Will atheism ever be a majority in the US?

Question

Do you think that 50% or more of the people in the US will one day call themselves atheists.

10% of the population currently does not associate itself with a mainstream religion. while not atheism, I just say this to show that there are indeed a solid minority of people who are not Jewish, muslim, christian or buddhist.

some comments so far. I am a little suprised that I have recieved two down thumbs for this question. I clearly have shown no anger or hostility and it is s simple question.

2. Nick F Atheism does require faith, but it is faith that no evidence for G-d will ever be found. Since ther is no reason tothink there will be, I woudl say this amount of faith is every very small compared to the amount of faith that believing in a religion requires. Also your answer has nothing to do with my question. Lastly there is no way to equate atheism wit religion, doing so only makes religious people feel better because it makes atheism sound more similar to thier own beliefs.

Answer 1

I do not think so. Human beings have a natural longing for something beyond themselves. As long as that exists, there will be people who place faith in higher powers. For Christians it is God. For many atheists it is scientific materialism. For the hedonist it is the belief that enough will provide happiness and fulfillment. Etc.

Answer 2

Atheism is loosing it popularity. Most of the reasons people become atheist is because they hate religion and religious people, and sometimes they are right. Most of them are looking for a new faith.

But it is clear that atheism can not give people much. Because it is based on reasoning only. People can not love someone with reasoning. They can not solve every problem in their lives by using science. And life is not just about a bunch of knowledge. People see that there is more than that and they are looking for a place where they will give their love.

Answer 3

Perhaps we can enlist nostromo to go into the Muslim nations and pray there..They teach and preach hate.. would be a good place for him to get a start.

Atheists have always maintained a 7-10% factor.. will not change. In fact, the next big attack on the US may see that percentile drop considerably.

Answer 4

I doubt it.
However, I do believe that in time most people will turn away from Religion in the traditional sense. Look at what the Republican, Right winged folks are going thru. Once again, a lot of their leaders are proving to be sickos, pervos or weirdos.
Atheism believes in nothingness and I don't believe that nothingness will ever have half the vote. We are Spiritual beings having a human experience - whether or not we believe this does not change it.

Answer 5

People need a way to deal with the stresses of life. Religion is one of those ways, it has a ready made delivery system in place, a community of similar people to share your woes, and an "us-versus-them" attitude that makes people feel like they're winners.

Atheism only offers freedom, without much connection to others.

And as much as I wish atheism could achieve majority status, unless we can find a way to effectively calm individuals, love them, and soothe their insecurity, we don't have a ghost of a chance.

Answer 6

I doubt it, at least not until science answers nearly every question. When people cannot find a natural answer, they turn to the supernatural.

Add to that the psychological benefits that religion offers:
- Answers to unanswerable questions
- A target to hold responsible for bad things
- A target to feel grateful towards for good things
- Company
- A paternal figure
- Control of random events
- An afterlife, etc.

All of these can be difficult to turn down. So when faced with "You're alone" vs "You're taken care of", they chose the latter.

Answer 7

Eventually, yes. In fact, we will one day look back upon currently popular religions with the same degree of fascination, amusement, and bewilderment that we now view the extinct religions of ancient Egypt and Greece.

Answer 8

No reason not to think it could happen, but if it does, it will be a long way off. It's hard to change people's minds about something that seems to play such a big part of their lives.

Answer 9

The only time that Atheist (unbelievers) will rule is when God takes the church Home to the Promise land. Then after that all Hell will break lose.

Answer 10

may be in time the christians menice will be gone from the usa and the world will be a better place with atheism the will be no holy wars