Do atheists really form only 3% of the US population?

Question

Because frankly, they're freaking everywhere, it's like they're breeding somehow.

Answer 1

That's all due to the secret conversion and repro...

Answer 2

We are breeding, and more importantly, we're picking up people from religions that didn't scare their members sufficiently.

Between atheist, agnostic, 'no religion', non-religious, and people who just can't be bothered with religion, I'd guess about 20-25% of the US population. That's just conjecture, but I don't think it's very far off the mark.

Polls that give 3 or 4% are probably a few years old and were worded in such a way that undercounted atheists. The number is growing, and more people are willing to admit it out loud.

Answer 3

No, we only compose 3% of the church going population. We stand out from the rest of the crowd like a sore thumb... but we usually hold high positions that start with a P, such as Pastor, Priest, Pope, Preacher, Pastor's wife, etc.

If they really thought that there actually WAS a god up there, do you really think they would do things like sleep with people that aren't our spouse, molest children, have gay sex, do drugs, charge people money for prayers, build giant churches with money that can be used to feed and house the homeless, buy twenty million dollar aircraft to fly around the world at their whim, when they can fly first class for a lot cheaper and use the rest to feed, clothe, and house the less fortunate... etc.

As for the US population, we're everywhere, most of us just haven't been polled about such things.

Answer 4

In most surveys, the conclusion has been that approximately 80 percent to 95 percent of Americans believe in God or maintain some other spiritual belief; only 1 percent of the population claim to be Atheist. World wide surveys have concluded that atheists represent approximately 8 percent of the population. But I suspect that the numbers are higher, because people who hold unpopular beliefs are less likely to participate in such surveys. In some countries Atheism may run as high as 88 percent.

Answer 5

I believe the next time a poll is taken, that number will be exponentially higher. There is a huge atheist movement in this country now.

It's not that atheists haven't been here the whole time. But they're finally starting to speak up, mainly due to the efforts of people like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, combined with the vile works of people like George Bush.

We're not gonna take it anymore. :)

Answer 6

3% sounds pretty low, but not totally out of the range. I'd say no more than 5% max in America. The worldwide number is higher.

"Atheists freaking everywhere", lol! Only on the internets.

Answer 7

According to the CIA World Factbook, 2002 estimates put the number of U.S.'ers claiming "No religion" at 10%. This does not distinguish between atheists or agnostics, and I'm not sure where someone who said "I believe in the existence of a higher power, but not in any of the ways the organized religions describe it" would fall.

Answer 8

That is quite an under estimation. Many people are still afraid to publicly say they are atheists. There are also a large group of people that give themselves a christian label, but do not believe any of the dogma and don't practice religion of any kind.

Answer 9

And what percentage of the US population actually knows what atheism is? A lot of people define atheism as the belief that there is no god, rather than the absence of belief that there is a god. That's going to make a big difference in the stats.

Answer 10

Yes, but clearly you are going to find a higher proportion on somewhere like R&S than you would walking down the street.

And yes, they are breeding. Most humans do end up having children.

Answer 11

I doubt that's accurate. You have to consider social pressure to conform and right now the status quo is Christian. In addition, atheists are quite disliked and distrusted, so many are hesitant to identify as one. What I'm saying is, lots of atheists call themselves something else (particularly Christian) because they don't want people to know they are atheist (because of pressure to conform and distrust of atheists). In addition, perhaps there is something about atheists that makes them less likely to respond to a survey.

I guess that also means that there are probably not as many Christians in this country as those same polls claim.