|
More Americans admitting atheism
|
http://www.newser.com/story/152103/athei...ium=united
Not necessarily new atheists, but people out from the cloud of religious oppression.
Trying to update my sig ...
Love the "my take on this story" poll on the left hand side of the page.
42% of people found it depressing, 41% found it brilliant... 
People should really start paying the Four Horsemen tuition...
You can't ignore the people who disagree and pretend it makes you right.
 (August 14, 2012 at 10:11 pm)FemmeReasonAndLogic Wrote: People should really start paying the Four Horsemen tuition... Only if we want to put our religious views on an authoritative footing. But I get you really just want to express appreciation to those who are putting the good news of atheism out there in such a way as to draw in new converts. Ideally I would hope our 'flock' would remain unruly and cat-like in its disdain for being herded.  (August 14, 2012 at 10:10 pm)Napoléon Wrote: Love the "my take on this story" poll on the left hand side of the page. When I looked it was at 55% depressing, 27% brilliant.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
 (August 14, 2012 at 10:04 pm)Epimethean Wrote: http://www.newser.com/story/152103/athei...ium=united Brilliant story ! I wouldn't be surprised if the USA undergoes a sea change in attitude as has happened in France and Spain in recent years. These 2 countries used to be considered very religiously observant and devout and now are regarded like most (west) european countries as secular. There is also indication that the Catholic church is losing its' grip on Poland. I think the turning point in USA will be when a major politician is elected openly as an atheist. Watch the floodgates open then. My interpretation of these poll findings is that there is a vast reservoir of people - perhaps the majority - who don't care one way or another about religion, but just want to get on with their lives. A few will identify themselves as atheist, but most are no more interested in theism/atheism than they are in stamp collecting. No amount of street corner preaching and outreach can resist this overwhelming tide of human indifference to the whole issue. Regards Grimesy
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. — Edward Gibbon
 (August 15, 2012 at 8:16 am)pgrimes15 Wrote: Brilliant story ! I wouldn't be surprised if the USA undergoes a sea change in attitude as has happened in France and Spain in recent years. These 2 countries used to be considered very religiously observant and devout and now are regarded like most (west) european countries as secular. There is also indication that the Catholic church is losing its' grip on Poland. I think the turning point in USA will be when a major politician is elected openly as an atheist. Watch the floodgates open then. I wonder how you could actually estimate this. Maybe if you sent out a religious questionnaire (as randomly as possible); would it stand to reason that P(X doesn't respond) + P(X responds as 'apathetic) >= P(X is apathetic about religion)? “The truth of our faith becomes a matter of ridicule among the infidels if any Catholic, not gifted with the necessary scientific learning, presents as dogma what scientific scrutiny shows to be false.”
As more Americans finally start thinking for themselves and questioning the beliefs that were brainwashed into them as children. The percentage will continue to rise. Hell, I was in high school before I found out that women didn't have one more rib than men do. I was told that when I was a child and never tried to find out if it was true.
"You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend"-Richard Jeni
"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish."-unknown  RE: More Americans admitting atheism
August 15, 2012 at 12:12 pm
(This post was last modified: August 15, 2012 at 12:12 pm by Minimalist.)
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/rel_ch...attendance
Can't spot an obvious date on these stats, although with Ireland at 84% in 2d place I suspect that it pre-dates the big, fuck-the-altar-boys scandal which has done a good job of emptying churches even there. Routine Gallup surveys show 41-43% of Americans claiming to attend church services regularly but who knows if they really do and that is still a big gap from the 73% who claim they are "religious." Again, a person's individual belief is not much of a problem. It's when the fuckers gather into churches and some slimebag preacher starts whipping them into a frenzy about who they should hate that they become troublesome. |
|
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
|
