, we all impersonate Elvis? Obviously not.

The rise and fall of the relative numbers of religious folks versus non-religious folks proves absolutely nothing, one way or the other. (Would it be persuasive to you if some religious person had been able to put up similar numbers showing an increase in religious feeling? I'll bet not.)

If you really want to witness a fluctuation in the numbers of Christians, just talk with one for a while. One minute, they will be part of what seems to be a 99% Christian majority that has every right to impose its values on the whole society; the next minute, they will be part of what seems like a few, beleaguered and persecuted martyrs holding out somehow against the militant anti-Christians who have taken over the country and started killing people for their faith. I think they're too accustomed to these violent fluctuations to be really impressed with numbers like yours, which are way too "real-world" for their liking.

Answer 3

Atheism contained in the U.S. is a million-2%. contained in the international in accordance to wikipedia atheism is at 2.3percenttherefore, there are not any significant traits happening. commonly church attendance will improve with the upward thrust in what's perceived as threatening activities, or activities with out seeming common sense. it ought to easily be that the "maximum ideal era and those that followed are starting to be previous" . This leaves generations who do not realize the end result and choose for spirituality even as others confronted the whole melancholy, international warfare I and international warfare II and Viet Nam., the 1962 Cuban Missile disaster even as each and everything virtually went up, and Korea.it truly is distinctive stresses. some religions are actual starting to be.

Answer 4

Psst... wanna know a secret? Statistics can be twisted to say anything the people doing them want to be said. It's easier to cheat out the raw data of a stastical pile than it is to win in Vegas.

Don't believe everything you read statistics wise. Instead, use direct observation. The sheer number of religious references, paraphenalia, "God Talk" and cars in church parking lots on Sundays and Wednesdays, tells me that religion is alive and well.

Answer 5

Education overcomes superstition & ignorance.

Religion relies on superstition & ignorance, so it is only natural that as more people become educated, they become atheists, or at least skeptical to the point of meekly claiming to be agnostic (atheist).

Answer 6

Oh no, you mean athiests and agnostics are breeding?!

All the stats have gone up, and the population is also rising, so it doesnt suprise me at all.

Answer 7

Those statistics don't surprise me at all. As a Christian, I've been expecting this. Of course, that's because, whether these people know it or not, they are fulfilling prophecy.
I wonder how God knew?

Answer 8

I agree with Mr Sneed.

Answer 9

people are finally starting to wake up