Kind of on the original topic, although on the last big PEW poll, the number of people identifying as atheists rose from 1.6% to about 3.1%; but in a 2011 Gallup poll, about 10% of American put 'no' as their answer to the question: 'Do you believe in God?'. It's fairly suggestive of stigma that two thirds of the people who don't believe in God aren't willing to identify as atheists. About 12% of Americans express belief in a 'universal spirit'.
It's a hard subject to poll accurately, but it seems to me that just from nonbelievers getting more comfortable with identifying as nonbelievers; the percentage of Americans who identify as atheists could go over 4% on the next PEW poll just from nonbelievers accepting the designation of 'atheist' as accurately describing them.
And I think that's indicative of declining stigma.
It's a hard subject to poll accurately, but it seems to me that just from nonbelievers getting more comfortable with identifying as nonbelievers; the percentage of Americans who identify as atheists could go over 4% on the next PEW poll just from nonbelievers accepting the designation of 'atheist' as accurately describing them.
And I think that's indicative of declining stigma.
I'm not anti-Christian. I'm anti-stupid.
