Why are Aheists/Nonreligious people so overreprestented on Yahoo! Answers?

Question

About 3% of the world is consider themselves Atheists and 13% fall into some other form of nonreligiousness, which includes some versions of nonpracticing Theists. In America and throughout the world, Christians represent the clear majority of religious people, and most people in the U.S. and beyond consider religion to be a "very important" part of life. On here, it seems that Atheists are the majority. My question is, why are Atheists so evangelical?

Okay, then, here's another question, why are so few willing to admit it is there are so many? and to the moron who said 33% isn't a majority, very well, here is some calrification for you. 33% is more than any other religion has. And FYI, these stats are from the US Census, USAToday, and the PEW Research Center.

For the guy who said you know how to use a computer, may I first offer my congratulations, and then correct you by saying that most college graduates consider themselves religious. Then I will say that these stats are backed up by the CIA World Factbook, and to reiterate my former statement, you cannot intelligently debate these numbers by making up your own. For example saying, 2/3 of people are Atheists, we're just a bunch of cowards, so we decide not to tell anyone, doesn't fly.

Answer 1

im not sure .. but it doesnt bother me ...

Answer 2

Christian is NOT the religious majority in the world, I believe that Honor goes to Islamics ,Hindus and Buddhists.Christians are just the loudest and most proselytising. I've never seen an Atheist try to convert someone to Atheism. I HAVE seen Christians try to convert people. Atheist just like to make fun of you because they're generally intelligent and have a good sense of humour. If your faith is so strong, why do you let it get to you? Let us infidels burn in hell. I'm not an Atheist but I'm not a Christian either.

Answer 3

Because all religions fall apart when looked at with any kind of logic and reason. People that spend time on computers; and especially those that like to share wisdom and/or education, tend to be logical, reasonable people.

As a reply to the statistics bit. You can only say Christians are a 30+% group if you don't take into account the fact that there are so many groups. The majority of other religions are fairly consistent in their beliefs, just not neccisarly the approch. Christians interpret there bible and even change it group to group. Year to year over the last couple of thousand years. Its the ring around the campfire bit only with fanatics. Two thousand or so years of translations and filtering. This has produced a true hydra of religion. Every time a sect is born there inevitably will be a split at some point.

Answer 4

Not all of us are frank about what we don't believe in, most have learned caution the hard way through bad reactions.

The polls are inaccurate, we are far more numerous and growing in number.

(insert maniacal laughter here)

This is the internet, it skews towards, young, well educated people with higher socio-economic status. Factors which also correlate with increasing likelyhood of irreligiousness.

As the others have said, most of the worlds population is non christian. Christians are the largest group but there is no global majority religion.

Answer 5

I agree that the majority of U.S. citizens probably list "Christian" as their religion when asked on surveys, but in practice they're probably secularists or "Occasional Christians" (meaning they only attend church on special occasions/holidays). As for those who attend church regularly, evangelicals are probably the fastest growing Christian sect in the U.S. - but they still only make up a minority of the population (albeit a very vocal and politically active one). I recall reading about a survey (can't find the link) in which atheists/agnostics/secularists tended to be better educated and more financially secure than evangelicals, so the seeming over-representation of atheists here may reflect better computer access/proficiency due to higher education/affluence.

Answer 6

Throughout the world, Christians do not represent the clear majority of religious people. But ignoring that statement, most atheists throughout the world would rather not be killed by admitting they do not believe in a god.

Answer 7

I think it's because more people are being honest about their religious beliefs and not pretending to belong to one religion or another when in actuality, they don't believe in it. I think a lot of religious people don't realize what can happen when people openly admit they are atheists or agnostics. They can get called names, bombarded with religious literature, shunned, and other people will try to convert them. It's just easier to say you belong to a religion and then don't practice it or attend religious services. In the US, while most people might claim to be Christians, it should be pointed out that nearly half of them seldom or never go to church. I can look outside my front door on Sunday morning and see that most of my neighbors still have their cars parked in their driveways or on the street.

Answer 8

I don't really feel represented here at all, nor would I really expect it. I am a pantheistic spiritualist, believing in a higher power, good and evil and that life is an invaluable gift. I also don't believe in heaven or hell. These are all beliefs of my own. What I see represented on this site is mostly hardlined atheists and dogmatic theists.

Answer 9

Let's put it this way... theists who are confident of their beliefs are not coming to Yahoo! Answers. People come here because they are uncertain, or have an axe to grind.

It only makes sense that the atheists would come here to try and rescue the uncertain ones. It's a worthwhile endeavor

Answer 10

I'll answer your first question, since the second is a non-sequitor. More people are atheists than shown in polls because of the oppressive nature of any given religious majority in a culture.
Every time I say in public I'm atheist, others whisper to me they are as well but are afraid to admit it. We are not over represented.
The reason I am here is to fight the tyranny of the majority and protect the U.S. Constitution from people who think we live in a land of majority rule.

Answer 11

Perhaps you should quote the source of your statistics. The CIA Fact Book has Atheists at 15% world wide, and Christians at about 33%. I recently saw another page placing non-religious (atheist, agnostic, and other) at about 16%.

Granted the US is significantly more "Christian" with about 5% atheist.