People I would call atheists seem to be on the rise for sure. Probably a good 25%+ of those wouldn't call themselves atheists, either because of fear of consequences (rejection right up to death) or because they misunderstand the term. I'm sure there are plenty of people who are sick of having to hide their lack of belief from everyone. Each new "out" atheist makes it a little easier for the next, I think.

(September 7, 2015 at 1:26 pm)robvalue Wrote: People I would call atheists seem to be on the rise for sure. Probably a good 25%+ of those wouldn't call themselves atheists, either because of fear of consequences (rejection right up to death) or because they misunderstand the term. I'm sure there are plenty of people who are sick of having to hide their lack of belief from everyone. Each new "out" atheist makes it a little easier for the next, I think.

i had this convo at a buddy's party a while back. everyone in the conversation except me grew up catholic. yet 7/10's of the involved parties were athiest. call it 3/10 were still catholic yet admittedly knew their religion was ridiculous. only two of us were outspoken atheist for fear of ridicule. and to me that HAS to change. in this day and age logic and reason shouldn't be thrown in the town square and pelted with rotten produce. it should be encouraged and outspoken.

You bet! I'm happy to back up my beliefs, or lack of, anytime with reason and logic. If I'm making a mistake, I'm happy to have it pointed out so I can learn from it. (Of course, just because someone says I've made a mistake, it doesn't mean I have; I do my best to thoroughly assess their criticism.)

I couldn't personally feel happy with holding any beliefs that I couldn't at least vaguely defend with reason and logic. It seems very much that religious people sometimes don't notice that they aren't using reason and logic with regard to this subject, because they present only strawmen of themselves and not the actual real reasons they believe. Those are safely tucked away so as not to come under scrutiny, a lot of the time.

I'm from the UK, and I feel "passively religious" or "irreligious" best describes the average British person. We're a country with a Christian heritage and you can still feel the presence of Christianity there in the background, but nobody really practices or takes it seriously anymore. That's the overwhelming majority of British "Christians". Hardly anyone under 30 regularly goes to church, it's unusual if you do.

I still wouldn't use the word "atheist" to describe most British people though. To me "atheist" has connotations of being actively against political religion and very conscious of your lack of belief, which most Brits aren't.

(September 7, 2015 at 1:53 pm)Yeauxleaux Wrote: I'm from the UK, and I feel "passively religious" or "irreligious" best describes the average British person. We're a country with a Christian heritage and you can still feel the presence of Christianity there in the background, but nobody really practices or takes it seriously anymore. That's the overwhelming majority of British "Christians". NOBODY my age regularly goes to church, it's "weird" if you do.

I still wouldn't use the word "atheist" to describe most British people though. To me "atheist" has connotations of being actively against political religion and very conscious of your lack of belief, which most Brits aren't.

that's still a step in the right direction. here in texas church is the place you go find you a nice christian wife. it's like a singles club where as long as you love jesus you get laid.

It's already happening, according to the Pew Research study, non-religious people already make up 22.8% of the American population and is the fastest growing demographic in the country.

http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/

so if it's the fastest growing that means that there has to be a rate of expansion. i wonder if anyone has or could project that rate out to see what the near future might bring?

(September 7, 2015 at 1:34 pm)brian1570 Wrote:

(September 7, 2015 at 1:26 pm)robvalue Wrote: People I would call atheists seem to be on the rise for sure. Probably a good 25%+ of those wouldn't call themselves atheists, either because of fear of consequences (rejection right up to death) or because they misunderstand the term. I'm sure there are plenty of people who are sick of having to hide their lack of belief from everyone. Each new "out" atheist makes it a little easier for the next, I think.

i had this convo at a buddy's party a while back. everyone in the conversation except me grew up catholic. yet 7/10's of the involved parties were athiest. call it 3/10 were still catholic yet admittedly knew their religion was ridiculous. only two of us were outspoken atheist for fear of ridicule. and to me that HAS to change. in this day and age logic and reason shouldn't be thrown in the town square and pelted with rotten produce. it should be encouraged and outspoken.

It's funny that you say that, at least the last few years of me being a catholic, I knew that it was completely ridiculous, and I kept it to myself because I knew how ridiculous it would sound to others that weren't christian. It took me awhile to seriously question it, but when I did, I fell out of that religion pretty damned quick. If you know those people well enough, and knew that they were very open-minded people, whenever you had sit-down with one of them, I'd casually bring it up to them. But, the circumstances of bringing up religion when hanging out with religious friends, should be a rare occurrence, so I know it can be tough.

(September 7, 2015 at 2:20 pm)Salacious B. Crumb Wrote:

(September 7, 2015 at 1:34 pm)brian1570 Wrote: i had this convo at a buddy's party a while back. everyone in the conversation except me grew up catholic. yet 7/10's of the involved parties were athiest. call it 3/10 were still catholic yet admittedly knew their religion was ridiculous. only two of us were outspoken atheist for fear of ridicule. and to me that HAS to change. in this day and age logic and reason shouldn't be thrown in the town square and pelted with rotten produce. it should be encouraged and outspoken.

It's funny that you say that, at least the last few years of me being a catholic, I knew that it was completely ridiculous, and I kept it to myself because I knew how ridiculous it would sound to others that weren't christian. It took me awhile to seriously question it, but when I did, I fell out of that religion pretty damned quick. If you know those people well enough, and knew that they were very open-minded people, whenever you had sit-down with one of them, I'd casually bring it up to them. But, the circumstances of bringing up religion when hanging out with religious friends, should be a rare occurrence, so I know it can be tough.

yeah it's definitely a slippery slope to walk but throw in a little alcohol and let the battle begin! most of my friends have a thick skin so it's all good. plus all of my closest friends are atheist or at least "non-religious".

(September 7, 2015 at 1:21 pm)brian1570 Wrote:

(September 7, 2015 at 1:01 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: The cartoons and posters I see here need vastly wider distribution.  They cater to the typical short attention span prevalent today.

i have a lot saved to my phone. will slowly trickle them into my facebook. which sucks cuz thats exactly what bible thumpers do. so i guess we have to fight fire with fire?

Why? I think religion is doing a fine job of phasing itself out.